| "To my
dear and good friends, the men of the Church, burgesses, and inhabitants of
the town of Riom
Dear and good
friends, you well know how the town of Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier was taken by assault, and
with God's help I intend to clear out the other places which are against the King. But
because so much powder, arrows, and other war materiel has been expended before the said
town, and because myself and the lords who are at this town are so poorly provisioned for
laying siege to La Charité, where we will be going shortly, I pray you, upon whatever
love you have for the welfare and honor of the King and all the others here, that you will
aid the siege and immediately send powder, saltpeter, sulfur, arrows, strong arbalests and
other materials of war. And do this so that it will not be prolonged for lack of the said
powder and other war materials, and so that no one can say that you were negligent or
unwilling. Dear and good friends may Our Lord protect you. Written at Moulins, the ninth
day of November.
Joan" translated by Allen Williamson |
"To my very dear and good friends, the churchmen, burgess, and other
townsmen of the town of Rheims Very dear and well beloved, whom I much
long to see, I, Jehanne the Maid, have received your letter making mention
that you fear you will be besieged. Please know that you will not be, if I
can meet with them very shortly. And if it should happen that I do not meet
with them and they should come before you, then shut your gates, for I shall
very shortly be in your neighborhood. And if they are there I shall make
them put on their spurs in such haste that they will not know where to find
them, and raise the siege, if it is begun, so shortly that it will be very
soon. I write no more now, except: be you ever good and loyal. I pray God to
have you in his keeping.
Written at Sully, the sixteenth day of March.
I would send you some further news,
with which you would be most joyful, but I fear this letter may be taken on
the road and the said news be seen.
Joan" |
"To my very dear and good friends the men of the Church, magistrates, bourgeois,
and inhabitants and laborers of the good town of Rheims Very dear and good
friends, may it please you to know that I have received your letters, which described how
word had been brought to the king that there were many evil people in the good city of Reims.
If you wish to know the truth, he was told that there were many who belonged to a
conspiracy which would have betrayed the city and brought in the Burgundians. But
thereafter the King well knew otherwise because you had sent him assurances. He is
therefore well pleased with you. And know that you are much in his favor, and if you will
have to fight, he will aid you in the event of a siege. And he well knows that you have
endured much suffering from the hardships which your enemies the treasonous Burgundians
have inflicted on you; so he will deliver you, if it pleases God, very soon. That is to
say as soon as is feasible. I beg
and require, very dear friends, that you defend well the aforesaid good city for the king
and that you keep good watch. You will soon receive my good news more directly. I will not
write any more for the present except to say that all of Brittany is French and the
Duke must send three thousand soldiers to the King, paid for six
months' service. I commend you to God, may He watch over you.
Written at Sully on the 28th
of March.
Joan"
translated by Allen Williamson
|
"As to my schooling, I learned my faith, and was rightly
and duly taught to do as a good child should." In Her Own Words, p. 3