k part in the
trial. But the immediate guard of the prisoner was composed of English
soldiers--namely, of the following: John Gris, an English knight, one
of Henry's bodyguard, who was in personal attendance on Joan of Arc;
also John Berwoit (?) and William Talbot, subordinator to Gris. These
men commanded a set of soldiers called _houspilleurs_, placed in the
cell of the prisoner day and night. According to J. Bellow's pocket
dictionary, the term _houspilleur_ is derived from the old French term
_houspiller_--Ang. 'to worry.' And these fellows certainly carried out
that meaning of the word.

If anything is needed to prove what an important case the English and
those allied to them in France considered that of Joan of Arc, the
great number of prelates and doctors assembled to judge her is
sufficient to show. The doctors who had been summoned to attend the
trial, and who had come to Rouen from Paris, were well paid by
Winchester. Some of the receipts are still in existence. The
Inquisition and Cauchon also received pay from the English Government.

Besides money, as we have said, Cauchon expected also to receive the
Archbishopric of Rouen for his zeal in bringing Joan of Arc to the
stake. Cupidity, lust of place and power, and fear of the enemies of
the French were the principal motives which influenced these men,
whose names should for ever be execrated. In truth, a vulgar greed
induced them to destroy one of the noblest creatures that had ever
honoured humanity.

The _proces-verbal_ and the minutes of the trial were written in
Latin, and translated by Thomas de Courcelles; only a portion of the
original translation has been preserved. There were three reporters
who took notes during the trial--Manchon, Colles, and Taquel. The
notes in Latin, written as the trial proceeded, were collected in the
evenings, and translated into French by Manchon.

One difficult question arises--namely, are these notes to be relied
on? Manchon appears to have been honest in his writing, but Cauchon
was not to be trifled with in what he wished noted, as the following
instance will show. A sheriff's officer, named Massieu, was overheard
to say that Joan of Arc had done nothing worthy of the death sentence.
It was repeated to Cauchon, who threatened to have Massieu drowned.
When Isambert de la Pierre advised Joan to submit herself to the
Council then holding meetings at Bale, to which she assented, Cauchon
shouted out, 'In the devil's nam