Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 3.djvu/383

 JOAN OF ARC. 3G7 junto, selected by Cauchon, had reduced the articles of accusation to twelve, which, though grossly at variance with the truth, were assumed to have been fully proved or confessed, and these formed the basis of the subsequent deliberations and sentence. We have seen, in the case of Marguerite la Porete, that the Inquisition of Paris, in place of calling an assembly of experts, submitted to the canonists of the University a written statement of what Avas as- sumed to be proved, and that the opinion rendered on this, al- though conditioned on its being a true presentation of the case, was equivalent to a verdict. This precedent was followed in the present case. Copies of the articles were addressed to fifty-eight learned experts, in addition to the Chapter of Rouen and the Uni- versity of Paris, and their opinions were requested by a certain day. Of all those appealed to, the University was by far the most important, and a special mission was despatched to it bearing let- ters from the royal council and the Bishop of Beauvais. In view of the tendencies of the University this might seem a superfluous precaution, and its adoption shows how slender was the foundation on which the whole prosecution was based. The University went through an elaborate form of deliberation, and caused the faculties of theology and law to draw up its decision, which was adopted May 14 and sent to Rouen.* On May 19 the assessors were assembled to hear the report from the University, after which their opinions were taken, Some were in favor of immediate abandonment to the secular arm, which would have been strictly in accordance with the regular inquisitorial pro- ceedings, but probably the violent assumption that the articles represented truthfully Joan's admissions was too much for some of the assessors, and the milder suggestion prevailed that Joan should have another hearing, in which the articles should be read to her, with the decision of the University, and that the verdict should depend upon what she should then say. Accordingly, on May 23, she was again brought before the tribunal for the pur- pose. A brief abstract of the document read to her will show, from the triviality of many of the charges and the guilt ascribed to them, how conviction was predetermined. The University, as 62-3, 94-5.
 * Proems, pp. 496-8, 502.— L'Averdy, pp. 33, 50.— Le Brun de Charmettes, IV.