King was fraught with difficulties. As discussed inMedieval Warfare IV-2, although the French commanders masterminded the Orléans victory, it was Joan who had taken the plaudits as God’s herald. While it suited Charles and his Valois supporters to initially promote this situation, evolving events would later create tensions, especially with the increased involvement of the Royal Court.

After Orléans

Immediately after the relief of Orléans, French commander Count Jean de Dunois and Joan convinced Charles to act decisively. Success at Orléans, coupled with the fame of the Maid and her divine association, created a powerful momentum as both nobility and peasant flocked to enlist and fight the English. The usually torpid French King appointed the Duke of Alençon as commander of his now larger, rejuvenated forces to liberate the Loirelearnt much from her association with the French captains. Cannons were beginning to be used with greater effect, and at Orléans both sides possessed this emerging gunpowder technology. This area of expertise seems to have interested Joan, for d’Alençon later stated that she was “skilful in war (…) deploying the army and preparing artillery” (Procès en nullité, I; quoted in Joan of Arc: La Pucelle, pp. 380-8). Dunois, a lifelong advocate of Charles, stated that Joan’s positioning of artillery and men at Troyes so alarmed the inhabitants that they surrendered. How much was specious exaggeration remains uncertain.

The Royal Court and the Maid

During the coronation on 17 July 1429 at Rheims, Joan was allocated a prominent role, constantly positioned next to the king. The Maid, though, had served her