Joan d’Arc and the Siege of Orléans
What happened during the Siege of Orleans? Who is that mysterious, heroic figure leading the French to victory? Despite being a female peasant, Joan d’Arc was able to capture the attention of King Charles at a time when France was most desperate. Because the French were continuously losing to the English during the Hundred Years’ War, they were starting to lose hope, as it seemed that England would eventually win the war and take the throne. Then Joan appeared, claiming to be able hear the voices of dead saints and leading the French to miraculous victories. Who was this girl, and why and how was she able to wrest power and authority in a time where women were considered inferior and subordinate to men?
In 1328, King Charles IV of France died, leaving no male heir to the throne. King Edward the Third of England sat in his throne room in London, and schemed with his advisers. This was it! Finally! The perfect opportunity to claim victory over those bloody Frenchies! And what better humiliation than to lose their country to England? This was a chance to seize France! King Edward had a blood relation to the deceased French king because his mother was Charles’ sister. But getting the French to comply with his wishes would be troublesome. Edward gritted his teeth. No matter. In the end England would prevail, the nation of France would disappear, and the French would be forever humiliated. He was the King of England, and he had legitimate claim to the French throne. If necessary, he would use force to get what he wanted.
But Edward’s plans encountered a minor road bump when Philip VI became King of France. So ten years later, Edward led a raid in French territory in 1338. That year was the start of the Hundred Years’ War. In 1340, Edward declared himself the true king of France. At first the French had the upper hand, being far richer than England and being successful both on land and at sea. The triumphant Philip beamed with pride and glory on his throne. Though the war was far from over, France was well on its way to emerging victorious. Now all he needed to do was continue beating back those cowardly English brutes and let the discouraged English fall into despair and surrender. Phillip smiled at his beautiful wife, Queen Joan, beside him and squeezed her hand lovingly. What fools! How could they possibly think to win against mighty France with idiotic claims to the throne?! However, the Battle of Crecy (August 26, 1346) turned the tide for the English, and afterwards King Philip could find no support in the Estates General, the legislative assembly, tired as they were of the seemingly endless battles and unwilling to tax their fortunes for a cause they no longer believed in. In 1348 France was struck by the Black Plague, resulting in inner turmoil, unrest, and economic instability. Devastated by the ruined state of France and the death of his Queen Joan during the Black Death, Philip VI died in August of 1350, leaving his son John II of Burgundy in charge.
Seventy-eight years later, during the summer of 1428, Thomas de Montacute, the Earl of Salisbury, captured the towns of Jargeau, Beaugency, and Meung, to prevent supplies and men from reaching Orleans by the Loire River. Montacute laughed, drank, and celebrated with his fellow Englishmen. The French? Ha! They were nothing! Look at all of our victories! England was sure to win the war. Of course, it was regrettable that people had to die, but in a war, death was inevitable. Montacute was sure that the dead soldiers on the battlefield were proud of the sacrifice they had made for their country. He grinned as he sipped his wine. Watch out Orleans, he thought with a gleam in his eye, you’re next!
Orleans was roughly halfway between captured English territory and French territory, and was therefore key to winning the war. However, because the English were slow to advance, the French had time to gather supplies and improve their defenses. The French rebuilt gate towers and added canons capable of firing 190 lb. cannon balls into the two towers (‘les Tourelles’) that controlled the bridge leading into the city. They also scrambled to store food. There was yelling, shoving, crying and fear. “The English are coming! The English are coming!” The English had had victory after victory after victory. What would happen to them? Seeing their new weaponry and looking out from their high walls reassured the French a little bit. These walls shielded the inhabitants, but they also blindfolded the ordinary civilians from what was going on outside. Some had left the city to look for safe shelters elsewhere. Those who stayed reasoned that if the English took Orleans, there would be nowhere to run. But if some miracle happened and the French could hold their own ground and triumph, then there would be no need to leave their homes.
The siege officially began on October 12, 1428. Under the heavy English bombardment the walls and guard towers of Orleans fell. A soldier in the guard tower could hear his teeth chattering as the sound of the cannons deafened his ears and shook his heart. He watched the cannonballs punch through the walls and the guard towers. The guard was almost certain he could hear the English laughing outside as they fired their cannons and mocked the French. He should not be here. Forget patriotism and national pride; he should run, run quickly, into the city and away from the attack. Yes, run! Run, and save himself! He could hear the screams of the other soldiers as they were assaulted by cannonballs. They should run, get away while they still could, for surely France was doomed. So, on October 23rd, 1428, the French forces retreated into the city and the English came in and occupied the Tourelles.
In November, the English moved to a nearby location to shelter from the cold, leaving a small force to look after Orleans. This allowed fresh troops to enter the city. The English either had no idea that Orleans was being replenished, or they didn’t care, full of arrogance and the belief that they would win. Orleans was just stubborn. It would fall, as all the cities before it had fallen.
Unfortunately for the English, Thomas Montacute was killed by a cannonball, which would have amused the French had they not been terrified and hiding within the city. But there was no shortage of English commanders. Montacute was succeeded by Sir William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk. Pole in turn, was later replaced by John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, who was the leader the following spring. But when it seemed that the English would win, Joan of d’Arc arrived on March 6th, 1429. Surely, when the English saw this plain, petite girl they wondered: a girl? Do the French taunt us? They send a mere girl to fight us?
Joan of d’Arc was born on January 6th, 1412, to a wealthy farmer, Jacques, and his wife, Isabelle. A pious child who often spent her time praying in church, Joan claimed she could hear the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret, by age twelve. She believed these voices to have been sent by God. These voices told her that her mission was to rid France of the English, and help Charles VII (John of Burgundy’s great-grandson) gain the throne. Joan protested. She was just a young French peasant girl. How could she, of all people, help France win the war? It was too large a task for one such as she. How would she know what to do? But the voices persisted in their message and told Joan to go to Vaucouleurs, and Joan gave in to their words, reasoning, Since God had commanded it, it was necessary that I do it. She traveled with her uncle to the town of Vaucouleurs and offered her assistance to Robert Baudricourt, a representative of Charles VII, asking for his help and requesting an introduction to Charles VII, but he sent her away. He was an important French figure. Why should he listen to the crazed babbling of a peasant girl?
As the situation became more desperate, during that winter, and it seemed that English victory was imminent, Joan once again went to see Baudricourt. Although skeptical at first, Baudricourt eventually accepted her story and sent her to see King Charles VII. They were desperate. What did it matter if this French girl wanted to help? Baudricourt doubted that she would go any good. The French needed a miracle, and if the girl offered one, then they might as well indulge her.
When Joan went to see King Charles VII, she had to prove herself. Charles decided to test Joan’s claim of being able to hear saintly voices and disguised himself among a group of attendants. Joan identified him immediately and told him of a private prayer he had made in November for help in the war. Shaken and intrigued, Charles sent her to be examined by Parliament and clergy members, who confirmed her powers. When Joan returned, she refused the sword Charles offered her, and instead asked for the ancient sword buried behind an altar in the chapel of Ste-Catherine-de-Fierbois. When the sword was found exactly where Joan had said it lay, the French were amazed by Joan’s abilities. Was it not a trick? Was she a witch or a holy maiden? Despite a contrasting reception of her by Estates General, she proved herself to the king and the clergy. Joan now needed to rally her forces and lift the siege on Orleans. Would she succeed where many men had not? Could she succeed?
Convinced, King Charles gave her command over a small military force in Blois. Joan was disgusted by the daily lifestyle of the soldiers. They did not go to church, played around with prostitutes and had a fondness of shouting profanities. If she was going to lead these men into battle, there were going to have to be some major changes. Besides, what did these men think this was, all fun and games? Had they forgotten that they had a duty to their country? These men just needed a strict feminine touch to stop them from acting like sensuous pigs. Thus, Joan began to make reforms in the soldiers’ daily routine: banning prostitutes from camp, forcing them to go to church, to stop swearing and to stop looting civilian cities. In April, Joan and her force marched to Orleans and proclaimed her intentions to defeat and expel the English, declaring, “King of England, and you, duke of Bedford, who call yourself regent of the kingdom of France… settle your debt to the king of Heaven; return to the Maiden, who is envoy of the king of Heaven, the keys to all the good towns you took and violated in France.” Needless to say, the English were unimpressed, and furious. How dare she, a young peasant girl, make demands of they, the great, mighty, and experienced Englishmen? The loser’s job was to stay quiet and to comply to the winner’s demands, not the other way around!
Meanwhile, in Orleans, the French army commanded by the Duke of Alencon continued to hold the English at an arm’s length. The English had come expecting an immediate and relatively easy victory as they forced Orleans to raise the white flag, but the French continued to receive fresh supplies and troops. The English had maintained the siege on Orleans for six months and were discouraged by the fact that it had yet to fall to English control.
Inside the city walls, the people trembled in fear. Because the eastern gate was unguarded, they had been able to receive support, but what would happen once the English realized this and moved to guard the gate? What would happen if the English saw the supplies sailing across the river at night? The French were terrified. Days on end, the English had bombarded the walls of Orleans, shaking the city floors and ceilings like a never-ending earthquake. What could they do but wait and hope for a miracle? The people dared not run for fear of being caught, so they sat and waited in their homes, trembling like helpless mice in the presence of a hungry cat.
There had been prophecies from three different men, including St. Bede the Venerable, Euglide of Hungary, and Merlin too, about a Holy Maiden that would liberate them and bring glory and victory to France. The people had heard of Joan d’Arc. They knew that she was coming; they just hoped that she would arrive soon and be able to do something about their situation.
Once Joan arrived, she came out roaring for a fight and liberated the surrounding forts and cities that had come under English control and brought food into the city, bravely freeing her people in successful military campaigns as if she had God’s hand on her. She had been scared, yes, who wouldn’t be, going to war? But with God by her side and her voices to guide her, Joan was filled with the necessary courage to complete her mission. In May, she led an attack against the English forts on the south bank of the Loire River. On the first day of the battle, Joan was hit in the shoulder with an arrow, prompting the English to celebrate the ‘death of the witch.’ In fact, it was only a flesh wound and Joan returned to the battlefield the next day, leading the French to victory. Eventually, the English were cornered inside the Tourelles and retreated. The siege was lifted, allowing Jean to emerge a victorious hero. As she rode across the river bridge into Orleans, Joan received an ecstatic welcome from Alencon, the soldiers, and the inhabitants of Orleans. Joan had never felt better. The rush of victory, the love of the people. There was nothing quite like being welcomed as a hero by the people. And she was a hero. Joan had entered a seemingly doomed battle and had turned it around, sending the English scurrying for the hills.
However, Joan did not have the happy ending that she deserved. While the French revered her for her miraculous successes in the battlefield, the English regarded her as a witch and heretic. In May, she was captured and sold to the English while in battle, and eventually burned at the stake as a witch. However, she displayed no anger towards those that had killed her and it is said that she prayed for God to forgive these sinful people. Today, she is revered as a French hero, holy maiden, and a saint.
