DELIBERATIONS HELD ON May 9th, 12th, 19th

Wednesday, May 23rd, We, the Judges, assisted by the reverend Fathers and Lords the Bishops of Therouanne and de Noyon; and the Doctors and Masters Jean de Chatillon, Jean Beaupere, Nicolas Midi, Guillaume Erard, Pierre Maurice, Andre Marguerie and Nicolas de Venderès, seated ourselves in tribunal in a room in the Castle of Rouen, situated near the place which serves Jeanne as prison.

We did cause the said Jeanne to be brought before Us, because We judged it profitable to show her the points on which the Faculties of Theology and Decrees of the University of Paris have declared that she had erred and fallen short; We have judged it profitable also to make known to her the omissions, crimes and errors which, in the terms of the Resolutions of each of these Faculties, exist on each of these same points; and afterwards, to warn her, or cause her to be warned, to abandon these errors and shortcomings: to correct and submit herself, in fine, to the censure and judgment of Our Holy Mother the Church.

Maître Pierre Maurice, Canon of the Church of Rouen, a celebrated Doctor in Theology, had been charged by us with this mission, and he had fulfilled it by addressing to Jeanne the words written by him in French in a schedule thus expressed.

[Here follows a recapitulation of the Twelve Articles, with the opinion, adverse to Jeanne, given upon them by the Clerics consulted.]

After these assertions had been thus shown to her, and the decision of the University of Paris upon each of them had been made known to her, Jeanne was admonished, in the French language, by the said Doctor Pierre Maurice to pay great attention to the character given to her sayings and deeds by this decision of the University of Paris. Above all he did exhort her to reflect well on the gravity of the error contained in her refusal to submit to the Church Militant.

And he concluded by thus speaking to her:

“Jeanne, my very dear friend, it is now time, at the end of your Trial, to reflect well on all that has been said to you. This is the fourth time²that the Lord Bishop of Beauvais, the Lord Vicar of the Inquisition, and other Doctors who have been thereto appointed, have, either in public or in private, in honor and reverence for God, for the Faith, and the Law of Jesus Christ, for the tranquillity of their own consciences and for the alleviation of so great a scandal, admonished you with the greatest zeal – so great is their care for the salvation of your soul and body! Four times have been made known to you the perils which endanger your soul and body, if you do not at last consent to correct yourself and your sayings by submitting to the Church, yourself and your deeds, and by accepting her judgment.

“Up to this time you have obstinately refused. And although many others might long since have declared the Case heard and have given judgment upon you, nevertheless my Lords your Judges, enflamed with zeal for the salvation of your soul and body, desired, in order to have their advice, to send your sayings and deeds to the University, that light of all Science, that extirpator of all error. The resolutions of the University of Paris have come to your Judges. They have then decided, always in the hope of your salvation, to admonish you once again, to again call your attention to your errors, your scandals and all the faults that you have committed in such great number.

“They exhort you, your Judges, they beseech you, they admonish you by the bowels of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who had suffered a cruel death for the redemption of man, they beseech you to correct your words, to submit them to the judgment of the Church, as all the faithful are bound and obliged to do. Do not allow yourself to be separated from Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who had created you to be a sharer in His glory; do not choose the way of eternal damnation with the enemies of God, who daily set their wits to work to find means to trouble mankind, transforming themselves often, to this end, into the likeness of Our Lord, of Angels and of Saints, as is seen but too often in the lives of the Fathers and in the Scriptures.

“Therefore, if such things have appeared to you, do not believe them. The belief which you may have had in such illusions, put it away from you. Believe rather in the words and opinions of the University of Paris and other Doctors, who, knowing the law of God and Holy Scripture, decide that no faith should be placed in such apparitions, nor should faith be placed in any extraordinary apparitions, in any novelty which is not supported by Holy Scripture, by a sign, or by a miracle.

“You have very lightly believed in such things, you who have not turned to God in earnest prayer that He would grant you certainty;you who, to enlighten yourself, have not applied to a prelate or a learned ecclesiastic. This you ought to have done: it was your duty, considering your estate and the simplicity of your knowledge.

“Let us take an example: If your King had given you a treasure to guard, forbidding you to receive any one, whoever it might be, should you not refuse to receive one who presented himself to you, saying he came by order of the King, unless he brought you a letter or some certain sign? For the Church it is the same thing: when Our Lord Jesus Christ, ascending into Heaven, confided the government of His Church to the blessed Apostle Peter and his successors, He forbade us to accept anything from others who might come in His Name, who should have for the support of their mission only their own sayings. You ought not to have put faith in those whom you say came to you; and we also, we ought not to believe in you, since Our Lord had expressly commanded the contrary.

“Reflect, Jeanne, upon this: if, when you were in your King’s realm, a soldier or another, born in his kingdom and placed under his dominion, had suddenly risen and said, ‘I will not obey the King, I will not submit either to him or his officers,’ would you not have said yourself that this man should be condemned? But what will you say of yourself, you, brought up in the Faith of Christ, if you do not obey the officers of Christ that is to say, the Prelates of the Church? What judgment will you give on yourself? Cease, therefore, to hold this damnable speech, if you love God, your Creator, your Spouse, and your Salvation: obey the Church, consent to submit to its judgment; know well that, if you do not, if you persevere in your error, your soul will be condemned to eternal punishment; and, for your body, I fear much that it will come to perdition. [Anima vestra damnabitur suppiicio perpetuo crucianda, et de corpore plurimum dubito ne in perditionem veniat.]

“Let not fear of the world hold you back; do not give way to the fear of losing, by doing as I ask you, the great honors you have received. The honor of God and the salvation of your body and soul must be preferred before all. All is perishable, save only what I tell you to do. If you do it not, you separate yourself from the Church and from the Faith to which you have sworn in Holy Baptism; you detach yourself from the authority of the Church, from the Church which is led, ruled, and governed by the authority of the Spirit of God. Did not God say to the chiefs of the Church: ‘He that hears you hears Me, he that despises you despises Me’? If you will not submit to the Church, you separate yourself in deed, and you refuse at the same time to submit yourself to God; you are in error on this article of the Faith, ‘the Church, One, Holy, and Catholic.’ What this Church and her authority is, had been sufficiently explained to you in former monitions.

“Thus have my Lords the Bishop of Beauvais and the Vicar of the Inquisition, your Judges, charged me to tell you.

“And now, I admonish, I beseech, I exhort you, in the name of your devotion to the Passion of your Creator, and of the affection you should bear to the salvation of your body and soul, I admonish, I beseech you, amend yourself, return into the way of truth, obey the Church, submit to her judgment and decision.

“In thus acting you will save your soul; you will redeem – so I believe – your body from death. But if you do not, if you persist, know that your soul will be overwhelmed by damnation, and I fear for the destruction of your body.

“May Our Savior Jesus Christ preserve you from all these evils!”

After being thus admonished and exhorted, Jeanne did reply:

“As to my words and deeds, such as I have declared them in the Trial, I refer to them and will maintain them.”

“Do you not, then,” We asked her, “think yourself bound to submit your words and deeds to the Church Militant, or to any other but God?”

She replied: “What I have always said in the Trial, and held, I wish still to say and maintain. If I were condemned, if I saw the fire lighted, the faggots prepared, and the executioner ready to kindle the fire, and if I myself were in the fire, I would not say otherwise, and would maintain to the death all I have said.”³

Then, We, the Judges, asked of the Promoter and of Jeanne herself if they had anything else to say. They replied, No. In consequence, We did proceed to close the Process, following the formula contained in a schedule which We, the Bishop, held in Our hands, and which was thus expressed:

We, the Judges, competent in this Process, declare anew our competence in so far as is necessary;

Considering the declaration just made by the Promoter and the Accused that they have no more to say;

We declare the Process concluded [In ipsa Causa concludimus]; and, this conclusion pronounced, We summon you both tomorrow to hear the law which will be laid down by Us, and the sentence which shall be pronounced by Us, to be afterwards carried out and proceeded with according to law and right.

On Thursday after Whitsuntide, the 24th day of May in the morning, We, the Judges, did repair to a solemn Assembly, publicly held in the Cemetery of the Abbey of Saint-Ouen, at Rouen.⁴
We did have with us :

The most reverend Father in Christ, Henry, by Divine Permission Priest of the Holy Roman Church, under the title of Saint Eusebius, usually called the Cardinal of England; the reverend Fathers in Christ, the Lords Bishops of Therouanne, Noyon, and Norwich; the Lords Abbot of Saint Trinite de Fecamp, of Saint Ouen of Rotten, Bec, Cormeilles, Saint-Michel au Peril-de-la-Mer, Mortemer, and Preaux; the Priors of Longueville-la-Giffard, and Saint Lo of Rotten; and many others.

Jeanne was placed opposite to Us on a scaffold or platform prepared for this purpose.

First of all, We did charge Maître Guillaume Erard, Doctor in Theology, a preacher of great renown, to pronounce a solemn sermon for the salutary admonition of Jeanne and the great crowd which surrounded us.

This Doctor began by taking for text that Word of God in St. John, Chapter 15., “A branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine.” Then he explained solemnly that all Catholics should abide in the true vine of the Holy Mother Church which Christ had planted: he showed how Jeanne, by many errors and grave crimes, had separated herself from Holy Mother Church, to the great scandal of Christian people. Finally, he admonished and exhorted her and all the people by the most edifying teaching.

In concluding, he spoke to her in these terms:

“Jeanne, behold my Lords your Judges, who, at divers times, have summoned and required you to submit yourself, your words and deeds, to Our Holy Church, showing you that there did exist in your words and deeds many things which, as it did seem to the Clergy, are not good either to say or maintain.”

To which Jeanne replied:

“I will answer you. As to my submission to the Church, I have answered the Clergy on this point. I have answered them also on the subject of all the things I have said and done. Let them be sent to Rome to our Holy Father the Pope, to whom after God I refer me as to my words and deeds: I did them by God’s order; I charge no one with them, neither my King nor any one else. If there be any fault found in them, the blame is on me, and no one else.”

“Will you revoke all your words and deeds which are disapproved by the Clergy?”

“I refer me to God and to our Holy Father the Pope.”

Then she was told that this answer would not suffice; that it was not possible to send to seek the Pope from such a distance; that the Ordinaries are Judges, each in their own diocese; that it was necessary she should refer to our Holy Mother the Church; and that she should hold as true all that the Clergy and other people cognizant thereof have said and decided on the subject of her words and deeds.

She was admonished on this to the third monition.

But as this woman would say no more, We, the Bishop, did then begin the reading of Our sentence as follows: