Voici le repos, etc. Psalms cxxxii

89. — 17. à matines, à vêpres. Matins are the first morning prayers of the Roman Catholic church, vespers the afternoon service; the former are usually held before dawn, the latter at about two or three o'clock in the afternoon.

90. — 4. Le pauvre ne savait ce qu'il, etc. Pas may be omitted: (i) in certain fixed phrases {n'importe, etc.); (2) after qui or que expressing a desire {qui de nous n'a ses défauts?); (3) before the interrogative pronouns que and quoi

{je n'ai que faire de vos dons); (4) with ni {il ne boit ni ne mange); (5) with ne . . . que, meaning 'only,' or when another negative follows {point, etc.); (6) with certain verbs followed by an infinitive — pouvoir, savoir, etc.; (7) with si when expressing a reservation in the sense of à moins que. Elsewhere the omission of pas is archaic; compare Ayer, Grammaire, p. 564).

10. prendre garde que sa femme ne le vît. Distinguish between this ne used after prendre garde, which should be translated, and the expletive ne used after verbs of fearing, etc.

93. — Subtitle. Jeanne Dare. The Hundred Years' War had three causes: (i) The French king coveted the English possessions around Bordeaux, (2) the English did not desire the Flemish manufacturing towns to pass under French control, (3) the mother of the English king, Edward III, was the sister of the last direct Capetian (Charles IV); Philippe VI was only his cousin, consequently Edward claimed to be the nearer heir; the French held to the Salic law, that is, they refused to recognize the female line. The War may be divided into three periods: (i) 13 27-1360; a disastrous period for the French. Their king Jean was captured at the battle of Poitiers (1356) and taken to England; he was released after a treaty favorable to England had been made (treaty of Brétigny, 1360). (2) 1360-1420; although Du Guesclin gained many victories, this period is the darkest and the most unfortunate for the French. France was torn by the civil wars of the Armagnacs and the Burgundians, the latter favoring the English. The French were seriously defeated at Agincourt in 1415 and five years later the treaty of Troyes was made; by this treaty Catherine, the daughter of the mad king Charles VI, was given in m.arriage to Henry V. Henry was made regent of France a,nd heir to the French throne at the death of Charles VI. The land north of the Loire was in the hands of the English; the Dauphin had to retire beyond the river. (3) 1420-1453; Henry V and Charles VI died the same year (1422); the Duke of Bedford ruled for the infant English king, Henry VI. Charles VII was proclaimed king by the Armagnacs south of the Loire and Bedford laid siege to Orleans. It is at this point that Jeanne Dare appears on the scene. She had a double purpose: to raise the siege of Orleans and to crown Charles VII; this she accomplished. She continued fighting against the English, but her great work was really done; she was captured by the Burgundians

before Paris and turned over to the English, by whom she was tried and burned. The selection given omits the least important period of her life, between the coronation of Charles VII and her trial. The turning-point of the Hundred Years' War was thé^siege of Orleans, raised by Jeanne Dare. The English were driven out of France except from Calais and le Havre in 1453; it was not until 1558 that they were completely driven from French territory.

In regard to the spelling Dare for d'Arc, Michelet has been followed: he thinks that the name hardly comes from the village of Arc and finds that a descendant of Jeanne's brother used the spelling Dare in 161 2.

7. Charles VII était l'héritier. See introductory note to p. 93.

14. les trente femmes blessées à Amiens. Michelet refers to an attack on the castle of Amiens in the twelfth century.

96. — 7. le roi et le duc. The King of France and the Duke of Burgundy.

97. — 4. le nom plus élevé de saint Jean. Michelet (in a footnote which has been omitted) considers the name of considerable importance in the development of character and calls attention to the mystical and spiritual tendencies existing during the Middle Ages in families favoring the name of Jean.

98. — 17. Si poésie veut dire création. This is the meaning of the Greek etymon {iroLt)<Tis), a derivation of the Greek verb to create {iroieiv).

99. — 30. sainte Marguerite . . . foulant aux pieds le dragon. The celebrated collection of saints' legends known as the Legenda aurea sanctorum gives this legend in which Saint Margaret drives away the devil, who has appeared to her, in. the form of a. dragon, by making the sign of the cross.

It may be noted also that Saint Margaret escapes from her house in male attire; perhaps Jeanne's idea of wearing men's clothing came from this legend.