Prisoner of Conscience

Something is terribly, terribly wrong here! I had hoped we could find a way to interview Jeanne of Domrémy (better known perhaps as Joan of Arc), perhaps even sit in on her trial as witnesses. But everything is stitched up so tight in the Castle of Rouen that not even the fleas can move without orders in triplicate, signed by John of Bedford himself, and escorted by armed men! And everywhere I look are black-robed lawyers - no wonder the common people here call them ravens, they look like ravens, they carry themselves like ravens and when the wind blows, their black robes flap, making the impression complete.
I was starting to wonder if we would be able to see Joan at all, but Madame Coole is the wife of the controller of the town, and she thinks her husband, Richard, may be able to arrange a visit. The grubby young boy who arrived at the door of the house a few minutes ago with the message about the barrel of apples to be collected was our signal to get moving.
The barrel of apples is real enough, and a good excuse to get inside the castle, but I'm thankful we have the cart to move it; this thing is heavy! And moving barrels of apples is beneath the dignity of the wife of a government official, but for the two of us, it makes a perfect cover.
Perhaps my expectations were unduly high. I think not though. When we reach the castle gate the sentry on duty seems to think we may be allowed inside, but just to be certain, he calls the sergeant on guard and no amount of pleading, cajoling, or bribery will get us past the sergeant and into the castle.
While we were waiting for the sergeant, did you get a good look at the group that crossed the keep in the direction of the bailey? I'm pretty sure (without my spectacles) that the bareheaded man in the dark blue cloak was our previous acquaintance, John Dunstaple, here as part of the retinue of the Duke of Bedford. And I would say it's a fair bet that the man in the scarlet capuchon was the Duke, himself.
As we are turned away, I am heartbroken. There are very few times in my time-travelling experience when we have been so completely thwarted.
On returning to the town, it doesn't take very long to find people who are willing not only to discuss the situation of the Savior of France, but to find that all over the town, support groups are assembling, mostly in churches, a few in private dwellings, to pray for Jeanne, and it is through one of these support groups that I begin to build a clearer, and very disturbing picture of what is happening in the castle.
The reason we visited Fort Nieulay was to get some of the backstory to Jeanne's triumph, and capture:

• 1337, the Hundred Years War begins with a dispute about succession to the French Throne. An English King? or a French King?
• 1412, generally accepted date of Jeanne's birth (nobody seems to be entirely sure when she was born).
• 1424, at twelve or thirteen years old, Jeanne has her first vision of Saint Michael, who admonished her to be pure, holy and religious.
• 1415, the battle of Agincourt marks a new offensive in the Hundred Years War.
• 1428, Sixteen year old Jeanne begins to seek audience with officials of the French government. She is eventually summoned to Poitiers by the Dauphin, where she is interviewed by doctors of the church and government lawyers who are convinced of her sincerity. The archbishop of Rheims advised the Dauphin, Charles, to accept her offer of help.
• 1429, Jeanne joins the army of relief at the siege of Orléans. This is the first battle since Agincourt that will be a major victory for the French forces as they free the city from the besieging English.
• 1430, Jeanne is finally captured by the Burgundians. Since her family cannot afford the cost of ransom, the Burgundians sell their prisoner to the English.

There are so many things wrong with Jeanne's imprisonment and trial it is difficult even to understand why such a travesty of justice is allowed. But the King of England controls the army that almost conquered all of France. For the common people to rise against such power would require a stronger spirit than is present now, and moreover, many of the English nobles, however unhappy they might be with the proceedings, would certainly lose their titles and lands, and probably their lives if they joined any revolt.

• Despite being held on charges of offences against the church, Jeanne is being held in a secular jail
• She has no access to spiritual guidance, priests, or church teachers who would normally be made available in these circumstances, to try to correct a misguided belief.
• Convention dictates that a female prisoner like Jeanne should be guarded by women of the church. Nuns if possible. But instead she is guarded by English soldiers. Some of whom, I have heard, sleep inside the cell.
• A key element in the charges against her is that she refuses to wear a woman's dress, but wears instead, the jerkin, hose and armour (when allowed) of a man.

The rumours I have heard say that a dress has been placed in Jeanne's cell, but that it is out of reach as long as she is in chains. However, her masculine clothing has been placed within reach. It sounds as though she has to either go naked, in the cold stone cell, under the eyes of her English guardsmen, or wear the clothes of a man.
Even though this cross-dressing, if it were for its own sake, would constitute cause for prosecution by the church laws of the day, the church has determined that when a woman wears masculine clothing for reasons, for example, of protecting her virtue, it is permissible. Since the hose that Jeanne has been wearing are unusually complicated, with additional lacings, and not something that could be removed quickly, it seems likely that she was taking advantage of the latter provision.
Something happened, late on Thursday evening, that disturbed me so that I was uncomfortable about remaining here, even though I would have liked to continue our observations: when I asked you to wait for me back at the tavern, I sought out one of the vigils in the Église St.Maclou. There were only four women, on their knees quietly praying the rosary when I entered, but I hadn't been there more than five minutes when a young woman, she can't have been much older than Jeanne herself, began singing, in a quiet voice at first, then louder as the others joined her.
I don't know whether she understood the latin of the song she was chanting, but even with my uncertain latin, it shook me to my core, particularly since we have hindsight of what, for the others was the future.

X:52
T:For the Burial of the Dead % title
C: % composer
O:Chants of the Church % origin.
M:C % meter
L:1/8 % length of shortest note
Q:50 % tempo
K:F % key
V:1 % voice 1
%%MIDI nobarlines
D FD EF/ F3 F F FE EGFED ED EF GAG AB
w:Ub-ve--ni--te sanc-te De-i.______ Oc--cu---ri-
A2 A3 A2 GF FGA/ BG AG E2 EGF/ F2 FE FEFG
w:-te an-ge--li______ do-mi---ni._ Sus-ci-pi-en
F GFF FED FD EF E3 C DF F C2 DCB,CC B,3
w:tes a-ni-mam E---jus____ of-fer--ren-tes e---am__
C DF FED EG G3 FGA BG AG E EGFF FE
w:in con--spec---tu_ ac--------ti-ssi----mi._
AAA GA GFGAG AGG EF E2 G GF GA
w:sus-ci-pi-at_ te__________ Chris-tus_ qui_
GF E EFGF FE FEFGF GFF
w:vo--ca-vit___ te_ sus-ci-pi-en-tes ani-mam_
FED FD EFE CDF F2 C DC B, CCB,
w:e---jus____ of-fer--ren-tes e---am__
C DF FED EFG G2 FGA BGAG E EGFF FE
w:in con--spec---tu__ ac--------ti-ssi----mi_
A GA GF GAG AG G EF E2 G GA G G GF
w:re-qui----em.________ Ae-ter--nam do-na_
GA GF E E FGF FE F DF F EF F2 F3
w:E--i_ do-mi----ne_ et lux_ per-pe--tu-a
EF GFE G AG AGF EF GEF C DF F
w:lu-----ce-at____e--i.__ O-ffe--ren-
C2 DC CCB, C DF FED EFG G2 FGA BG AG E
w:tes e--am__ in con--spec---tu__ Al--------ti-
EGF F FE
w:ssi----mi._

To convert the code above to sheet music, or listen to the tunes, copy the code for a single song, then paste it here and [submit].
Although I've done my best to ensure that the above transcription is accurate, if anyone finds an error, please inform me, so that it can be corrected. Thank you.
I would like to acknowledge the following sites for helpful reference material in writing this article.

• Primary Sources
• Trial Issues