Her fame spread wide; there went abroad all kinds of reports about her
miraculous powers. Already the French began to hope and the English to
wonder.
The king still doubted, and so did his council. People in our own day,
who admire the wisdom of the Dark Ages, would do well to study the story
of Joan of Arc. She was taken before the University of Poictiers. Six
weeks did the learned doctors employ in determining whether Joan was
sent by God or in league with the devil. She never made any claim to
supernatural help beyond what she needed to fulfill her mission. She
refused to give them a sign, saying that her sign would be at
Orleans--the leading of brave men to battle. She boasted no attainments,
declaring that she knew neither A nor B; only, she must raise the siege
of Orleans and crown the Dauphin. The friars sent to her old home to
inquire about her, and brought back a spotless report of her life. So,
after the tedious examination, the judgment of the learned and wise men
of Poictiers was that Charles might accept her services without peril to
his soul.
The vexatious delays over, Joan of Arc set out for Orleans. In the
church of Fierbois she had seen, among other old weapons, a sword marked
with five crosses. For this she sent. When she left Vaucouleurs she had
put on a man's dress; now she was clad in white armor. A banner was
prepared under her directions; this also was white, strewn with the
lilies of France.
So much time had been lost that Joan was not at Blois till the middle of
April.
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