f the Maid of Lorraine leading Charles’s army is enough to get a good amount of the French to support him as well. Charles, as Warner says, is “restless, impatient, devious, and distrustful…but he is not the fool that history has preferred.” (p.62) It is true that Charles does not fully trust Joan even after his experience with her at Chinon. Only after a tribunal is Joan allowed to take up her military career. (p.63) This proves that Charles does not really fully invest his trust in her and that there is really not a true connection between the two if Charles has any doubt in Joan. The only time that Charles will outwardly encourage Joan is when she is successful in her battles. In this way, it will seem to the French people that his strategies are the reasons for the victories. For instance, Warner says that “only after her victory at Orleans…the Chroniclers openly agree with her” (p.62) that she has come from God. Charles continues to encourage Joan to complete her mission even after he is crowned the true king of France. It is at this point that Charles can really care less about Joan because she has already accomplished what he needed. The crafty king even makes a treaty with the English and the Burgundians knowing that Joan will violate it. Now that Charles is king, he will have enough support and the right resources to do things on his own. If Charles relies too much on Joan, then it will seem as if Joan has more power than the king. After Joan’s loss and her kidnapping by the Burgundians and then the English, Charles and his advisors make no attempt to get Joan back. It also seems that the English believe in Joan the Maid more than the French and this can be seen because the English are the ones who buy Joan from her captor. The English feared Joan more than they feared Charles. This is the worst scenario politically and influentially for Charles because more people f...
