Saint Joan

Content Warning: This scene contains threats of torture, sexual assault, and suicide.

The final scene of the play occurs in 1431 at Joan’s trial by the Inquisition, after she has been captured by the Burgundian army during her attack on Compiègne and ransomed to the English. Warwick and Cauchon meet with the Inquisitor and a prosecutor for the trial, a Canon named D’Estivet. Warwick is impatient, worried that the Church will allow Joan to live when he views her death as a political necessity. Cauchon remains adamant that she must have a fair trial and repent if possible, denouncing Warwick’s secular motivations for killing her. Stogumber and his companion, de Courcelles, come to protest that the Inquisitor has thrown out all but 12 of the 64 charges they made against her. The Inquisitor informs Stogumber and Courcelles that they need to focus on the vital charge of heresy rather than the theological quibbles that the churchmen have brought forth.

The Inquisitor gives a speech about how even the most honest and innocent heresies can lead to the crumbling of social order. Even though Joan herself is pious and well-behaved, accepting her beliefs would lead others to commit acts of sin and depravity, and so she must be punished.