G-NT3806KSJP

THE ORDINARY TRIAL






Here follows    word for word  the tenor                                                    
 

I


II


III


IV


VI



XII























XIII




















XIV



XV





XVI




XVII




LIV






LX


of the articles of accusation

she will           submit only
to the Church in Heaven

certain people
have kissed her hands and garments

infected with heresy
              and actually heretical

as for the fairies
               she did not actually understand

Jeanne was wont
to frequent         the tree
                            mostly at night

with her hair cropped short and round
like a young fop’s
she wore shirt,
breeches,
doublet,
with hose joined and fasteneed
by 20 points
long leggings
laced on the outside
a short mantle reaching to the knees
or thereabouts
a close-cut cap
tightfitting boots
and buskins
long spurs
sword,
dagger
breastplate
lance
and other arms in the style of a man-at-arms,
with which she performed actions of war
and affirmed
that she was fulfilling the commands of God

wearing   short, tight and dissolute male habits
               
               those underneath the   breeches
as well as the rest;

and she often dressed in
rich and sumptuous habits
precious stuffs
and cloths of gold and furs;
            and not only did she wear
short tunics
but she dressed herself in tabards
               and garments
open at the sides

whilst it is notorious
that when she was captured
she was wearing a loose cloak of cloth of gold
a cap on her heard
and her hair cropped round in man’s style

“The said Jeanne affirms that it was right so to
wear garments and habits of dissolute men;
and will persist therein”

the aforesaid voices and spirits
               consecrated her virginity

And she has touched them bodily
and felt them

As for the other womanly duties

            she says there are
            enough other women to do them

Jeanne replied   she bore to her king
                           news from God
would have him crowned
               would expel his enemies

as for where she lodged
she usually had a woman with her;
               when she was fighting
she would lie fully dressed and armed
if there was no woman
            to be found

           beautiful revelations

I have sworn not to utter





Milo Wipperman is a writer in New York. They are the author of Joan of Arkansas (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2023), a queer drama about climate catastrophe, internet fame, and political divinity. A winner of a 2023 Whiting Award in poetry and drama, Wippermann has an MFA from Brown University and is working on their first novel.