A Bright and Shining Star

For a long while I have wanted to visit the city-state of Florence (or Fiorenza, as the locals pronounce it), but at the same time I have been anxious that I might be disappointed; well, time to swallow my doubts. We are going, and see what the city really is like under the hand of Lorenzo de Medici, the banker and de-facto ruler of the city whether the city elders approve or not. I have calculated the coordinates so that we will arrive in February of 1484. The city gates will be closed until early morning so, as representatives of a nearby town seeking financial support, we will join the handful of early travellers bringing produce from the fields. I think, in addition to our period clothes, it would be sensible to wear thick woolen cloaks against the pre-dawn chill.

While the city should be relatively stable and well-ordered by now, it is worth remembering that it is only six years since Lorenzo's brother, Giuliano, was murdered in the Pazzi conspiracy. Had it not been for quick reflexes, Lorenzo too might have been killed. What made it worse, was that the assassination took place in the Cathedral itself!

It seems that the first people on the city streets are mostly those who never leave them anyway, mostly beggars and the occasional cutpurse. Some of the beggars have the most hideous deformities and it is hard not to look away, particularly since I know that most of their diseases will be quite easily treatable in centuries to come.

I suggest the best plan of action is to make our way to the Cathedral and see what is happening there; since it is commonly used by everybody as a well-known meeting place we may be able to eavesdrop on some of the conversations and find out what news is making the rounds.

The Cathedral itself is a revolutionary building; proudly known locally as the Duomo or "dome", the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, to give its full name, was planned in the thirteenth century, but construction almost stalled when it came to building the dome itself. It would be the largest freestanding dome in all Western architecture, and a noble tribute to the glory of God, but after the death of the first architect, Arnolfo di Cambio, nobody was certain that a freestanding dome of such enormous size could practically be constructed. It wasn't until the Woolmerchants Guild, the Arte della Lana announced a competition to design the dome that a viable plan was developed.

Among the competitors, two men stood head and shoulders above the rest. The first, Lorenzo Ghiberti, was a skilled sculptor and metalworker who had rediscovered the method of lost wax casting originally used by the ancient Romans, but since forgotten.

The second was Filippo Brunelleschi, originally trained as a goldsmith, but also a sculptor and architect, the first artist to describe the laws of perspective.

By my reckoning the time must be getting on toward eight o'clock, in which case, hopefully most the people heading into the cathedral are on their way to attend the early mass.

It's not hard to sort out who is important and who isn't as we watch them enter. Puffed and slashed garments of velvet and silk are virtually the uniform of the wealthier merchants, and everybody is wearing a hat of some kind. I would almost bet money that the group of about eight men approaching includes Lorenzo de Medici himself. Why should I think that? well, the three armed guards, for one thing.

My thinking was that if we attended mass we should have a fair chance to see some of the most important people in the city today. I was interested to see how many of the new humanist thinkers were still concerned about the welfare of their eternal souls. My guess was that we would see that the christian tradition that is so deeply rooted in this culture would not be quickly swept aside. Once mass is over, I realize that it will not be quite so simple to identify the movers and shakers of the city. We obviously can't eavesdrop on every conversation going on as the congregants disperse, and I only know one or two faces from paintings, but I don't recognize anybody leaving the cathedral.

In any case, we can still spend a while wandering around the market in the piazza nearby.

We've been in the piazza for what I guess must be about ninety minutes, and a rather gaunt-looking friar in the white dominican robe with black cloak has shown up. He seems to have plenty of time to talk to the beggars, and goes from stall to stall, soliciting odds and ends of produce which he distributes to the beggars. Once he has made his rounds of the beggars, he climbs the pedestal of the cross in the center of the piazza and raises his hands, lowering his head.

When he raises his head once more, he declares in a loud, clear voice, but without shouting;

"vidi alium angelum descendentem de caelo habentem potestatem magnam et terra inluminata est a gloria eius et exclamavit in forti voce dicens cecidit cecidit Babylon magna et facta est habitatio daemoniorum et custodia omnis spiritus inmundi et custodia omnis volucris inmundae quia de ira fornicationis eius biberunt omnes gentes et reges terrae cum illa fornicati sunt et mercatores terrae de virtute deliciarum eius divites facti sunt"

I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor.

With a mighty voice he shouted:
"Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!
She has become a home for demons
and a haunt for every evil[a] spirit,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.
For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries."

As he continues to speak out against the corruption of a government ordained by God, the passion of his words seems to still the noisy bustle of the Italian marketplace: even stallholders lower their voices, and one or two turn to listen more carefully. This must be the famous (or infamous) friar Savonarola. By turns fiery and tender, he urges the common people around him to dedicate themselves anew to seeking the Kingdom of Heaven, trusting in God rather than the "broken reed of pagan teachings, which so long ago were done away, but now are held up once more by faithless men, seeking to usurp the sovereignty of God!" Savonarola takes the bold step of blaming the humanist patronage of the Medicis for the spread of "French Pox" within the city, and I wonder whether somebody will summon the constable, but it seems the crowd agrees with the friar.

By the time is sermon is finished, some of the listeners are already kneeling in prayer, and the friar moves among them, blessing them before he leaves the piazza.

It doesn't take long for the Italian spirit to reassert itself, and one of the first voices to pierce the quiet is a young man, singing and accompanying himself on a rather old and battered gittern. Once his song is finished, and before he begins another, it is possible to ask what he was singing. It seems he has got hold of a song by the city's patron, Lorenzo de Medici.

X:17 % number
T:Canto de Profumieri % title

N:a rough translation of the title would be "I sing of your perfume"

C:Lorenzo de Medici (Il Magnifico) % composer
O: % origin.
M:C| % meter
L:1/4 % length of shortest note
Q: % tempo
K:Bb % key
V:1 name="Tenor" sname="T." % voice 1
V:2 name="First Bass" sname="B.1" clef=bass
V:3 name="Second Bass" sname="B.2" clef=bass
%==============2======3=======4=========5=========6=========7=========8============9======10
[V:1] c2 c2 | B3 c | d2 d2 | e2 e2 | e2 e2 | d3 e | f2 g a-| a g2 ^f | g2 z2 |
w:Sian ga-lan-ti di Va-len-za qui per pas-so ca-pi-ta___ti,
[V:2] c'2, c'2 | g3 a | b2 b2 | c'2 c'2 | c'2 c'2 | b3 c' | d'2 b c-| c'/a/ g A2 | g2 z2 |
w:Sian ga-lan-ti di Va-len-za qui per pas-so ca-pi-ta___ti,
[V:3] c2 c2 | g3 c | g2 g2 | c2 c2 | c2 c2 | g3 f/e/ | d2 g-f | e2 d2 | G2 z2 |
w:Sian ga-lan-ti di Va-len-za qui per pas-so_ca-pi_ta__
%
%==========11=======12========13======14======15======16========17=======18====19========20
[V:1] g2 g2 | d2 e2 | f>e d>c | B2 B2 | e3 e | d2 c2 | f2 e d-|d c2 B | c4 |: c2 c2 |
w:d'a-mor gia pre-si et le--gha-ti del-le don-ne di Fio-ren----za. Son mol-
w:*********************voi vin-
[V:2] g2 g2 | b2 c'2 | f2 f2 | e2 e2 | c'3 c' | b2 a2 | b>a g-f | e c B2 | c4 |: c'2 c'2 |
w:d'a-mor gia pre-si~et le-gha-ti del-le don-ne di Fio------za. Son mol-
w:********************voi vin
[V:3] c2 c2 | g2 c2 | d2 d2 | G2 G2 | _A3 A | B2 f2 | B2 c-d | B c G2 | c4 |: c2 c2 |
w:d'a-mor gia pre-si~et le-gha-ti del-le don-ne di Fio-----za. Son mol-
w:*******************voi vin
%
%==========21=====22========23========24======25======26======27==========28=========================29===========30
[V:1] d2 c2 | e3 f | g2 a g-|g f2 ^e | f2 z2 | f2 f2 | d3 e | f2 f2 |[M:4/2] g2 e f>e d/ c/ d2 |[M:C|] c4 :|
w:to gen-ti-le~et bel------le don-ne nel-la ter-ra no-------stra;
w:ce-ted'as-sai quel-------le co-me'l vi-so di fuor mo-------stra
[V:2] b2 c2 | g3 a | g a2 g | b c'2 b | f2 z2 | a2 a2 | b3 c' | d'>c' b-a |[M:4/2] g b c' d'2 c'2 b |[M:C|] c'4 :|
w:to gen-ti-le~et bel------le don-ne nel-la ter-ra no--------stra;
w:ce-te d'as-sai quel-------le co-me'l vi-so di_ fuor_ mo-----stra
[V:3] g2 c2 | c3 f | e c>d e | f d c2 | f2 z2 | d2 d2 | b2 b2 | b>c d2 |[M:4/2] e>d c B2 c g2 |[M:C|] c4 :|
w:to gen-ti-le~et bel-------le don-ne nel-la ter-ra no-------stra;
w:ce-te d'as-sai quel-------le co-me'l vi-so di_ fuor mo------stra
%
%===================31=======32========33======34========35=========36
[V:1][M:3/2] g4 g2 | f4 d2 | e4 e2 | d4 d2 | d4 e2 | f4 e2 |
w:ques-ta gran bel-le-za vo-stra con a-mo-re~a
[V:2][M:3/2] e'4 e'2 | d'4 b2 | c'4 c'2 | b4 b2 | b3-a g2 | f2-_a3 g |
w:ques-ta gran bel-le-za vo-stra con a-mo-re~a
[V:3][M:3/2] e4 e2 | B4 d2 | c4 _A2 | B4 B2 | B4 c2 | d4 c2 |
w:ques-ta gran bel-le-za vo-stra con a-mo-re~a
%
%==========37======38==============39========40======41========42========43
[V:1] d2 d4 | B4 B2 |[M:C|] c2 c2 | e2 e2 | d2 d2 | c2 c2 | g2 g2 |
w:com-pa-gna-te; se non sia-te~i-na-mo-ra-te e' sa-
[V:2] g4 f2 | g4 g2 |[M:C|] c'2 c'2 | c'2 c'2 | b2 b2 | c'2 c'2 | e'2 e'2 |
w:com-pa-gna-te; se non sia-te~i-na-mo-ra-te e' sa-
[V:3] B2 B4 | G4 G2 |[M:C|] c2 c2 | c2 c2 | g2 g2 | c2 c2 | c2 e2 |
w:com-pa-gna-te; se non sia-te~i-na-mo-ra-te e' sa-
%
%===========44========45======================46==
[V:1] f3 f | d d c2 |[M:4/2] B2 c d2 c2 =B |[M:C|] c4 |]
w:ria me-glio es-ser sen---za.
[V:2] d'3 c' | b b a2 |[M:4/2] g2 e f>e c d2 |[M:C|] c4 |]
w:ria me-glio es-ser sen---za.
[V:3] B3 c | d B c>d |[M:4/2] e>d c B>c A G2 |[M:C|] c4 |]
w:ria me-glio es-ser sen---za.

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].

Boys will be ... Gentlemen, please!

How do I look? Curly blond shoulder-length wig, frock coat, petticoat breeches, stockings held up by ribbon garters, high heels, and of course, this season's essential accessory for the young man about town, a rapier. During these jaunts back in time, it has become so routine to carry a weapon that I almost feel out of character when I return to my own time and relinquish it to the armoury. But at least I have never had to defend myself.

Our destination is the City of London, January of 1695, and the nation is in mourning for Queen Mary II. I suggest that our first stop should be one of the chocolate houses which have sprung up like mushrooms all over London. (I don't know about you, but I am quite ready to add myself to the growing number of chocolate addicts in the city!)

As we make our way to the business district, the streets are busy with traders crying their wares: "New Oysters!", "New Broomes for Old Shoes"

If we can, I would like to start our investigation at Mr.Ozinda's Chocolate House by St.James's Gate, in Whitehall, or perhaps Edward Lloyd's Coffee House. Both these establishments are fairly well-known places where businessmen loiter, and where clients can be fairly sure of finding them. It seems there is no shortage of choice! We are only a few doors down from the competing Frances White's Chocolate House.

Try to avoid the tables where the young men are gambling, I would prefer not to be too close if anybody starts a rumble. If we can, I'd rather find a quiet corner where we can browse the newspapers and listen to the conversations going on.

Have a look at this newspaper advertisement:

"In Bishopgate St, in Queen's Head Alley, at a FrenchMan's house, is an excellent West Indian drink called Chocolate to be sold, where you may have it ready at any time and also unmade at reasonable rates."

Now this looks more like our kind of company, heading this way. Do you see the elderly gentleman being guided by a younger man, and the two older fellows accompanying them? Would you do the honours and invite them to share our table, away from the hubbub of the gamblers?

Ah, here comes our chocolate, served with style in a beautiful silver pot. No wonder this stuff is so popular; we mix the whipped cream and sugar into it, in the same manner as everybody else, and... what a drink!

"Will you sit with us, gentlemen? We have here the Domestick Intelligence news sheet printed in London this week, and a new letter, the London Gazette."

"I thank you sir. My eyes are not as bright as once they were, and I am obliged to rely upon the assistance of Mr.Langridge here to conduct my business. Have you seen any word concerning Mr.Paterson?"

"I confess we have not." I have to pause for a moment trying to think who Mr.Paterson might be, but before I can come up with an answer, one of the elderly gentleman's companions supplies it for me.

"Mr.Pepys is of the opinion that Mr.Paterson has a scheme to grow fat by leeching from English men. Can you conceive of another venture for which you would be willing to pay another eight per cent per annum to service a loan? Were it not for the Dutch war, I doubt such a business would have found footing, but of course, Mr.Paterson is a Scotch Man!"

The penny drops (forgive the pun). Mr.Paterson is the Scottish financier who funded the loan to establish the Bank of England last year. The expenses incurred in fighting the Dutch were threatening to ruin the English economy, and Paterson stepped in with the offer of a loan of £1,200,000 to the English government. Subscribers to the venture were incorporated as the Governor and Bank of England, entitled among other things, to issue notes of credit, which as their future demonstrates, will be accepted as currency.The conversation turns to such topics as the rebuilding of the city under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren, whose Westminster Cathedral is still under construction. Somebody says that Sir Christopher himself described the dome as "a great pap, poking in the eye of heaven" and I barely manage to stifle a giggle at the idea of an English national monument described as a huge stone tit!

We must have made a good impression, because as the company leaves, Mr.Pepys invites us to the Red Lion inn this evening, to dine and sing glees. Although Mr.Purcell will not be with us, being otherwise engaged with preparations for the funeral of the late queen, we are promised a merry evening.

<=== @ ===>

The hour is 9.30pm as nearly as I can gauge it. The tables are pushed back to the walls, and songsheets are handed around.

"Now gentlemen," our Master of Ceremonies is a portly fellow with a roast-beef complexion, "that you have your fill of good mutton, let us make a start with Ale and Tobacco".

"And now, from our own Mr.Henry Purcell, who regrets he cannot be with us this evening, but sends us this offering, in his own best hand:"

X:1 % number

T:Sir Walter Enjoying His Damsel One Day % title

C:Henry Purcell % composer

O:Www.Laymusic.org % origin.

M:3/4 % meter

L:1/4 % length of shortest note

Q:240 % tempo

K:Bb % key

V:1 % voice 1

z z B, | F F F | G G/A/ B | E E/F/ G | F2 F | B>C B |

w:Sir Wal-ter en-joy-ing his dam-sel one night, he tick-l'd and

c A B/ c/ | c>B c | d2 || c/ c/ | c F A | B2 B/ A/ |
w:pleas'd her to so great a de-light that she cou'd not con-tain t'wards the

G>A B | A A B/ c/ | d<B d | e2 f | A2 A | B !fermata! B || f |

w:end of the mat-ter, but in rap-ture cry'd out: "O sweet Sir Wal-ter, O

f/ e/ e/ e e/ | e/ d/ d/ d d/ | d<c c/ B/ | c c f |

w:sweet Sir Wal-ter, O sweet Sir Wal-ter, O sweet Sir, sweet Sir Wal-ter, O

f/ d/ d/ B/ G/ E/ | C/ D/ E/ C/ D/ E/ | F/ E/ F/ D/ E/ F/ | B, !fermata! B, z |]

w:swit-ter swat-ter swit-ter swat-ter swit-ter swat-ter swit-ter swat-ter swit-ter swat-ter!

I should also clarify that "switter swatter" might be in the lyric, but one or two of the wags in the company were substituting their own words at this point.

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].

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

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

Saint Crispin's Day remembered

Have you ever been inside a castle? we're going to help the wife and daughter of Robert Cluzeaux herding geese and ducks up to the castle today. The chatelaine has contracted the Cluzeaux farm to provide geese and ducks to the castle, and manage their keep. The geese are a noisy lot, honking and hissing, and look out for the little green puddles of half-digested grass. I stepped in one a minute ago and nearly lost my footing. I can't imagine how Giselle and Francine manage to maintain order just by waving their hands and flicking their willow switches now and then. All I seem to do is scatter the birds every which way. Which is why I am not really doing anything, just tagging along and trying to prevent stragglers.

Fort Nieulay may not be as impressive as a big castle like Caernarfon in Wales, but it certainly looks formidable: the stone walls are buttressed on the outside, and I'm told the fort can muster fifty-five cannon in time of war. The first thing that strikes me as we enter (and the ducks scatter yet again) is the scarcity of soldiers in evidence. I've been told previously that a castle like this can be defended quite effectively by a much smaller force than that needed to overpower it, and evidently it's true. Inside the stone walls of the keep roughly two thirds of the space is taken up by wooden construction, although the walls themselves are quite thick enough to enclose corridors wide enough for two armed men to walk abreast, and still at least eighteen inches thick at the arrow slits. (The picture is actually Castle Rising Castle in Norfolk, England, but it gives a fair idea)

I have to admit that I wasn't sure how this was going to work when we first set out: obviously, the castle doesn't have a duckpond within the keep, but the ducks and geese seem to be quite happy about being herded into the loft over the barn. Although she was quite nice about it, Giselle has suggested that I should make myself busy elsewhere until it's time to return to the farm, which is fine with me, as it gives me a chance to ask a few questions.

Roger Bateman, the sentry at the gate who let us pass is a taciturn fellow at first, but once I start asking about the practical details of his armour he opens up a little more. Chainmail isn't particularly heavy, but it can be a regular "nuisance" (not Roger's words) to keep clean, particularly in bad weather, and he recommends the wearing of a padded leather jerkin as additional protection. He is particularly proud to retell his own part in the battle of Azincourt (he pronounces it "Agincourt") a few years ago, in the October of 1415.

"I came over back in August of '15 when the King laid siege to Harfleur port. I don't remember as anybody said why we had to take Harfleur. Not for me to bother anyways. I get paid for fighting His Majesty's battles, and as long as I get paid, who cares? Well the town held strong until September but I don't suppose they was expecting a siege so His Majesty left a garrison to occupy the town, and we started the march north to Calais which was already English territory and we could spend the winter training and re-equipping. See, if you don't look after your armour, it en't going to look after you.

What we didn't know, but you'd be a fool not to guess at it, was the French had been mustering an army. They didn't like having King Henry leaving his English footprints all over French soil and claiming he was the rightful King of France, but it didn't exactly help them that Burgundy was ready to side with whoever looked stronger, and if they'd had the gold to buy mercenaries in, they would have declared their own state and told King Charles where he could plant his vines.

We'd had to detour south after the French blocked our route across the Somme river. We were tired, half of us were sick and we'd got as far as the village of Maisoncelles when the column was halted again. Turns out we'd practically walked into an ambush, and if it hadn't been that it was almost dark, who knows but we might have?

Well, the order was given for us to pitch camp. So after we stuck sharpened wooden palings in the ground, we pretty much flopped where we was. Too swynking tired even to care about the rain. Sentries was posted 'cos even in the sopping black night you didn't know what the Frenchies might get up to, and before first light, His Majesty King Henry sent word through the ranks to address us. He told us that the French way was to take our noblemen commanders prisoner to be ransomed, but us ordinary pongoes had better fight for our lives 'cos in all likelihood, the French wouldn't have any use for us.

I di'n't know when I came, but I learned since; the French for ransom money is franc-or; means "Gold for freedom" that does.

As a battlefield we wasn't too badly placed. 'Twixt us and the Frenchies was mostly ploughed fields and thick woods on both flanks, so we was formed up with men-at-arms four lines deep, and shoulder to shoulder, ready with pikes and halberds, and the woods were sort of like a funnel, narrowing down towards our lines.

For the first watch of the day or so, the Frenchies didn't move, so His Majesty had us move our lines forward a little, with the archers at the front moving the palings as they went. Dunno whose idea the palings was. I'd not seen 'em used afore, but they made sense once you saw 'em in the ground. Not something you'd really want to charge at if you could see a better way.

Well, once the archers were in the best position, they let loose and the French cavalry fell apart! My guess is some of those arrows must have come down on the horses flanks. The French armoured men had hard going to get across the boggy ground but they finally made it, and started hacking away at our front lines. We had to fall back some but with more men pressing forward from behind, and our lines trying to drive them back into the mud we finally got the better of them.

Late in the day, though, while we was still fighting, word got to His Majesty that our supply train was being attacked. Well I think he took that kind of hard, 'cos I heard after, he ordered all the French prisoners killed. But it just goes to show, it don't do to be a boil on the King's bum!

We was proud, that day. And since then, I learned this song from a jongleur that spent a few days in the town. I'll sing it for you, and for the glory of His Majesty, God bless 'im."

X:49
T:Agincourt Carol
C:Anonymous
O:English
M:3/4
L:1/4
Q:
P:AB
K:C
P:A
D | D2 | D E>D | D C/B,/D/C/ |
w:De-o gra-ci-as_ Ang-li-
A, z A, | C/D/ E>D | D E/G/ F/D/ | (3D/C/D/ E/B,/ ^C |
w:a Re-de___ pro___ victo------ri-
D2
w:a
P:B
|: D | F2 E | D A _B | A2 G | A z F |
w:Our King went forth_ to Nor-man-dy, with
D F>E | G F D/E/ | D>^C C/B,/ | D z F |
w:grace and_ might_ of_ chi--val--ry. There
E/F/ G A | F G/_B/ A/F/ | E/F/ G/D/ E | F z F |
w:God__ for him__ wrought_ marv---lous--ly where-
F E C | E/F/G/F/ E/F/ | D2 C | D z F/G/ |
w:fore_ Eng-land___ may_ call and cree. Deo_
G F/ A G/ | G/ A F E/ | G2 D | D2 D |
w:----gra--ci--as. De-o gra-
E F2 | F E/F/G/A/ | F/C/ F/ E D/ | F z E |
w:ci-as An-gli---------a Re-
G F/C/ E/F/ | D E2 | D>C C/B,/ | D2 :|
w:---de_ pro vic-to--ri--a.

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].

Of course, centuries later, William Shakespeare put some of his most stirring words into the mouth of King Henry V.

• Audio recording
• Video
  

Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.