Paris, BnF, fr. 5054, f. 55v
7. Joan was very religious. Her quest was more of a spiritual one than a patriotic one. The idea of a "French nation" as we define it today was quite foreign to her.
6. Joan asked to stop in many churches to attend mass. Jean de Metz proved quite reluctant since he prefered to travel unnoticed by Burgundians forces.
5. When she left Vaucouleurs, Joan was dressed as a man (because men's clothes were more fit for travel) and riding a horse. She was not the average "sheperd girl" but she came from a well off family.
4. Before leaving Vaucouleurs, Joan was invited by the Duke of Lorraine, Charles II, to meet him. He was feeling ill and wondered if she could cure him. She only told him to stop cheating on his wife and asked for his ten years old son-in-law to be, René d'Anjou, who belonged to the highest nobility, to escort her to Chinon. Her request was declined.
3. As she left her native village of Domrémy, Joan lied to her parents. She told them she was going to help her cousin to deliver her child but she then asked her cousin's husband to lead her to Vaucouleurs. That "white lie" would later cost her dearly during her trial in Rouen...
2. As Jean de Metz slept next to Joan several times on their way to Chinon, he never felt any desire for her. He had too much esteem for her as he would later testify on Joan's second trial, held by Charles VII to clear her name of heresy.
1. Once she'd arrived in Chinon, Joan was then examined in Poitiers by theologians. They found out that she was still a virgin and that is why she was later called the "Pucelle" (french word meaning virgin).
See Joan's itinirary (picture it without the modern day highways ^^): click here.
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