THE CONDEMNATION
a mystery play in 12 scenes
This play is performed by one player who is onstage throughout. The player is dressed in men’s clothes: small black boots, black trousers, and a somewhat oversized white shirt, worn outside the pants and unbuttoned at the neck to reveal the top of a white undershirt; men’s underpants and socks too, please. Hair is either short or pulled back; no jewelry; as little makeup as possible.
The stage is bare except for five large black loudspeakers, all facing the player. They’re situated about midway between the audience and the player, arranged in an arc the width of the stage, and spaced equidistant from each other. The loudspeakers are elevated approximately seven feet off the ground by chains that hang from the ceiling.
When the loudspeakers are in operation, a distinctive hum issues from all five and runs continuously until the end of the scene. The voices heard over the loudspeakers are audibly male, performed by six different actors on pre-recorded tape. Each loudspeaker cue utilizes a different voice, selected randomly, and issues from a different loudspeaker, also selected randomly. The player responds only to the specific loudspeaker that has just sounded.
SCENE 12, PART 2
FROM THE TRIALS OF GILLES DE RAIS, 1440: SESSION NO. 6
The lights go up with the sound of the hum of the loudspeakers. GILLES is looking up at them. He is extremely distraught and struggles to maintain his self-control. Near the end of his second response, he loses it and starts sobbing with grief and remorse. He doesn’t regain his composure until toward the end of his third response.
SPEAKERS
We formally accuse you of having committed the crimes attributed to you in these proceedings.
GILLES
I acknowledge that I have committed them.
SPEAKERS
We now ask for your confession. The shame you shall experience in doing so before Us will serve to alleviate the punishment you will have to suffer in the next world.
GILLES
I acknowledge that I seized the fortress of Saint Étienne-de-Mermorte by my own authority and with offensive arms, while Geoffrey Le Ferron was Lord of it and had possession of it by a transfer that I had made over to him. I acknowledge that there I did constrain his brother Jean Le Ferron, the officiating priest at Saint Étienne, to hand the fortress over to me, and then had him brought to my castle at Tiffauges, back in French territory, and held prisoner until he was liberated through the intervention of the Constable of France. I acknowledge that I disobeyed the restraining orders placed on me by my Lord the Duke of Brittany, who told me to hand over and vacate Saint Étienne and release Jean Le Ferron, under penalty of a fine of fifty thousand crowns. I also acknowledge that I have killed a large number of small male children and had them burned to ashes to eliminate any trace of my crimes. I also acknowledge that I have committed the other crimes described in my confession.
SPEAKERS
So far as the first case is concerned, We adjudge and declare that you shall incur the pecuniary penalties already mentioned, and that these should be paid in favor of Monsignor the Duke and levied on your possessions and lands. So far as the other crimes committed and confessed are concerned, We adjudge and declare that you are to be hanged and burned. So that you might beg God’s mercy and prepare to die fittingly, with numerous regrets for having committed your crimes, know that you are to be executed tomorrow at eleven o’clock.
GILLES
I thank God, and I thank you for notifying me of the hour of my death. I would also like to make a request, may it please my Lord, regarding my servants Henriet and Poitou. Together we committed the horrible and enormous crimes for which we are condemned to death, and I ask that together we be executed, at the same hour of the same day. In this way I, who was the cause of their misdeeds, might be able to comfort them and speak to them of their salvation at the hour of execution, and exhort them by example to die well. I fear that, if they should not see me die, they would fall into despair and imagine that they were dying while I went unpunished. My hope is, on the contrary, with the grace of Our Lord, that I who made them commit the crimes for which they are dying, could be the cause of their salvation.
SPEAKERS
We accede to this request. Moreover, in consideration of your profound contrition, We accord you this favor: The execution shall be carried out as stated, but We will allow your body, once having been opened and embraced by the flames, to be placed thereafter in a coffin and buried in the city of Nantes, in whatever church you designate.
GILLES
I thank you, my Lord, and ask that my body be buried in the church of the Carmelite monastery of Notre-Dame in Nantes. I also request if my Lord would be so kind as to ask the Bishop of Nantes to arrange a general procession for tomorrow, to ask God to maintain in me and my servants the firm hope of salvation.
SPEAKERS
This too We shall accord you.
GILLES
I thank you, my Lord.
The hum falls silent and JEANNE turns away from it.
SCENE 1, PART 1
JEANNE (to the audience)
It was in the summer, when I was I think about 12 or 13 years old, that I changed, both body and soul. I had led a very simple, rather sheltered life: My father’s farm did well, and I was kept busy with sewing and spinning and other ordinary cares of the house. So when these changes began, I was very frightened – at first. You see, I’d been prepared and yet I wasn’t prepared at all. I’d been told that I would start passing blood in those months, but it was still a shock to me when it happened. I burst into tears and ran weeping to my mother. All I could say to her was, “I’ve been wounded,” even though I knew that I hadn’t been harmed. I fasted the rest of that day and the day after, and then began eating again. And the next day I was in my father’s garden, around noontime, when from off to my right, towards the church, I heard this Voice. It was accompanied by a great light, also coming from the same side. And I was very afraid.
The hum resumes and JEANNE turns to it.
SCENE 1, PART 2
FROM THE TRIALS OF JEANNE D’ARC, 1431: SESSION NO. 2
SPEAKERS
Tell Us your name and surname.
JEANNE
In my own country they call me Jeannette, but since I came into France I have been called Jeanne. I have as surname d’Arc or Romée: In my country the girls take the name of their mother.
SPEAKERS
What is your place of birth? Who are your parents?
JEANNE
I was born in the village of Domremy. My father is called Jacques d’Arc; my mother, Ysabelle.
SPEAKERS
Where were you baptized?
JEANNE
In the village of Domremy. From my mother I learned my Pater and my Ave Maria and my Credo.
SPEAKERS
How old are you?
JEANNE
I am, I’d say, about 19 years of age.
SPEAKERS
The Voice that speaks to you, is it that of an Angel or of a Saint, or is it directly from God?
JEANNE
It is the Voice of Saint Catherine and of Saint Margaret. Their faces are adorned with beautiful crowns, very rich and precious. To tell you this, I have leave from Our Lord.
SPEAKERS
How do you know if these were the two Saints?
JEANNE
I know quite well that it’s them.
SPEAKERS
How do you distinguish them?
JEANNE
I can easily distinguish one from the other by the greeting they give me. I know them well because they were named to me. It is seven years now since they have undertaken to guide me. I have also received comfort from Saint Michael.
SPEAKERS
Which of these two appearances came to you first?
JEANNE
Saint Michael.
SPEAKERS
Is it a long time since you first heard Saint Michael’s voice?
JEANNE
I didn’t say anything to you about the voice of Saint Michael; I said I received great comfort from him.
SPEAKERS
What was the first voice that came to you when you were about thirteen?
JEANNE
It was Saint Michael. I saw him before my eyes, surrounded by the Angels of Heaven – I came into France only by the order of God.
SPEAKERS
Did you see Saint Michael and these Angels bodily, in reality?
JEANNE
I saw them with my bodily eyes as well as I see you. When they went from me, I wept. I should have liked to be taken away with them.
SPEAKERS
Did you do reverence to Saint Michael and these Angels when you saw them?
JEANNE
Yes, and after they went, I kissed the earth where they’d been.
SPEAKERS
Were they with you long?
JEANNE
Very often they came among the faithful, without being seen; often I saw them among the faithful.
SPEAKERS
What sign do you give that you have this revelation from God, and that it is Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret who talk with you?
JEANNE
I’ve told you that it’s them. Believe me if you will.
SPEAKERS
Are you forbidden to say?
JEANNE
I haven’t quite understood if it’s forbidden or not.
SPEAKERS
How can you be sure of distinguishing the things you are free to tell from those which are forbidden?
JEANNE
I have asked leave on some points, and on others, I have obtained it – I would sooner have been torn apart by four horses than have come into France without God’s leave.
SPEAKERS
If the devil were to take the form or likeness of an angel, how would you know if it were a good angel or an evil angel?
JEANNE
I should know quite well if it were Saint Michael or a fake. The first time I had great doubts if it was Saint Michael; I was a young child, and I was very afraid. I had seen him many times before I knew it was Saint Michael. But afterwards, he had taught me so well, and it was so clear to me, that I believed assuredly it was he.
SPEAKERS
What doctrine did he teach you?
JEANNE
Above all things he told me to be a good child, and that God would help me to come to the aid of the King of France. He told me of the great misery there was in the kingdom of France.
SPEAKERS
What else did the Voice teach you?
JEANNE
It instructed me to be good and go often to Church, and it told me it was necessary for me to come into France. It said to me two or three times a week, “You must go into France.” The Voice said to me, “Go, raise the siege which is being made before the city of Orléans. Go to Robert de Baudricourt, the Captain of Vaucouleurs: He will provide you with an escort to accompany you.” And I replied that I was but a poor girl who knew nothing of riding or fighting. I went to my uncle and remained there for eight days until I said to him, “I must go to Vaucouleurs.” He took me there, and when I arrived, I recognized Robert de Baudricourt even though I’d never seen him before. I knew him thanks to my Voice, which made me recognize him. I told Robert, “I must go into France,” but he refused to hear me and twice he sent me away. The third time he received me and furnished me with men. The Voice had told me it would be thus. I had with me a Knight, a Squire, and four servants when I departed Vaucouleurs and began my journey to the court of the King in Chinon.
SPEAKERS
When the Voice showed you the King, was there any light?
JEANNE
Spare me. Pass on.
SPEAKERS
When this Voice came to you, was there a light?
JEANNE
There was plenty of light everywhere, as was seemly. It doesn’t all come to you.
SPEAKERS
Was there an Angel over your King’s head when you saw him for the first time?
JEANNE
By Our Lady! If there was, I know nothing of it. I didn’t see it.
SPEAKERS
Was there a light?
JEANNE
There were more than three hundred knights and more than fifty torches, without counting the spiritual light.
The hum falls silent and GILLES turns away from it.
SCENE 2, PART 1
GILLES (to the audience)
Hundreds of us had packed into the royal castle at Chinon that day, all because of her. She neatly fitted some venerable prophecies of an armed Maid who would come forth to save France, and many at court had gotten themselves into quite the tizzy over her impending arrival. Those least pleased to receive her were the counselors to the King – despite the fact that their need for her was the keenest, because by March of 1429, the throne of Charles VII was ready to topple. Not that he had really sat in it, there had never been a coronation; six years after his father’s death, he was still only the Dauphin. Some were saying he was not even that: His Bavarian slut of a mother had disowned him and was ingratiating herself with the English by encouraging rumors that her son’s father was not Charles VI. Because he was so vacillating and pliable, Charles was kept in a state of constant indecision by a tiresome set of advisors – including my cousin Georges, then the King’s Favorite and a relentless voice for negotiations with the English and their French allies, the Burgundians. As you can imagine, the prospect of some 17-year-old peasant-girl warrior, casting out the English and exerting her own influence over the Dauphin, drove my cousin to the edge of panic. Yet even he knew that Charles was facing disaster. The English controlled most of the north and were pressing to advance beyond the Loire River and claim the rest of the country. They were then laying siege to the city of Orléans, and from there could head south and take Charles’ stronghold. Just a few weeks before, relief was sent to Orléans but the effort was a debacle – fought among barrels of salted fish, when our forces attacked the English supply line: “The Day Of The Herrings.” Once again our troops were routed, undermined by their argumentative and disorganized commanders. Now the English had but to wait for Orléans to fall to them. The mood of the court was desperate – especially on that overcrowded day when we awaited The Maid. We needed the miracle that Robert de Baudricourt was supposed to be sending us. Charles’ advisors insisted that he test the girl, so he decided to hide in the crowd and seat an impressive-looking noble on his throne. He naturally turned to me, because no nobleman at court looked more impressive than myself; but I declined the offer, simply to placate my cousin who feared of course for his own reputation. He felt it unwise for one of his relatives even to suggest any desire for the crown – although he knew as well as Charles did that I held no longing for it whatsoever. At the age of 24 – a year younger than the Dauphin – I was already one of the richest men in Europe. My parents had married specifically to preserve and consolidate the wealth of their own families, and I was poised to receive a third and even greater fortune from my grandfather after his passing. No one else in that beaten-down, threadbare court was maintaining his own private army: Over 200 soldiers, all of whom were dressed just as well as the nobility present that day in Chinon, I can promise you I had made sure of that. And it was even more apparent to the eye who their master was.
GILLES makes a half-bow to the Dauphin.
GILLES (to Charles VII)
I thank you humbly, Sire, but beg your indulgence. Having ridden all day to be here for The Maid’s arrival, I ask your leave to remain standing where I am.
GILLES (to the audience)
I liked the role I was playing at court, “Baron de Rais,” far too much to jeopardize it by playing King just to impress a girl. The great irony is that, as soon as The Maid walked in, she was the one who impressed us. Dressed head to toe in men’s clothing – even her hair had been cut like a man’s – she strode through that crowd with a soldier’s purpose and made straight to Charles. In this grand hall, with all these people, she completely ignored the man on the throne, myself, and everyone else, and walked right to him. When I beheld that, I knew at last the presence of Divine Force.
The hum resumes and GILLES turns to it.
SCENE 2, PART 2
FROM THE TRIALS OF GILLES DE RAIS, 1440: SESSION NO. 5
SPEAKERS
Tell Us when and where you began perpetrating these murders.
GILLES
It was in 1432, the year my grandfather Jean de Craon died, that I killed children and had them killed at the Champtocé castle.
SPEAKERS
What is the number of deaths?
GILLES
I do not know. A large number.
The hum falls silent and JEANNE turns away from it.
SCENE 3, PART 1
JEANNE (to the audience)
At Vaucouleurs, when I was preparing for the journey to Chinon, some of the soldiers spoke to me of their concern for my safety. Yes, Robert de Baudricourt had given me a responsible escort, but we would be traveling 350 miles, mostly through territory occupied by the English. I knew I had a sure road, even if the enemy was on it: God was with me, to prepare my way to the Dauphin. So I would smile at the soldiers’ fears and tell them that I was born to do this – and in truth it took us only eleven days to get to Chinon. Not long thereafter I was permitted to enter the court, where a great many people had gathered, some of the highest nobility – I remember one lord I saw there, very splendid, who later helped me and proved himself a fine soldier. But even if they all had been arrayed as grandly as he it wouldn’t have mattered, because it wasn’t possible for me not to recognize my King – although he kept himself to the rear of the crowd and was dressed most modestly. When I approached him, he even shook his head and started to back away.
JEANNE kneels before the Dauphin.
JEANNE (to Charles VII)
In God’s name, gentle Dauphin, ‘tis you are the King and none other.
JEANNE stands up.
JEANNE (to the audience)
Imagine, pretending he wasn’t. I was permitted to speak privately with him, and I told him what my Voices had revealed to me of his own prayers to God. After that he had no trouble believing that God had commanded me to raise the siege of Orléans and have him crowned King in Reims Cathedral. But to please those around him, I had to submit to long examinations. The clergy explored my faith and noblewomen inspected my virginity.
The hum resumes and JEANNE turns to it.
SCENE 3, PART 2
FROM THE TRIALS OF JEANNE D’ARC, 1431: SESSION NO. 4
SPEAKERS
What sign came to your King when you went to him?
JEANNE
It was beautiful and honorable and most credible, the best and richest in the world.
SPEAKERS
Was it gold, silver, precious stones, a crown?
JEANNE
I will tell you nothing more about it. No man in the world could devise so rich a thing as this sign. But the sign that you need is that God may deliver me from your hands; that is the surest sign He could send you. When I was about to start to see my King, my Voices told me: “Go boldly. When you are before the King, he shall have a sure sign to receive you and believe in you.”
SPEAKERS
When the sign came to your King, what reverence did you make it?
JEANNE
I thanked Our Lord for having delivered me from the trouble that I had with the clergy of my party, who were arguing against me. And I knelt down several times.
The hum falls silent and GILLES turns away from it.
SCENE 4, PART 1
GILLES (to the audience)
The Maid was short, not much over five feet tall, and rather stocky – a plain-looking girl, frankly, very much of her class. Yet she was the only female I ever beheld whom I truly wanted. I had celebrated my sixteenth birthday by abducting my cousin Catherine and forcing her to marry me, and never at any time did I feel for that girl what I felt for The Maid. I yearned for her from the moment I saw her. And I admired her so, because she would not have me. Nothing could swerve her from the course she had taken. She was inspired, it was a gift from God. And the more I admired her, the more I wanted her. The Maid could be had by no man; thus, my love for her had to be just as perfect, just as pure. I knew that I had reached those heights the day my cousin announced that he had persuaded Charles to put me in charge of the army that was to accompany her to Orléans. Naturally, Georges wanted me with her so I could keep him informed of her every movement – hoping to neutralize whatever political advantages she could gain were she to enrapture the army, or whatever other nonsense might be dreamt by a man with no imagination. When he insisted that I sign a pledge of my loyalty to him before accepting command, I grabbed for the quill. I would have signed his fat rear end, had that been the surest way for me to be situated alongside The Maid. Still, I kept my word and reported everything to my cousin, scrupulously. It was no betrayal of her, because unlike her captains, she never undertook any secret conspiracies. Hers was a completely open life: Whatever she did and said was there for anyone to see and hear. Several people were around her as often as myself, and they all could have told my cousin the same things – and you can be sure a few of them did. But no matter how much information he gathered, Georges was never able to understand The Maid. He was so hungry for power that he could no longer perceive that another person might draw near the plate and have no appetite for it at all. The Maid had no more need of wealth or dominion than a bird needs someone to carry it on a pillow from tree to tree. The naked presence of Divine Force was completely unrecognizable to Georges – “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” The ones who responded most readily to The Maid were seldom of the nobility or the clergy; but whenever she and I would enter a town, the poor and uneducated would flock to her, just to be in her presence or to touch her or ask for her blessing. It was the last thing she wanted, of course, but she would always treat them most gently, with great sympathy and respect. These people knew to worship her, without any direct experience of her inspirations. I had the privilege of seeing this girl, who but a year before had never even ridden a horse, prove herself a master at bearing the lance, assembling an army, ordering military operations, animating soldiers, directing artillery – she was every bit the equal of men who had fought for twenty or thirty years. I also had the honor of being present when The Maid took Communion, with such profound emotion, such gratitude and relief. It was to witness two miracles: that of the transubstantiation, and that of faith and love. Each made the other real, and they had need of nothing in the world but one another. The loop of Divine Force would close when the Body of Our Savior touched the tongue of The Maid, and I would long to be dissolved in unity with them.
The hum resumes and GILLES turns to it.
SCENE 4, PART 2
FROM THE TRIALS OF GILLES DE RAIS, 1440: SESSION NO. 1
SPEAKERS
We have pronounced the 49 Articles of the Bill of Indictment, and We propose and affirm all and every particular of the circumstances provided.
GILLES
I deny the truth of those articles and declare that you have nothing to proceed with – unless it were my confession that I received the sacrament of baptism and have renounced the devil and his ceremonies. I have been and am a true Christian, of this I assure you all.
SPEAKERS
In full knowledge of the peril to Our immortal soul if We declare falsely, We hereby swear before Almighty God and Holy Mother Church that We Ourselves have told only the truth in the Articles of the Bill of Indictment and offered no calumny. Will you swear that you have spoken only the truth to Us?
GILLES
I have no intention of taking any oath before this court.
SPEAKERS
Do you intend to respond to these articles, or contradict them, or discuss the issue?
GILLES
I do not intend to respond to them. The Bishop of Nantes and the Vicar of the Inquisitor have never been and are not now my judges. I intend to appeal. I know you and all the others here for the carousing lechers you are, and I would much prefer to be hanged by a rope around my neck than respond to such ecclesiastics and judges. Being made to appear before you in this manner is simply intolerable and I will do nothing for you.
SPEAKERS
Do you intend to object against the stated articles?
GILLES
I do not intend to say anything against them.
SPEAKERS
You place yourself in grave peril. Obey Our request for your response to the articles that We have had read to you.
GILLES
I have nothing to say.
SPEAKERS
Your refusals will lead to your excommunication. We call upon you to respond.
GILLES
No.
SPEAKERS
Upon threat of excommunication, you are exhorted to respond to these articles.
GILLES
I refuse. I am as good a Christian and true a Catholic as you are. If I had committed the charges against me, I would have committed a crime directly against the Catholic faith. I would not feign ignorance in this matter. And I am shocked that you ecclesiastical lords would even have knowledge of such crimes as are proposed against me, and that you could accuse me of such abominable acts.
SPEAKERS
Despite being canonically exhorted, you have refused to respond to the articles. We hereby adjudge and declare that you be held in manifest contempt of court. Your excommunication has been put in writing and shall be pronounced and published.
GILLES
I appeal this decision.
SPEAKERS
On account of the nature of this case, We do not intend to comply; and also on account of the monstrous and enormous crimes brought against you – crimes incapable of appeal – We ought not to comply, nor are constrained to do so by law.
GILLES
I will appeal.
The hum falls silent and JEANNE turns away from it.
SCENE 5, PART 1
JEANNE (to the audience)
It was more than seven weeks from when I arrived at Chinon until we at last set out for Orléans; and once there, days more were wasted in complications with the captains of our armies. When I first rode into battle, I was by myself. The Baron de Rais had finally arrived just that morning with reinforcements and food for the city, and late in the afternoon I was laying down to rest when my Voices told me to go now and fight the English. I rode out against the fort of Saint-Loup, and the English sent more soldiers against me from their other forts; but my attack had raised an alarm, and the Baron and his troops came to my side, followed by more men. We took Saint-Loup, the first victory in our campaign. Two days later the same thing happened again, and I began the assault on the fort of Les Augustins. After that victory our troops were more unified, and the next day we took the prize English fortress of Les Tourelles. The following morning the English withdrew from Orléans and the siege was raised. We then routed their soldiers from the surrounding towns and sent them fleeing north to Paris. I wanted to pursue them, but I knew we had to stop for the Dauphin’s coronation: All the people of France had to believe themselves the subjects of one lawful king. The ceremony was a grand thing to see, even though most of the people there understood it only as the coronation of Charles VII. I knew we were seeing the fulfillment of the will of God, and I cried like a baby. Afterwards, a great feast was held in celebration, and it was then that I first realized that I’d stopped eating. I’d lost the habit of it in the last few months, and all I ate anymore was a little bread which I would dip in wine. Everyone at court and with the armies saw me living that way; how many do you think received the Savior more often because of it? No one. Here was the proof that all you needed was communion with God, I had become a miracle of the Eucharist, yet no one ever recognized it. What they saw was a soldier: All through this time, I was marching, riding, fighting. I never lost weight; my strength and endurance never failed me. I also stopped passing blood around the same time that I stopped eating. Certain needs of my body just went to sleep while I was with the army, that’s all.
The hum resumes and JEANNE turns to it.
SCENE 5, PART 2
FROM THE TRIALS OF JEANNE D’ARC, 1431: SESSION NO. 1
SPEAKERS
We require you to swear to speak the truth on the questions addressed to you.
JEANNE
I don’t know what you wish to question me about; perhaps you may ask me of things that I ought not to tell you.
SPEAKERS
Swear to speak the truth on what shall be asked you concerning the Faith, and of what you know.
JEANNE
Of my father and my mother and what I did after taking the road to France, willingly will I swear; but of the revelations that have come to me from God, to no one will I speak or reveal them, save only Charles my King. To you I will not reveal them, even if it costs me my head. I have received them in visions and by secret counsel and am forbidden to reveal them. If you were well informed about me, you would want me out of your hands. I have done nothing except by revelation.
SPEAKERS
We require you to swear to speak the truth simply and absolutely on the questions to be addressed to you, without adding any restriction to your oath.
JEANNE
By my faith! If you constrain me to say things that I have sworn not to say, then I should be perjured, which you ought not to wish. I tell you, pay good heed to what you say, you who are my Judge. You take a great responsibility in charging me this way.
SPEAKERS
We again require you to swear, precisely and absolutely.
JEANNE
I will say willingly what I know, and yet not all. I am come in God’s name; I have nothing to do here; let me be sent back to God, whence I came.
SPEAKERS
A last time We urgently admonish you to swear to speak the truth on all that concerns your trial. You expose yourself to great peril if you refuse.
JEANNE
I am ready to speak the truth on what I know touching the trial.
The hum falls silent and GILLES turns away from it.
SCENE 6, PART 1
GILLES (to the audience)
War was nothing new to me. I had fought in battles since I was 15 years old, and I was good at it. I liked it – perhaps too much, as I would always put myself at the advance, heedless to my own peril. Thus, at Orléans, when I heard the church bells ringing the alarm and realized that The Maid had taken it upon herself to attack the English, I roared with laughter. I was giddy as I ran to my horse, thinking The Maid to be the same bold and reckless fighter I was – a shameful self-flattery, because Divine Force was impelling her, not destructiveness or greed or hatred. The Maid waged war and yet remained without sin – no soldier could ever claim that for himself. None of us ever saw her use a weapon against anyone, yet she was always at the lead, carrying a large white banner. It made her a fine target at Orléans, and during the attack a crossbow bolt took her about here –
GILLES touches his right shoulder, just below the clavicle.
GILLES (cont’d; to the audience)
– and buried itself several inches into her body. I carried her a safe distance and helped remove her armor, so the wound could be dressed with lard and olive oil. I had seen men perish from similar wounds, usually succumbing to loss of blood in a short time, but The Maid replaced her armor and resumed fighting. A few months later at the siege of Paris, I was standing right beside her when an English soldier hit her in the leg with a crossbow bolt – called her a “whore” as he fired, the filthy pig. Her thigh was completely pierced, and for a second time I took her in my arms and brought her to safety. The bolt was removed and the wound treated: Once again, she suffered no broken bones, no massive bleeding, no paralysis, no infection. The Hand of God never left The Maid throughout all these battles. I truly believe that, had we kept on fighting that summer, we could have chased the English out of the country altogether. But The Maid was adamant that the Dauphin become King as soon as possible, and she persuaded Charles to go to the cathedral at Reims, even though he dreaded traveling through territory occupied by the English. In fact, all the Burgundian towns along our way opened their gates to him willingly – except at Reims where they made him wait, hoping the Duke of Burgundy would present a better offer. It was Saturday when they finally surrendered their keys, which left less than 24 hours to arrange the entire ceremony. Not surprisingly, it was a slapdash affair: The habitual coronation regalia was in English hands, and an alternate crown had to be procured; the twelve Peers of France, who were supposed to stand forward for the King, mostly sent substitutes. The Duke of Burgundy snubbed him, of course; so too the Bishop of Beauvais, a powerful supporter of the English. Nevertheless, the coronation of Charles VII was the most glorious day of my life. I was given the honor of riding in escort with the Holy Chrism: the imperishable Oil descended from Heaven for the consecration of the first Christian King of the Franks, used to anoint our Kings for centuries. On that day I became the most favored man at court and was officially created Marshal of France – an exceptional title, especially at my age. Yet all the time I thought on little else but The Maid, who was arrayed most dashingly in her armor, with a tunic of white silk. Divine Force was manifest among us and had taken the most alien form so as to render itself the most recognizable. In the entire procession, The Maid alone was of neither the clergy nor the nobility; the only female, and the youngest of us too. Yet throughout the ceremony she stood right beside the King – the greatest Peer of France was never accorded such an honor. When he was crowned, she fell to her knees before him and said, “Now the will of God has been accomplished,” and she wept. And so did the King and every one of us who saw them.
The hum resumes and GILLES turns to it.
SCENE 6, PART 2
FROM THE TRIALS OF GILLES DE RAIS, 1440: SESSION NO. 2
SPEAKERS
Even though elsewhere you have chosen not to speak or object against anything in the Articles of the Bill of Indictment, nonetheless We do permit you now to do so.
GILLES
I do not intend to speak or object against anything in the articles.
SPEAKERS
Do you intend to say or propose anything to contest that We are your judges in this case?
GILLES
No. I intend to concede that you indeed have been and are my competent judges in this case. I did commit all the crimes in the Bill of Indictment, and I most humbly plead that you, my Lord, and all other ecclesiastics about whom I spoke badly and indiscreetly, might pardon me for the offensive words that I addressed to you. I here admit my shame for having pronounced them.
SPEAKERS
Acting for the love of God, We do hereby give you Our pardon for the insults you have spoken.
GILLES
Thank you, my Lord.
SPEAKERS
We request that you now respond to the aforesaid articles.
GILLES
I do swear that I did receive the sacrament of baptism and renounced the devil and his ceremonies; and I declare that I never invoked evil spirits, or caused others to summon them, or offered or caused to be offered anything whatsoever in sacrifice to these spirits. I did practice the art of alchemy for a certain period of time, and had it practiced by a Lombard named François Prelati, but I deny the invocations of evil spirits mentioned in the articles. Should you produce any witness who claims that I have invoked demons, or have had them invoked, or have entered into contracts with them, or sacrificed to them, then I will voluntarily undergo the test of fire.
The hum falls silent and JEANNE turns away from it.
SCENE 7, PART 1
JEANNE (to the audience)
After his coronation I pressed the King to drive out the English, but his counselors kept him from acting; instead, he would have me displayed in parades and triumphs at towns that declared their allegiance to him. I had a Holy Mission to perform, and there I was being shown off as though I was some kind of sacred object, rather than just the messenger. On the very day he was crowned, the King’s advisors began negotiating a temporary truce with the Burgundians. It was a perfect blunder, giving the English more time to strengthen their hold on Paris, and I announced my dissatisfaction by having a letter sent from me to the people of Reims.
JEANNE is still angry as she dictates her message to a clerk.
JEANNE (to clerk)
It’s true that the King has made a truce with the Duke of Burgundy, to last fifteen days. But don’t be surprised if I don’t enter Paris soon. I am not at all content with this truce that has been made and know not if I will uphold it.
JEANNE (to the audience)
I set out for Paris two days later, but assaulting the city was a doomed effort: Our armies were badly provisioned, and some of our captains had become even more disinclined to fight than usual. The siege had barely begun before the King ordered us to retreat. He disbanded the army a few weeks later, but a limited number of men stayed with me, and we fought on where we could, that fall and in the following spring. By then my Voices were telling me that I would be taken prisoner before the start of summer. I asked of them when it would happen, but they never said. If I’d known I was going to be taken that day at Compiègne, I never would have gone – not of my own free will; I would always have obeyed their commands in the end, whatever might happen to me. I asked of my Voices that I might die soon after I was taken, rather than suffer long in prison, but they’d only tell me to be resigned, and that it had to be this way. Late in the month of May we were fighting in Compiègne, and a Burgundian soldier was able to pull me off my horse. No one was close enough to help me and I became their prisoner. When they realized that no ransom would be paid for my return, they sold me to the English and I was sent to Rouen, there to stand trial before the Bishop of Beauvais. He deputized the English to be my keepers, and I was held in a dark cell in the Castle of Rouen, with my legs shackled and chained to a heavy wooden beam. At night another chain was passed around my body, to hold me down in bed. The worst of the English soldiers stood guard over me day and night. There were five of them, and two or three were in my cell with me at all times. They would joke about how I was going to die, and laugh at me when I cried, and try to distract me when I prayed.
The hum resumes and JEANNE turns to it.
SCENE 7, PART 2
FROM THE TRIALS OF JEANNE D’ARC, 1431: SESSION NO. 3
SPEAKERS
Say your Pater.
JEANNE
Hear me in confession and I will say it willingly.
SPEAKERS
We instruct you here and now to recite your Pater.
JEANNE
I will not say my Pater to you unless you hear me in confession.
SPEAKERS
The Accused had asked to hear Mass before this trial began, but upon the advice of well known Doctors and Masters who were consulted by Us, considering the crimes with which you are accused and the impropriety of the clothing that you wear, it has been decided that it is right to postpone permission for you to hear Mass or receive Communion or be confessed.
JEANNE
And what say you, if I have sworn and promised our King my Master not to put off these clothes? I beseech you as earnestly as I can, for the honor of God and Our Lady, permit me to hear Mass in the clothes I wear at this moment.
SPEAKERS
Who counseled you to wear a man’s clothes?
JEANNE
With that I charge no one.
SPEAKERS
Was it God who prescribed to you the clothing of a man?
JEANNE
What concerns these clothes is a small thing – less than nothing. I didn’t take them or do anything but by the command of Our Lord and of the Angels.
SPEAKERS
Do you think you did well by taking a man’s garment?
JEANNE
I have done nothing in the world but by the order of God. All that I have done by the order of Our Lord I think has been well done, and I look for good certainty and good help in it.
SPEAKERS
Many times you have requested permission to hear Mass. If this favor were granted you, would you consent to put off your man’s clothes and take the dress of a woman, as worn by all the women of your country?
JEANNE
Again I ask permission to hear Mass in the clothes I now wear, and in the same clothes to receive the Eucharist.
SPEAKERS
Reply to what We ask you: In the event of your being permitted to hear Mass, will you consent to abandon the clothing you wear?
JEANNE
I have not consulted on this and cannot yet take a woman’s dress. May I not be permitted to hear Mass the way I am? I desire it so. As to changing my dress, I cannot: It is not in my power. If it were, it would soon be done, but I cannot change my dress. I beg of you, my Lords, permit me to hear Mass in men’s clothes – they do not weigh upon my soul.
SPEAKERS
The Accused attributes to God, His Angels, and His Saints, orders against the modesty of her sex, which are prohibited by Divine Law: Things abominable to God and man, interdicted on pain of anathema by ecclesiastical censure. In virtue of these pretended orders, she has dressed herself in the garments of a man, those underneath as well as above; and was always seen with a cap on her head and her hair cut short in the style of a man. Putting aside the modesty of her sex, she acted against all feminine decency, and went so far as to carry arms of offense. To attribute all this to the order of God is to blaspheme God and His Saints, to destroy the Divine Law, and violate Canonical Rules; it is to libel her sex and its virtue, to overturn all decency, to justify all examples of dissolute living, and to drive others thereto. What say you to this Article of Accusation?
JEANNE
I have not blasphemed God nor His Saints.
SPEAKERS
The Holy Canons and Holy Writ declare that women who take men’s clothing or men who take women’s dress do a thing abominable to God. How then can you say that you took these clothes at God’s command?
JEANNE
I have already answered that.
SPEAKERS
Will you not take the dress of a woman to receive the Eucharist?
JEANNE
Neither for that nor for anything else will I yet put off my clothes. I make no difference between a man’s clothes and a woman’s clothes for receiving my Savior. I ought not to be refused for this question of clothing.
SPEAKERS
While detained at the Castle of Beaurevoir and at Arras, the Accused was many times advised, by noble persons of both sexes, to give up her man’s clothes and resume suitable attire. She absolutely refused and to this day refuses; she also disdains to give herself up to feminine work, conducting herself in all things rather as a man than as a woman. What say you to this Article of Accusation?
JEANNE
At Arras and Beaurevoir I was invited to take a woman’s dress; I refused then and I refuse still. As to the woman’s work of which you speak, there are plenty of other women to do it.
SPEAKERS
Forgetful of her salvation, impelled by the devil, the Accused has chosen not to approach the Sacraments or assist in Divine Service, pretending that it would displease God were she to put aside her man’s garment of unseemly form, which the Laws of God and man do forbid her to wear. In this appears her obstinacy, her hardness of heart, her lack of charity, her disobedience to the Church, and her contempt of Divine Sacraments. What say you to this Article of Accusation?
JEANNE
The clothes that I wear, I wear by the permission of God: I will not leave them off without the permission of God, even if it costs me my head.
SPEAKERS
You have said that you would take a woman’s dress, if you might then be set free. Would this please God?
JEANNE
If I had leave to go in women’s clothes, I should soon put myself back in men’s clothes and do what God has commanded me to do. For nothing in this world will I swear not to arm myself and put on a man’s garment; I must obey the orders of Our Lord.
SPEAKERS
What warrant and what help do you expect to have from Our Lord for wearing men’s clothing?
JEANNE
For the clothing I wear and for the other things that I have done, I wish no other recompense than the salvation of my soul.
The hum falls silent and GILLES turns away from it.
SCENE 8, PART 1
GILLES (to the audience)
His Royal Majesty King Charles VII never tried to raise an army of rescue for The Maid, although thousands would have rallied to him if he had. He also declined to pay her ransom – a policy to which all in his court were bound to submit. He could have threatened to treat his English prisoners the same way they treated The Maid, but he did not. He could have appealed to the Pope, or ordered the Archbishop of Reims to have The Maid examined by churchmen from all three parties, English, Burgundian, and French. But none of these measures were attempted. Instead, The Maid and her situation became unspoken topics at court, lest one create the impression of criticizing our King for being an ungrateful worm. My cousin Georges convinced him that The Maid had drawn more soldiers to her than he could afford to maintain: “A large army, if sufficiently hungry and angry – and held in thrall by a glamorous leader – will rip any king out of his throne.” So our armies were disbanded and our King once again applied himself to meaningless treaties and occasional skirmishes. He had chosen to ignore The Maid even before she was taken prisoner; after that, of course, Charles had to ignore not just her but the Masses and public prayers held for her release, the processions with supplicants walking barefoot, even in the winter. I would see many common soldiers petitioning for The Maid – repaying her, perhaps, for her days with the army, when she created opportunities for them to be confessed and receive Communion. The Maid would hold gatherings with all the priests and sing to Our Lady, and the only soldiers permitted to join them were those who had confessed themselves that day. Back then she herself was taking confession nearly every day, for she knew its value. At Patay one of my soldiers killed an English prisoner who was too poor to fetch a ransom: struck him on the forehead with his sword, a mortal blow. The Maid was on her horse when she saw this, and she yelled for a priest and then got down and ran over to the dying soldier. I was nearby along with my page Poitou, who was then but 12 years old, and I watched the Maid kneel in the grass and rest that man’s bleeding head in her lap and comfort him while his confession was heard.
GILLES (to Poitou)
Look there, boy. If I thought my head could be laid in such grace, I would as soon let you take a sword to it.
GILLES (to the audience)
At that he laughed, and I struck him in the face.
The hum resumes and GILLES turns to it.
SCENE 8, PART 2
FROM THE TRIALS OF GILLES DE RAIS, 1440: SESSION NO. 4
SPEAKERS
Upon considering your confession and considering the statements and depositions of the witnesses in this case, We hereby order that you be put to torture and submitted to further interrogation.
GILLES
I beg you most humbly, my Lord, to postpone that interrogation. I will deliberate on the crimes brought against me and will satisfy you so that it will not be necessary to question me further.
SPEAKERS
We shall forgo the application of torture provided you confess fully the crimes with which you are reproached.
GILLES
Thank you, my Lord. I do here confess that I have committed the invocations of demons, offered oblations and immolations, and made unto them promises and obligations.
SPEAKERS
For what purpose were you joined at Tiffauges by François Prelati?
GILLES
I had François Prelati brought to me with the intention of practicing the invocation of demons. I acknowledge that I had him perform many invocations by my order, in my absence and in my presence.
SPEAKERS
What were the results of these invocations?
GILLES
Nothing, my Lord. During none of these invocations did I see or perceive any devil to speak to.
SPEAKERS
What was your reaction to these failures?
GILLES
They greatly irritated and disappointed me.
SPEAKERS
Had you employed other conjurors before Prelati?
GILLES
I did employ others to perform many invocations, some of which I attended, but I was never able to see the devil or speak with him, although I did everything I could. It was not my fault if I could not see or speak with the devil.
The hum falls silent and JEANNE turns away from it.
SCENE 9, PART 1
JEANNE (to the audience)
When the trial began, the first thing I did was ask for a counsel in my replies. I told them I was too young and unlearned to respond to their questions, that I could neither read nor write; but they said I would have to speak for myself as best I could, without any counsel. The interrogations were very long, sometimes three hours or more; and if difficult and subtle questions arose on my answers, I’d be examined again that day, for another two or three hours. I really couldn’t blame some of the older judges when they would drop off to sleep – their minds were made up, they had no need to hear more. A few ecclesiastics really did want to help me, but anyone who spoke in my behalf was made to feel the wrath of the Bishop. When I said I could not submit to the judgment of my enemies in war, a monk spoke of the Church’s General Council: an assembly of the whole Church Universal, with some of my side as well as of the English. I said I was quite willing to submit to the General Council, but the Bishop exploded at the monk: “Hold your tongue, in the devil’s name!” Then he told the notary not to register what I had said. His hatred oppressed me at the trial and in prison – and sometimes they were the same place, with private interrogations in my cell. Even when the Bishop wanted to do something kind, he couldn’t. He sent me a special meal, a cooked fish, but it made me deathly ill. I don’t think that he’d meant to do me any harm, or that someone had tainted it – poisoning me in my cell was of little advantage to them. The fish was very rich and heavy, and my body couldn’t tolerate it. Doctors were brought in to bleed me, but the interrogations went on – and always with me in irons, by order of the Bishop. He never permitted me to attend Mass or partake of the Sacraments; I couldn’t even give worship to the Sacraments. A monk named Brother Jean would conduct me through the Castle to the Judges, and once I begged him to let me pray at the chapel for the adoration of the Eucharist. He did so willingly and my devotions on that day gave me great solace; but when the Bishop heard of it, Brother Jean was forbidden to bring me to the chapel anymore. Maybe the Bishop still remembered what the possibilities really could be. When I was fighting at the village of Lagny, just a month before I was captured, they told me that the young girls had gathered before the image of Our Lady and were asking if I might join them, to pray God and Our Lady to give life to an infant. They said it was three days since life had departed from the newborn child, and I saw that it was black as my coat. I was with the other young girls, praying and kneeling before Our Lady, and at last life did return to the child. We heard it yawn and saw its color begin to come back. It yawned again and then a third time. Quickly the priest baptized it, and soon after, when it died, it was buried in holy ground.
The hum resumes and JEANNE turns to it.
SCENE 9, PART 2
FROM THE TRIALS OF JEANNE D’ARC, 1431: SESSION NO. 5
SPEAKERS
Has your Voice forbidden you to say everything on what you are asked?
JEANNE
If my Voice has forbidden me, what would you say about it? Believe me, it’s not men who have forbidden me. Today I will not answer. I do not know if I should or not, it hasn’t been revealed to me.
SPEAKERS
Why does not this Voice speak to your King?
JEANNE
I do not know if it be the Will of God. Without the grace of God, I wouldn’t know how to do anything.
SPEAKERS
Do you know if you are in the grace of God?
JEANNE
If I am not, may God lead me there; if I am, may God keep me there. I should be the saddest in all the world if I thought I wasn’t in the grace of God. But if I was in a state of sin, do you think the Voice would come to me? I wish that everyone could hear the Voice as I hear it.
SPEAKERS
Has not your Voice called you “Daughter of God, Daughter of the Church, Great-Hearted Daughter”?
JEANNE
Before the raising of the siege of Orléans and every day since, when my Voices speak to me, they call me often “Jeanne the Maid, Daughter of God.”
SPEAKERS
Every day the Accused has invoked evil spirits and consulted them on what she should do, notably on the manner in which she should answer in court. This in effect constitutes an invocation of demons. What say you to this Article of Accusation?
JEANNE
As firmly as I believe Jesus Christ to be Our Savior from the pains of Hell, so do I believe that Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret have been sent by Our Savior to comfort and to counsel me. I shall call them to my help as long as I live.
SPEAKERS
In what way do you call them?
JEANNE
I beseech Our Lord and Our Lady to send me counsel and comfort, and They send it to me.
SPEAKERS
In what words do you beseech this?
JEANNE
I say, “Most sweet Lord, in honor of Your Holy Passion, I beseech You, if You love me, that You will reveal to me how I should answer these Clergy.”
SPEAKERS
Has your Voice sometimes varied in its counsel?
JEANNE
I have never heard it give two contrary opinions. Last night again, I begged its help and the Voice said to me: “Answer boldly; God will help you.” You say you are my judge. Take care of what you are doing, for in truth I am sent by God, and you place yourself in great danger.
SPEAKERS
The Accused has done, composed, contrived, and ordained a number of sacrileges and superstitions; she made herself a diviner; she caused herself to be adored and venerated; she invoked demons and evil spirits, and consulted them, associated with them, made use of them, entered into compacts and treaties with them; and she furnished to others, acting in the same manner, aid and favor, and led them on to act like herself, imprinting on their hearts the most fatal errors. What say you to this Article of Accusation?
JEANNE
I deny ever having used witchcraft, superstitious works, or divinations. As for allowing myself to be adored, if any kissed my hands and my garments, it was not my doing or by my wish. I sought to protect myself from it, and to prevent it as much as I could.
SPEAKERS
In what spirit did those of your party kiss your hands and your garments?
JEANNE
Many came to see me willingly, but they kissed my hands as little as I could help. The poor folk came to me readily because I never did them any unkindness; on the contrary, I loved to help them.
SPEAKERS
Do you not know that people of your party had services, Masses, and prayers offered for you?
JEANNE
I know nothing of it, and if they did have any service, it was not by my order. But if they prayed for me, my opinion is they did not do ill.
SPEAKERS
Did those of your party believe that you were sent from God?
JEANNE
I don’t know if they believed it, and in this I refer to their own feelings. But even if they didn’t believe, yet am I sent from God.
SPEAKERS
Have your Voices said that before three months you will be delivered from prison?
JEANNE
I do not know when I shall be delivered. But those who wish to send me out of the world may well go before me.
SPEAKERS
Have they not counseled you that you will be delivered?
JEANNE
Yes, truly, they have told me that I shall be delivered, but I know neither the day nor the hour. They said to me: “Be of good courage and keep a cheerful face.”
SPEAKERS
What do they promise you?
JEANNE
They’ve never promised me anything, except by God’s leave.
SPEAKERS
What promises have they made to you?
JEANNE
They told me that my King would be re-established in his kingdom, whether his enemies willed it or no. They told me also that they would lead me to Paradise – I begged it of them.
SPEAKERS
Do you know by revelation if you will escape?
JEANNE
Saint Catherine has told me that I shall have help. I don’t know if this will be my deliverance from prison, or if, while I am being tried, some disturbance may happen, by which I shall be delivered. The help will come to me, I think, in one way or the other. My Voices have told me that I shall be delivered by a great victory, and they add: “Be resigned; have no care for your martyrdom; you will come in the end to the Kingdom of Paradise.” They have told me this simply, absolutely, and without fail. What is meant by my martyrdom is the pain and abuse that I suffer in prison. I do not know if I shall have still greater suffering to bear; for that I refer me to God.
SPEAKERS
Your Voices have told you that you shall come to the Kingdom of Paradise. Do you feel assured of being saved and of not being damned in Hell?
JEANNE
I believe firmly what my Voices have told me, that I shall be saved – provided I keep the promise I made to Our Lord, to safeguard the virginity of my body and my soul.
SPEAKERS
What need have you for confession, if you believe that you shall be saved?
JEANNE
I do not think one can cleanse one’s conscience too much.
SPEAKERS
After this revelation, do you believe that you cannot commit mortal sin?
JEANNE
I do not know, and in all things I wait on Our Lord.
SPEAKERS
If the Church tells you that your revelations are illusions, or diabolical things, will you defer to the Church?
JEANNE
I will defer to God, Whose commandment I always do. I have acted by the order of God. It is impossible for me to say otherwise.
SPEAKERS
Have you then command from your Voices not to submit yourself to the Church, or to its decision?
JEANNE
I answer nothing from my own head; what I answer is by command of my Voices. They do not order me to disobey the Church, but God must be served first.
SPEAKERS
If the Church abandons you, you will be in great peril both of body and soul, and will fall into danger of the pains of eternal fire as to your soul – and into danger of temporal fire for your body.
JEANNE
You won’t do what you say against me without evil overtaking you, body and soul.
SPEAKERS
The executioners have, by Our order, made all the necessary preparations for you to be put to torture, that you may be brought back into the way and knowledge of the truth, and secure salvation of both your body and your soul – which you expose to grave peril by your lying inventions.
JEANNE
Tear me limb from limb, and separate soul from body, I will tell you nothing more. And if I were to say anything else, I would always afterward declare that you made me say it by force. I asked of my Voices if I ought to submit to the Church, because the clergy has pressed me hard, and they said to me: “If you want God to come to your help, wait on Him for all your doings.” I know that Our Lord has always been the Master of all my doings, and that the devil never had power over them. I asked of my Voices if I would be burned, and my Voices answered me: “Wait on Our Lord. He will help you.”
The hum falls silent and GILLES turns away from it.
SCENE 10, PART 1
GILLES (to the audience)
At the start of The Maid’s trial, a Norman Clerk told the Bishop of Beauvais that the proceedings were of no value because they were being conducted in the Castle and not in a legal court; and because they concerned people who had not been summoned to testify, such as the King; and because The Maid was a minor and had no counsel. The Clerk refrained from noting the requirement under Canon law that those accused of heresy be tried only in the diocese where they were born or had committed their crimes. Nor did he mention that the English were paying the Bishop handsomely to try The Maid. But the comments he did voice proved of sufficient offense for the Bishop to conduct the trial with even greater rigor. What else could he do? If The Maid was right, then everything the Bishop worked for was wrong – everything, from the occupying English to the Church itself, as intermediary between the faithful and the divine. So The Maid had to be wrong, and the Bishop convened dozens of ecclesiastics and doctors of theology to prove she was wrong. Some participated because their hatred of The Maid rivaled his own; others hoped to curry favor with the English who occupied their diocese. And there were those who were simply too afraid to refuse the Bishop’s summons to attend. When the call went out to gather these worthies, I was in Louviers, some 18 miles south of Rouen. That was Christmas of 1430, right when The Maid was being brought to the city for her trial. I could easily have descended with my men and taken her from her guards, but I kept to my business – bought a horse for one of my soldiers. I did what my cousin Georges and the King wanted me to do: I stayed out of it. I had despised them both, of course, ever since they halted the siege of Paris and disbanded the army. I was furious with them after that, and I damned him to his face, King or no, and my bloated cousin along with him. They were turning their backs on total victory, under the direct guidance of Divine Force – how could they be so blind to what was being offered? In my heart, I also blasted them both because I knew if I let them separate me from The Maid, I might never see her again. And I never did. It was forbidden for my army to run with the gangs of soldiers who stayed with her; and even if we had, our numbers still would have been insufficient for some of the assaults she attempted. I would also have lost all the privileges I had obtained at court, and damaged Georges’ position as well. Of course, sound business was never my most compelling reason for doing anything; neither was fear of superior numbers when I fought in battle. But like my King and my cousin, the Hand of God also wanted me to stay out of it. Once The Maid fell at Compiègne, I understood that Divine Force was now impelling her to her death.
The hum resumes and GILLES turns to it.
SCENE 10, PART 2
FROM THE TRIALS OF GILLES DE RAIS, 1440: SESSION NO. 3
SPEAKERS
In making their statements before Us, your associates Henriet, Poitou, Prelati, and Blanchet have all sworn to tell the truth.
GILLES
I consent to believe in their depositions and also in those of whatever other witnesses you should produce.
SPEAKERS
We have fixed and assigned for you this day and all of the following day to interrogate the witnesses as to what they would present.
GILLES
I do not intend to interrogate anyone in the case; I rely on the consciences of the witnesses for that.
GILLES kneels as he begs for absolution, sobbing like a child.
GILLES
I would also here like to beg you my Lord, most humbly and sincerely, for my absolution. I implore you my Lord, that I be absolved in writing of the sentence of excommunication. I beg you my Lord, please. In the name of Our Lady. Please, my Lord, please. I beg you.
SPEAKERS
We do hereby declare that you are to be absolved in writing and restored to participation in the sacraments and to the unity of the faithful in Christ and Our Holy Mother Church, in due form of law and according to the customs of the Church. Your absolution shall be everywhere publicly announced.
GILLES stands up.
GILLES
Thank you, my Lord. Thank you.
The hum falls silent and JEANNE turns away from it.
SCENE 11, PART 1
JEANNE (to the audience)
The Bishop eventually permitted a priest to see me in my cell and hear me in confession: He was called Father Loiseleur, and he told me that he was from my home country and loyal to the King’s cause. I confided everything in him and trusted him as my advisor. He insisted over and over that, if I took a woman’s dress and agreed to what the Church was saying, my life would be spared and I would be sent to an ecclesiastical prison, where they would treat me better. I kept refusing, and finally I was taken out to the cemetery and stood on a scaffold before a large crowd of people. Father Loiseleur was with me, still pressing for me to abjure and promising the Church’s compassion. A preacher delivered a long sermon about my excommunication as a heretic, after which they were going to burn me alive. While he was preaching, my Voices spoke to me and said, “Answer him boldly, this preacher!” And in truth he was a false preacher, reproaching me with many things that I never did. But I didn’t say anything. Instead, I stared at the Bishop who was holding two sentences: the abjuration in one hand, and the condemnation in the other. Father Loiseleur pulled at my sleeve, and when I turned to him I could see the executioner with his cart, waiting to bring me to the stake. He saw me looking at him and broke into a big grin, and I started to laugh; then I turned away from him and I recanted.
JEANNE is giddy but her movements are restricted because her hands and feet are in chains.
JEANNE (to the Bishop of Beauvais)
I will hold all that the Church ordains, all that you and the Judges wish to say and decree – in all I will refer myself to your orders. The Clergy has decided that the apparitions and revelations which I have had are not to be maintained or believed, and I will not believe nor maintain them. In all I refer me to you and to our Holy Mother Church.
JEANNE (to the audience)
The Bishop seemed pleased, but the English were furious – I thought the Earl of Warwick would strike him for having let me escape the fire. I demanded that they take me to an ecclesiastical prison, but I was brought back to my cell. They gave me a woman’s dress to wear and said that I would be kept there, in irons, for the rest of my life. Even then I didn’t realize that Loiseleur was a traitor, working for the Bishop and the English to obtain information from me and manipulate my testimonies. All I knew was that I had surrendered everything by recanting and would have as my reward a lifetime of suffering. Now that I was dressed like a woman, the guards treated me like one: making vile remarks about me and laying their hands on me when they attached the leg irons and fettered me to my bed. The Earl of Warwick was with them in my cell, still in a rage that I hadn’t been executed. He was silent the whole time, even when I complained to him at how I was being misused. Then he walked to my bed and got on top of me. He held me down with his weight and pressed himself against me. He spoke very close to my ear and said that having me would be better than having a whore, because I could be taken for free, whenever they wanted, no matter how they might care to use me. I kept struggling against him and he finally got off me. He said he had business that night but soon he would claim the prize of taking my maidenhood. Then he pointed between my legs and laughed. There was a bloodstain on my dress, and he said he wouldn’t want me now anyway, not with the curse on me. He told the guards that everyone would have to wait a few days longer, and then he left. It was true, I had begun to pass blood again, and I tore the hem of my dress to make a cloth for myself. The guards watched me and made jokes as I fit the cloth to my body. I knew that my men’s clothes were still in the cell – Warwick himself made the guards leave them there – and the next day I took off the dress and put them on again, knowing what would be done to me. I kept them on until my final morning, when a monk heard me in confession and I was at last permitted to receive my Savior – without that, I wouldn’t have had the strength to walk out of my cell. I had to wear women’s clothes at the stake, and they gave me the dress with my bloodstain on the front and the torn hem. The soldiers at the marketplace laughed at it and yelled awful things at me; so did many of the Burgundians who wanted to see me die. But an English soldier heard me asking for a cross, and he tied two sticks together for me to hold.
The hum resumes and JEANNE turns to it.
SCENE 11, PART 2
FROM THE TRIALS OF JEANNE D’ARC, 1431: SESSION NO. 6
SPEAKERS
For what reason have you resumed wearing the clothing of a man? Who made you take it?
JEANNE
I took it of my own free will, and with no constraint. I prefer men’s clothes to women’s.
SPEAKERS
Why did you take it?
JEANNE
Because the promises made to me haven’t been kept, that I should go to Mass and receive my Savior, and that I should be taken out of irons.
SPEAKERS
Did you not abjure and promise not to resume wearing men’s clothing?
JEANNE
I would rather die than be in irons.
SPEAKERS
Have you heard again from your Voices at all?
JEANNE
Yes, I have heard them.
SPEAKERS
What did they say to you?
JEANNE
God sent me word by Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret of the great pity it is, this treason to which I have consented, to abjure and recant in order to save my life. I damned myself to save my life. If I say that God did not send me, I damn myself, for it is true that God has sent me. My Voices have said to me, “You have done a great evil in declaring that what you did was wrong.” All I said and revoked, I said for fear of the fire.
SPEAKERS
Do you believe that your Voices are Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret?
JEANNE
Yes, I believe it, and that they come from God.
SPEAKERS
When the pernicious disease of heresy attaches itself to a member of the Church and transforms him into a member of Satan, extreme care should be taken that the horrible contagion not gain other members of the mystic Body of Christ. The Holy Fathers have willed that hardened heretics should be separated from the midst of the Just, so that a viper not be warmed in the bosom of pious Mother Church. Therefore We did declare you fallen into divers errors and crimes of schism, idolatry, invocation of demons, and many others. But because the Church closes not her bosom to the child who returns to her, We did think that you had put from you your errors and crimes, considering that you did publicly renounce them and swear never to return to your heresies. But as the dog returns to its vomit, so have you returned to your errors and crimes. We declare that you are a relapsed heretic. On the subject of your pretended divine revelations and apparitions you have been lying, seducing, pernicious, a blasphemer towards God and the Saints, and a despiser of God Himself in His Sacraments. You have been hardened and obstinate in your crimes, excesses, and errors, and We declare you excommunicate. That you may not corrupt the other members of Christ, We do abandon you to the secular power as a member of Satan, cast out from the unity of the Church, separate from her Body, infected with the leprosy of heresy.
JEANNE is burned: An electronic sound accumulates out of the loudspeaker hum in a continuous crescendo. Although not a literal fire effect, this harsh and dense sound mass has clattering rhythms and crackling timbres suggestive of flames. The sound overlaps most of the pronouncement of JEANNE’s sentence of excommunication and continues to build after the tape has stopped; JEANNE also begins to respond before her sentencing is finished. As the sound grows louder, the lighting diminishes everywhere except on JEANNE’s face, where it intensifies, until there is only her overlit face in a sea of black, with an extremely loud sound.
JEANNE
Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!
After JEANNE’s last word, colors begin to emerge from the whiteness that was her face, but they vanish when the sound drops out and the lights go up for Scene 12.
SCENE 12, PART 1
GILLES screams the quotation like Hitler, stamping his feet and flailing his arms. Slowly and with difficulty, he regains his self-control as he talks to the audience.
GILLES (to the audience)
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” The Inquisition did not have the power to yield a heretic to the secular authorities for burning; only a relapsed heretic could be condemned by the Bishop and then executed. She was too devoted to recant, he knew that; she could never hold to any denial the Bishop might compel her to make. Once she abjured, all he had to do was wait – and not for long. When he learned that she had resumed wearing men’s clothes in her cell, the Bishop boasted to the English, “Be of good cheer, it is done! She is caught this time!” And so she was and they burned her. I gave up war after that. War had been the most real thing in my life, but The Maid took me beyond myself – fighting at her behest, I too was an instrument of Divine Force. Without her, it all seemed false and unreal to me, and so I stopped. But this loss of meaning did not stop. My grandfather died, and all the wealth I inherited could not make up for losing the only person whose regard still concerned me. Then my cousin Georges fell from the King’s favor, and I became an outsider at court. My wife lived in a separate estate and meant nothing to me; I much preferred having sex with young boys like my page. There was no one left to impinge on me anymore, and I was indulged even more wildly than when I was a child. I filled my castles with paintings and sculpture, tapestries, gold and silver work, books. Wherever I resided, that castle was open to all, noble or commoner: Anyone could come and receive food and drink, at any hour. I also endowed a chapel, with a vicar, an archdeacon, chaplains, up to thirty people, and everything throughout fashioned with gold, silver, and precious gems. And of course there was a choir, the most beautiful boys with the most beautiful voices. I was also sleeping with several of them, but even that passion became artificial, like a puppet show. I knew there had to be something with genuine meaning for me, and I thought I had finally found it when I began killing children. For that very reason I had my chapel dedicated as the Chapel of the Holy Innocents, after the little ones slain by Herod when he sought to kill the infant Jesus. I was murdering children on a regular basis by then, mostly boys, around the ages of eight, ten, twelve years old. They were brought to my tower room and there I would torment and rape and slaughter them, solely for the pleasure and delight of it. Decades of war had left the countryside teeming with orphans, and every day children would come to beg at my castles of Champtocé, Tiffauges, Machecoul. I used to choose among them myself: I would ask a pretty young boy if he had parents and where he was from; and if he was an orphan from outside the region, I would have the gates of the castle drawn apart to admit him. Eventually I was delegating my servants Henriet and Poitou to find children for me and having them attend my pleasures and even assist in the killings. Sometimes they obtained local children, but the townspeople knew better than to bring any complaint against their Master. That did not stop the talk, however. I knew what was being said: “They eat children at Machecoul!” Such murmurs went on for years, and yet each day the little ones came to my castle to beg. Do you really think none of them had ever heard any of the stories? None of these children knew and were willing to be devoured? How unhappy do you think you can make a child and still expect him to want to go on living? Sometimes I would see it in a boy’s eyes: He would be glad when I put the blade to his throat and severed his head from his body. And of course I would be glad too, as their dying always made me discharge. Sometimes I would embrace their dead bodies, or simply contemplate which of the dead about me had the most beautiful heads and members. Sometimes I would have their bodies opened up and delight at the display of their entrails. Very often, when the children were dying, I would sit on their bellies and laugh at them as they died. In their terror and despair, in the absoluteness of their blood and their bodies, I located something real. But I went beyond any limits: The murders continued for almost nine years – I killed well over a hundred, perhaps over two hundred children. It became such an easy thing for me to do, triggered merely by my whim on a particular evening. I know full well that history has never seen its like; but in going to the furthest outposts of horror, I only made it something ordinary for me. There was not even the abandonment of being possessed by some demonic force – I was doing it. And I stubbornly kept doing it, repeating and repeating these pleasures even as they too faded from me – the killings stopped only with my arrest. But it was not my sins and crimes that turned the law against me; it was money. My relatives saw how my extravagances would leave nothing for them to inherit, and when they appealed to the court to control my transactions, I had to find another source of funds. I instructed Father Blanchet from the chapel to seek out alchemists and conjurors who could create gold. All the practitioners brought to me were frauds who only cost me money; yet I was firmly convinced that the Lombard, Prelati, was in league with actual demons. I readily participated in his rituals to invoke the devil, but always withheld the promise of my soul – and that resistance, he said, was the reason no rewards were forthcoming. When we questioned Prelati’s demons about the Duke of Brittany, who was eager to scoop up my holdings in his realm, they gave no hint that the Duke had already started a secret inquest against me – or that the Bishop of Nantes would issue an order for my arrest, charging me with witchcraft, murder, and sodomy. I was taken prisoner along with Poitou, Henriet, Blanchet, and Prelati, and their testimonies confirmed the rumors of satanic invocations, as well as the accusations made against me by villagers whose children had been killed. I had finally been reined in, and although I struggled at first, I was glad of it. A trial was necessary, of course, but in truth it was pointless. I was born under such a star that no man alive could ever understand the things that I have done – the more they learned of me, the more incomprehensible I became to them. Yet I would not let them damn my soul to Hell, as they had done to The Maid. The life of my body ended with my arrest, my execution would be only a formality; but the life of my soul is eternal, and I could not be separated from my Redeemer forever – even though I had created an abyss so deep between myself and Our Lord that my very struggle to reach out to Him became bleak and shameful. On Easter Sunday of my final year, I went to the church in Machecoul to receive the Eucharist. The poor of the parish had gathered for the Host, but when they saw me approach, they shrank back. They tried to make it look like deference shown to their lord, but I knew what they were really thinking: I had polluted everything in my life, and they wanted to get away from me before I corrupted them as well, and defiled the Sacraments for good measure. I told them not to leave, but the crowd kept melting away.
GILLES (to the parish poor)
Good people, stay, please. I said, stay where you are, everyone. I command that all of you remain with me and partake in Communion as usual.
GILLES (to the audience)
When we were with the army, The Maid would ask the priests, wherever we went, to remind her of those days when the children of the poor received the Eucharist, so that she might join them. I escorted her once and saw how easily she moved among them; despite the intervention of Divine Force in her life, she was one of them still. Her inspiration only made the children trust her more, and her faith spread through them all, elevating even the lowliest. But then, she believed in the forgiveness of sins and was very pious toward God and Our Lady, and did communicate frequently. I was told they permitted her to receive the Savior on her last day – what a shame they missed the opportunity to show everyone the triumph of the Eucharist and The Maid’s final miracle. The flames were never able to consume her heart or her entrails, although the executioner tried: He heaped oil and sulfur and charcoal on them, yet there they remained, all her viscera, with her heart intact and bleeding. They were immediately tossed into the Seine, along with her ashes; but if the executioner had only slid his hands into her stomach, he could have extracted the transformed Body of Our Savior, the Holy Flesh of the Living God, also intact and bleeding. Then all of them – spectators, soldiers, clergy – all could have fallen to their knees with him, and despair of their salvation and cry, “I am damned for having burned a saint!”
The hum resumes and GILLES turns to it.
BLACKOUT
(This play was written in 2006 and is dedicated to Laura Albert. It appears here for the first time. An excerpt, directed by and starring Vera Beren, was staged in 2007 in New York City for the One Woman Standing developmental theater series.)
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NICOLE V. GAGNÉ 