Jeanne D'Arc: Her Life And DeathOliphant, Mrs. (Margaret)
History
Jeanne D'Arc: Her Life And Death
Oliphant, Mrs. (Margaret)
France -- History; Joan, of Arc, Saint, 1412-1431
Having thrown in this tentative question which she did not understand,
they returned to the question of her dress, which holds such an
important place in the entire interrogatory. If she were allowed to
hear mass as she wished, having been all this time deprived of religious
ordinances, did not she think it would be more honest and befitting that
she should go in the dress of a woman? To this she replied vaguely, that
she would much rather go to mass in the dress of a woman than to retain
her male costume and not to hear mass; and that if she were certified
that she should hear mass, she would be there in a woman's dress. "I
certify you that you shall hear mass," the examiner replied, "but you
must be dressed as a woman." "What would you say," she answered as with
a momentary doubt, "if I had sworn to my King never to change?" but
she added: "Anyhow I answer for it. Find me a dress, long, touching the
ground, without a train, and give it to me to go to mass; but I will
return to my present dress when I come back." She was then asked why
she would not have all the parts of a female dress to go to mass in; she
said, "I will take counsel upon that, and answer you," and begged again
for the honour of God and our Lady that she might be allowed to hear
mass in this good town. Afterwards she was again recommended to assume
the whole dress of a woman and gave a conditional assent: "Get me
a dress like that of a young _bourgeoise_, that is to say, a long
_houppelande_; I will wear that and a woman's hood to go to mass." After
having promised, however, she made an appeal to them to leave her free,
and to think no more of her garb, but to allow her to hear mass without
changing it. This would seem to have been refused, and all at once
without warning the jurisdiction of the Church was suddenly introduced
again.
She was asked, whether in all she did and said she would submit herself
to the Church, and replied: "All my deeds and works are in the hands of
God, and I depend only on Him; and I certify that I desire to do nothing
and say nothing against the Christian faith; and if I have done or said
anything in the body that was against the Christian faith which our
Lord has established, I should not defend it but cast it forth from
me." Asked again, if she would not submit to the laws of the Church she
replied: "I can answer no more to-day on this point; but on Saturday
send the clerk to me, if you do not come, and I will answer by the grace
of God, and it can be put in writing."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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