Footnote 507
Lord Boissy, as related by Pierre Sala, gave a brief summary of
the prayer which omits many of the details given by the second source
farther below, although Boissy was said to have heard the account from Charles VII himself. Sala's version reads:
"The King, being in this extremity, entered one morning alone into his oratory
and there he made a humble petition and prayer to Our Lord in his
heart, without utterance of words, in which he petitioned devoutly
that if so it was that he was the true heir descended from the noble
House of France and that the kingdom should rightfully belong to
him, that it please Him to keep and defend him, or, at worst, to
grant him the mercy of escaping death or prison, and that he might
fly to Spain or to Scotland which were from time immemorial brothers
in arms and allies of the Kings of France, wherefore had he there chosen
his last refuge." (Pernoud's "Joan of Arc
By Herself and Her Witnesses", p. 53)
The Orléans Manuscript gives a more detailed version (the scribe
is doing the narrating here): "And although in the Chronicles that I have seen, there
is no mention of the following matter, I have long ago heard it told,
not just once but on a number of occasions, by great personages in
France, who said that they had seen it in an authentic account written
in those days. And I have decided to include it here, not only on
account of the authority and the reputation of the teller but because
it seems to me that it should be remembered.
For other sources, see:
The two accounts we have concerning this prayer differ somewhat on the
details, as follows:
After the king heard the Pucelle speak in this fashion, he was
advised by his confessor or some other to speak to her secretly,
and ask her how he might know for certain that God had sent her to
him, in order that he might more certainly trust in her and put
faith in her words. This he did.
She answered, 'Sire, if I tell you things so secret that they
are only known to God and yourself, will you believe that I am sent
by God?'
The king answered yes. The Pucelle asked him, 'Sire, do you not
remember that last All Saints' Day, when you were in the chapel of
the château of Loches, all alone in your oratory, you made three
requests of God?'
The king replied that he well remembered having made these
requests. Then the Pucelle asked him if he had ever revealed them
to his confessor, or to anyone at all. The king said no. 'And if I
tell you what were the three requests that you made, will you believe
in my words?' The king answered yes.
Then the Pucelle said to him: 'Sire, the first request that you
made to God was when you prayed that if you were not the true heir
of France, it might be His pleasure to take from you the desire for
this heritage so that you might no longer be a cause of the war to
recover the realm, from which has come so much evil. The second was
when you prayed that, if the great adversity and tribulation under
which the poor people of France suffer and have suffered so long,
come by reason of your sin, that it might be His pleasure to relieve
the people, and that you alone might be punished, and bear whatever
He might be pleased to inflict, be it death or any other penance.
The third was that, if it were the sin of your people that caused
these miseries, it should be His pleasure to forgive them and
soften His wrath, and free the realm from the tribulation under which
it had suffered for twelve years and more.'
The king, recognizing that she told the truth, put faith in her
words and believed that she came from God; and had great hope that
she would aid him to recover his kingdom; and decided to accept her
help and to believe her counsel in all his affairs." (from the
Orléans Manuscript (Scot's "The Trial of Joan of Arc",
pp. 28 - 30). Original French printed in Quicherat's "Procès...",
Vol IV, pp. 257 - 259).
Pernoud's "Joan of Arc: Her Story", p. 24.
Paine's "Joan of Arc: Maid of France",
Vol. I, pp. 89 - 90.