On April 29, 1429 ,
Joan of Arc arrived with her army before the
city of Orleans and was greeted by
the military commander of the city Jean Count of Dunois known as the Bastard of
Orleans. Joan was not at all happy that her
captains had not chosen the most direct route to Orleans
and displayed her anger in responding to the greeting by Dunois: "Are
you the Bastard of Orleans? Was it you who gave counsel that I come here, on
this side of the river, and that I am not to go directly where are Talbot and
the English?" Joan went on to say:
"In God's name, the counsel of our Lord is safer and wiser than
yours. You have thought to deceive me, and you deceive yourself still more; for
I bring you better succor than ever came to any knight or city whatever, seeing
that it is the succor of the King of Heaven. Nevertheless, it comes to you not
through love of me; it proceeds from God himself, who at the request of Saint
Louis and Saint Charlemagne, has had pity for the city of Orleans, and has not
wished that the enemy should at the same time possess the person the duke and
his city."
Despite Joan’s harsh words, Dunois was thrilled at the arrival of Joan
and her army and later described how he felt that the circumstances of her
arrival and a miraculous changing of the wind that aided in their crossing of
the river Loire into the town led him to
believe Joan could only have been sent by God:
“And she crossed the river Loire
with La Hire and myself, and we entered all together the town of Orleans .
These are the reasons why I think that Joan, and all her deeds in war and in
battle, were rather God's work than man's: the sudden changing of the wind, I
mean, after she had spoken, which gave hope of aid, and the bringing in of the
provisions in spite of the English, who were much stronger than the royal army,
and the fact, furthermore, that this young girl swore that she had had a vision
in which Saint Louis and Saint Charlemagne prayed to God for the safety of the
King and of this city."
To learn more about Joan’s famous entry into Orleans visit this page at
MaidOfHeaven.com about Orleans and Joan of Arc.
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