[MR] Wikipedia: Capture of Joan of Arc

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble friends,

On this date in 1430, Joan of Arc was captured during the siege of
Compiègne.

The Hundred Year's War was as much a civil war between the French Armagnac
and Burgundian factions as it was between the English and the French. Ever
since the two houses quarreled over the regency during Charles VI's
madness, the dukes of Armagnac and Burgundy had been at each other's
throats. The Armagnac side supported the French kings, while the
increasingly independent Burgundians allied themselves with the English
("The enemy of my enemy is my friend.").

During a truce with King Charles VII, Duke of Burgundy Philip the Good was
granted control of Compiègne, strategically-located fortified town. The
citizens and the garrison commander Guillaume de Flavy refused to hand over
the town. As the Burgundians closed in on Compiègne, Joan of Arc gathered
reinforcements and rushed to defend the town.

On 23 May, Joan sortied from the town to attack an exposed Burgundian
position at nearby Margny. The Burgundians saw the attack coming and rushed
troops to defend their outpost. Joan and her men were driven back to Compiègne,
with Joan in the rear guard. By accident, or by treason, after most of the
troops re-entered the city, the drawbridge was pulled up. Joan and the rear
guard were left on the wrong side of the bridge and were forced to
surrender.

Philip the Good saw Joan's removal as an important victory, but he also saw
the danger in keeping such a popular leader as his prisoner, or killing
her. His solution: sell her to the English. The English had no such
scruples, and Joan's fate was sealed. She was tried before a "kangaroo
court" and burned at the stake on 30 May 1341.

More about the siege is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Compi%C3%A8gne .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.