10 Chapter 9 On Trial

CHAPTER 9 On Trial Bishop Cauchon was an important man in the church who had been to law school. Joan was just a poor farm girl. She couldn't read or

write except her own name. She had never studied God or religion in school. She didn't even have her own lawyer to represent her. Cauchon didn't think Joan stood a chance against his Inquisition. He offered to let Joan choose someone in the court to defend her, but only her enemies were present. Once Joan was facing him, the bishop discovered this peasant girl was a lot tougher than he had counted on. Even though she'd spent months in prison, she was still strong. She still believed in her saints and in all the things she'd done for Charles VII. The lead prosecutor—the man who would try to prove that Joan was a witch—yelled at Joan in the court and called her names. He tried to forbid her from praying.

The trial lasted from February 21 to May 23. The church did everything it could to prove that Joan was working with the devil. They brought up local customs in Domrémy like the fairy tree and tried to prove Joan believed in magic. One of Joan's worst crimes, as far as they were concerned, was that she dressed in men's clothing. They tried to convince her to put on a dress for the trial, but Joan felt safer dressed as a boy surrounded by male guards. She explained that she wouldn't change into women's clothing until the saints told her to.

The most dangerous questions for Joan were the ones about her faith. Bishop Cauchon hoped to trick her. He wanted her to say something that made it seem like she thought she was better than God. He wanted to prove she was lying. She was asked about the voices she heard and the visions she saw: What did the saints and angels look like? Did they have hair? Were they wearing clothes? What language did they speak?

Joan answered their questions directly. Sometimes she even made them seem silly. When asked if the archangel Michael was naked when he spoke to her, Joan said, "Do you think that God can't find him clothes?" Sometimes Joan flat out refused to answer, because, she said, the saints and therefore God didn't allow it. Cauchon was furious at this young girl telling him that there were things that were none of his business. Once he ordered Joan to recite the Lord's Prayer. This was a test to see if she was a witch. He thought a witch would not be able to recite such holy words. One day her questioners—agents of the church—asked Joan: Did she know if she was in the grace of God? This was a tricky question. They were asking Joan if she knew if God was pleased with her and whether she would go to heaven. Both answers—yes or no—would be wrong. If she answered yes, Joan would be claiming to know things that only God could know, and that would show too

much pride. If she said no, she would be admitting to being bad. Joan gave an answer that avoided both traps. She said, "If I am not, may God place me there. If I am, may God so keep me." Without a legal degree, Joan probably didn't know this was a trick question. But her simple, honest faith led her to an answer that stumped the clever judges. As brave and strong as Joan was, the months of the trial took a toll on her. On April 16, 1431, Joan got very sick. The prosecutor went to see her in her cell and told her that her illness was her own fault. Eventually Joan was well enough to go back for the next part of the trial, called "the Admonitions." The church agents were going to pressure Joan to