walls: Once inside the walls and gates of the city, the inhabitants were safe from their invaders. The English, understanding this, and having failed to pierce the walls with their cannon, decided to capture Orléans through a prolonged siege. When Joan appeared on the scene in April of 1429, the town had been under siege for six months. Both sides seemed hypnotized to the point of paralysis. The English were bogged down because they had not been given the troops or supplies to mount the kind of attack they considered necessary; the French because they were imprisoned in their city.
Dunois convinced Joan that it was necessary for her men to accompany the provisions into Orléans. But even after she agreed to fall in with his plan, there was another problem. The boats were upstream, and the wind prevented them from sailing down to Orléans. It was at this point that Dunois witnessed one of Joanâs most important miracles. She told him not to worry about the wind. As soon as she said this, the direction of the wind changed, allowing the boats to proceed.
Joan responded to this nonchalantly: Sheâd told Dunois not to worry, and sheâd meant what she said. Dunois, however, was amazed, and from that time on his faith in Joan was ardent. He persuaded her to cross the river and enter the city with him, leaving her army behind. She was reluctantâshe knew the men were eager for battle; but she agreed. They sent the main army back to Blois, taking with them only a task force from the Orléans garrison. Mounted on a white horse, her banner and pennants streaming, Joan triumphantly entered the Burgoyne gate of Orléans at 1 P.M. on April 29. The Journal of the Siege of Orléans, an anonymous contemporary chronicle, breathlessly reports the event:
And so she entered Orléans, with the Bastard of Orléans at her left, very richly armed and mounted; afterward came other noble and valiant lords, squires, captains and men at arms, along with the bourgeois of Orléans, carryingmany torches and making such joy as if they had seen God Himself descend among them; and not without reason, for they had endured much difficulty, labor, pain, and fear of not being rescued and of losing all their bodies and goods. But they felt already comforted, as though freed of the siege by the divine virtue that they were told resided in that simple Maid, whom they regarded with strong affection, men as much as women and little children. And there was a marvelous crowd pressing to touch her or the horse on which she rode.
The press of the crowd was so great that one of the torch-bearers set Joanâs pennant aflame. She exhibited extraordinary horsemanship, controlling her terrified horse and putting out the fire. The journal remarks, âShe put out the fire as easily as if she had long war expertise; the men at arms considered this a great marvel.â 1
It is remarkable to consider that five months before this event, she had been living in her fatherâs house at Domrémy.
It wasnât till May 4 that she saw her first real fighting. Dunois had told her that Sir John Fastolf, an English commander on whom Shakespeareâs Falstaff might be based, was on his way, a dayâs march from the city. Joan was delighted that at last she would be in the midst of battle. She told Dunois to let her know as soon as Fastolf approached, and went to her room for a rest. A short time later, Joan sprang from her bed and woke her page, telling him that her voices had told her to go against the English. In great agitation,she demanded that she be armed, and she leaped onto her horse. She shouted impatiently for her banner, and it was passed to her through the window. Riding through the town, she heard the news of French blood being shed, which made her weep but did not slow her down.
To her surprise, it was not Sir John Fastolf with whom the French were engaged, but the garrison of a minor fort close to town, a monastery, St.
Dunois convinced Joan that it was necessary for her men to accompany the provisions into Orléans. But even after she agreed to fall in with his plan, there was another problem. The boats were upstream, and the wind prevented them from sailing down to Orléans. It was at this point that Dunois witnessed one of Joanâs most important miracles. She told him not to worry about the wind. As soon as she said this, the direction of the wind changed, allowing the boats to proceed.
Joan responded to this nonchalantly: Sheâd told Dunois not to worry, and sheâd meant what she said. Dunois, however, was amazed, and from that time on his faith in Joan was ardent. He persuaded her to cross the river and enter the city with him, leaving her army behind. She was reluctantâshe knew the men were eager for battle; but she agreed. They sent the main army back to Blois, taking with them only a task force from the Orléans garrison. Mounted on a white horse, her banner and pennants streaming, Joan triumphantly entered the Burgoyne gate of Orléans at 1 P.M. on April 29. The Journal of the Siege of Orléans, an anonymous contemporary chronicle, breathlessly reports the event:
And so she entered Orléans, with the Bastard of Orléans at her left, very richly armed and mounted; afterward came other noble and valiant lords, squires, captains and men at arms, along with the bourgeois of Orléans, carryingmany torches and making such joy as if they had seen God Himself descend among them; and not without reason, for they had endured much difficulty, labor, pain, and fear of not being rescued and of losing all their bodies and goods. But they felt already comforted, as though freed of the siege by the divine virtue that they were told resided in that simple Maid, whom they regarded with strong affection, men as much as women and little children. And there was a marvelous crowd pressing to touch her or the horse on which she rode.
The press of the crowd was so great that one of the torch-bearers set Joanâs pennant aflame. She exhibited extraordinary horsemanship, controlling her terrified horse and putting out the fire. The journal remarks, âShe put out the fire as easily as if she had long war expertise; the men at arms considered this a great marvel.â 1
It is remarkable to consider that five months before this event, she had been living in her fatherâs house at Domrémy.
It wasnât till May 4 that she saw her first real fighting. Dunois had told her that Sir John Fastolf, an English commander on whom Shakespeareâs Falstaff might be based, was on his way, a dayâs march from the city. Joan was delighted that at last she would be in the midst of battle. She told Dunois to let her know as soon as Fastolf approached, and went to her room for a rest. A short time later, Joan sprang from her bed and woke her page, telling him that her voices had told her to go against the English. In great agitation,she demanded that she be armed, and she leaped onto her horse. She shouted impatiently for her banner, and it was passed to her through the window. Riding through the town, she heard the news of French blood being shed, which made her weep but did not slow her down.
To her surprise, it was not Sir John Fastolf with whom the French were engaged, but the garrison of a minor fort close to town, a monastery, St.
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