Summary
On June 25, 1429, the French army was stationed at Gien.
There the Dauphin sent out letters summoning the nobles to his
coronation ceremony at Reims. Joan also dictated some letters,
including one to Philip the Good, the Duke of Burgundy, asking
him to end his alliance with the English and return to the French
side. On June 29, the Dauphin, escorted by the French army, began
its march to Reims. Along the way, Joan sent letters out to the
people of Troyes, promising that if they surrendered to the Dauphin's
forces, they would be pardoned. The people of Troyes sent out
a friar, Brother Richard, to assess Joan and tell the town what
he thought. Brother Richard greatly liked Joan, but the people
of Troyes nevertheless remained loyal to England. After a brief
attack by the large French army, however, they quickly surrendered.
Unlike previous battles, Joan actually did help organize this
attack strategically, and she proved to be able to grasp some of
the finer points of military leadership and organization quite
quickly. Entering Troyes, Joan and Charles rode side-by-side.
After a series of small engagements, the Dauphin's army
finally reached Reims on July 16. Charles and his troops entered
the city without a struggle. On July 17, the Dauphin's coronation
took place in Reims, realizing Joan's dream. Joan, with her banner, stood
in triumph in the coronation hall as the king was crowned and anointed
with holy oil. After the ceremony, Charles was officially the
Dauphin no longer, but Charles VII, King of France. Joan quickly
knelt before her new king, moving many witnesses at the coronation
to tears. She felt immense pride at having completed her primary
mission of seeing the Dauphin crowned.
After the coronation, Joan continued to write the Duke
of Burgundy, asking him to end his alliance with the British.
On July 20, King Charles VII left Reims to parade around the area
with his army for the next month. An attack on English-controlled
Paris seemed within French grasp, but ultimately Charles decided
to retreat to a safer position near the Loire. Joan was horrified
by the retreat, as she knew that many towns that had only just
manifested their French loyalty would now be abandoned to the English
and the Burgundians.
On August 14, the French and English armies engaged in
a minor skirmish near Senlis. Although Joan charged up waving
her banner, no major battle occurred and no major victory was achieved.
On August 28, Burgundy agreed to a four- month treaty with France, giving
the appearance that Joan's successes had forced him to rethink
his alliance with England. In fact, however, the duke was just
stalling.
Brother Richard, the friar of Troyes who was sent out
to examine Joan, was initially suspicious of the girl, throwing
holy water on her to see what would happen. Brother Richard had
something of a problematic past himself. Having preached that
the Antichrist was already born, he had become unpopular in Paris
among the religious elite, so he had left for the less prominent
location of Troyes. Richard was impressed with Joan, and told
the people of Troyes that she was a saint. Ultimately, although
Troyes did not immediately surrender to the French and open its
gates, partially out of fear that the French would use it as a
garrison, Joan and Richard would become friends. Richard was probably
the closest friend Joan had during this time. He accompanied Joan
on the journey to Reims, took her frequent confessions, and even
helped her hold up her banner during the long coronation ceremony.
However, because of Brother Richard's problematic past and his
reputation for collecting female visionaries and religious mystics
as friends, Joan's friendship with this rather unorthodox cleric
(some even thought he was a sorcerer) would prove a liability to
Joan in her later trial.
When Joan and Charles marched through the streets after Troyes,
it was Joan who drew the most attention. According to legend,
some people even claimed to see white butterflies fluttering around
her banner. As soon as the French forces arrived in Reims, they
had to move fast to complete the coronation: Reims was in a weak
position, surrounded by English and Burgundian territory, and it
seemed susceptible to attack at any time. In fact, getting Charles
crowned was strategically dangerous. Thus from a practical military
perspective, Joan's obsession with getting Charles crowned at Reims
was a mistake, as it exposed him to attack. However, the symbolic
value of the coronation inspired the French for years to fight
on for their king.
