Jean Bréhal OP was the

inquisitor-general The Inquisition was a Catholic judicial procedure where the ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various medieval and reformation-era state-organized tribunal ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

who led the effort to rehabilitate

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

Biography

Little is known about the life of Jean Bréhal with the exception of some documents regarding his career within the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

. It is known that he made his profession of faith among the Dominicans of the city of

Évreux Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy. History Antiquity In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century AD, was named '' Mediolanum Aulercorum'', "the central town ...

and remained faithful to the city's best interests for the rest of his life. He studied philosophy and theology for seven years at the

University of Caen The University of Caen Normandy (French: ''Université de Caen Normandie''), also known as Unicaen, is a public university in Caen, France. History The institution was founded in 1432 by John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, the first rector ...

, supported financially by the ébroïciens, until 1443, when he was made Doctor of Theology. In 1452, while residing in Paris, he became the Inquisitor-general of France; and two years later, in 1455, was elected prior of the convent of Saint-Jacques of Paris and finally elected to review the trial of Joan of Arc's conviction. In 1474, he returned to his convent Saint-Louis d'Évreux, and became vicar of the master of the order. During the remainder of his life as vicar he tried to reform the lives of the Dominicans by encouraging a return to poverty and the community of goods. He died sometime around 1479.

Retrial of Joan of Arc

During the initial stages of Joan's rehabilitation, in 1452, Bréhal was given the task of reviewing her case by the papal legate in France,

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Guillaume d'Estouteville Guillaume d'Estouteville (c. 1412–1483) was a French aristocrat of royal blood who became a leading bishop (Catholic Church), bishop and cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal. He held a number of Church offices simultaneously. He conducted th ...

. During the course of that year and up until 1453, Bréhal traveled all around the country and he questioned several witnesses in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

, where Joan was imprisoned and executed, sought information all over the kingdom about her life, and consulted several lawyers and theologians in both France and Europe, as well as

Thomas Basin Thomas Basin (1412–1491) was a French bishop of Lisieux and historian. Biography Basin was born at Caudebec in Normandy, but in the devastation caused by the Hundred Years' War, his childhood was itinerant. He was taken from Caudebec in 1415 ...

, bishop of

Lisieux Lisieux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pa ...

. In 1455,

Callixtus III Pope Callixtus III (, , ; 31 December 1378 – 6 August 1458), born Alonso de Borja (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 April 1455 to his death, in August 1458. Borgia spent his early career as a professor ...

, the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

at that time, was pressured by d'Estouteville, representing Joan's mother,

Isabelle Romée Isabelle Romée, also known as Isabelle de Vouthon and Isabelle d'Arc (1377–1458) and Ysabeau Romee, was the mother of Joan of Arc. She grew up in Vouthon-Bas and later married Jacques d'Arc. The couple moved to Domrémy, where they owned ...

, and two of her brothers, to clear her name. In response to the petition, Callixtus gave his full support to Bréhal and appointed three agents that would assist him during the procedures:

Jean Juvénal des Ursins Jean (II) Juvénal des Ursins (; 1388–1473), the son of the royal jurist and provost of the merchants of Paris Jean Juvénal, was a French cleric and historian. He is the author of several legal treatises and clerical publications and the ''Hi ...

, archbishop of

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

, Guillaume Chartier, bishop of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Richard Olivier de Longueil Richard Olivier de Longueil (1406–1470) (called the Cardinal of Coutances or the Cardinal of Eu) was a French Roman Catholic Bishop (Catholic Church), bishop and Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal. Biography Richard Olivier de Longueil was bo ...

, bishop of

Coutances Coutances () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. History The capital of the Unelli, a Gaulish tribe, the town was given the name of ''Constantia'' in 298 during the reign of Roman Emperor Constantius ...

. During his research, Bréhal wrote two books about the matter; in the first, the ''Summarium'', he sets out the facts around the trial of 1431; while in the second, he refutes point by point the accusations against Joan on the basis of theology and canon law. On November 7, 1455, he presided the retrial at Notre-Dame, where he questioned, along with several theologians and clergymen of all Europe, a total of 115 witnesses that knew Joan; from childhood friends, soldiers whom served under her command, citizens of Orleans and, with not so much enthusiasm, former members of the tribunal that condemned her in 1431.Pernoud, Regine and Clin, Marie-Veronique. "Joan of Arc : Her Story", p. 157. With all the information he heard, Bréhal declared in June 1456 that Joan had died a martyr and posthumously excommunicated

Pierre Cauchon Pierre Cauchon (; 1371 – 18 December 1442) was a French Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Beauvais from 1420 to 1432. He was a strong partisan of English interests in France during the latter years of the Hundred Years' War. He w ...

, the main instigator of the trial, branding him as an heretic who was pursuing a

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

vendetta. One year later, Pope Callixtus III confirmed the excommunication. Bréhal was present during the final declaration of Joan's innocence on July 7, in Rouen, when all articles of Joan's trial where burnt publicly. In Orleans, he presided over the commemorative feasts and it was likely that he met Joan's elderly mother during a celebratory banquet that the citizens offered to Inquisitor Bréhal on July 27.Pernoud, Regine. "Joan of Arc By Herself and Her Witnesses", p. 269.

Footnotes

Bibliography

Régine Pernoud Régine Pernoud (17 June 1909, Château-Chinon (Ville), Château-Chinon, Nièvre – 22 April 1998, Paris) was a French historian and archivist. Pernoud was one of the most prolific medievalists in 20th century France; more than any other single ...

, ''Jeanne d'Arc''. Paris, 1981. * Marie Joseph Belon and François Balme, ''Jean Bréhal, gran inquisiteur de France, et la réhabilitation de Jeanne d'Arc''. Paris, P. Lethielieux, 1893, VII-152-188 p. (Available for online consultation at https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57463473) * P. Duparc, « Le procès en annulation de la condamnation de Jeanne d'Arc », ''Précis analytique des travaux de l'Académie de Rouen'', 1982 et 1983. * André Plaisse, ''Évreux et les Ébroïciens au temps de Louis XI'', édité par la Société libre de l'Eure, 1986.

External links

Catholic Encyclopedia article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brehal, Jean French Dominicans Inquisitors 15th-century deaths