Pierre Cauchon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pierre Cauchon |
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| Bishop of Beauvais | |
Manuscript portrait of Bishop Pierre Cauchon at the trial of Joan of Arc
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| Diocese | Beauvais |
| Elected | 21 August 1420 |
| In Office | 1420–1432 |
| Predecessor | Bernard de Chevenon |
| Successor | Jean Juvénal des Ursins |
| Other posts | Bishop of Lisieux (29 January 1432 – 15 December 1442) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1371 Reims, Champagne, France |
| Died | 18 December 1442 (aged 71) Rouen, Normandy |
| Nationality | French |
Pierre Cauchon (born 1371 – died 18 December 1442) was a French Catholic bishop. He served as the Bishop of Beauvais from 1420 to 1432. He strongly supported the English side in France during the later years of the Hundred Years' War.
Bishop Cauchon is most known for being the judge in the trial of Joan of Arc. He played a major part in her execution. However, the Catholic Church later changed his decision in 1456, clearing Joan of Arc's name.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Pierre Cauchon came from a regular family in Rheims, France. He joined the church when he was a teenager. He then went to University of Paris to study.
Cauchon was a very smart student. He studied subjects like liberal arts, which included grammar, logic, and math. After that, he studied church law and theology (the study of religious beliefs). He eventually became a priest.
Beginning of His Career
By 1404, Cauchon was a parish priest in Égliselles. He wanted a job closer to his hometown of Rheims. He also defended the University of Paris in a disagreement with the city of Toulouse.
Cauchon looked for support from powerful nobles to help his career. He became friends with Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy. Later, he allied with John's son, Philip the Good.
In 1407, Cauchon was part of a group sent by the French king. Their job was to try and end a big split in the church called the Western Schism. During this time, there were two people claiming to be the Pope. Even though the group didn't succeed, it showed that Cauchon was a good negotiator.
When Cauchon returned, Paris was in chaos. The Duke of Orléans had been killed by order of John the Fearless. Cauchon had also been the head of the University of Paris and, by 1423, he became a personal advisor to Henry VI of England.
Joining the Burgundian Side
In 1413, a meeting called the French States-General was held to raise money for a war against the English. Cauchon was on a committee that suggested new rules and changes.
During riots that year, he was linked to the Burgundians and a group of radical reformers. Because of this, he was forced to leave Paris in May 1414. The next year, Cauchon became an official representative for the Duke of Burgundy.
Bishop Cauchon supported the election of Pope Martin V. Soon after, he gained several important church positions. He became a church official in Chartres, and a canon (a type of priest) in Rheims, Châlons, and Beauvais. He also became a chaplain to the Duke of Burgundy.
Cauchon was involved in the royal marriage talks that led to the Treaty of Troyes. This treaty aimed to end the war by making the English king the heir to the French throne. In 1420, he became the Bishop of Beauvais.
Working with the English
Bishop Cauchon spent most of the next two years serving the king. He returned to his area when both King Charles VI and King Henry V died.
In 1429, he visited Rheims when Joan of Arc and the French army came for the crowning of Charles VII. Cauchon had always been against Charles VII. Soon after the crowning, the French army moved towards Cauchon's area. He then went to Rouen, which was where the English government was based in France.
The English leader, the Duke of Bedford, wanted to protect the claim of his nephew, Henry VI of England, to the throne of France. This was part of the Treaty of Troyes. Cauchon went with Henry from London to Rouen as part of a group of church leaders.
Soon after he returned, Cauchon heard that Joan of Arc had been captured near Compiègne. The Burgundians held her in a castle near Saint-Quentin. Cauchon played a key role in getting the Burgundians to hand Joan of Arc over to the English. He was paid well for this. Cauchon said he had the right to try her case because Compiègne was in his church area of Beauvais.
The Trial of Joan of Arc
The main goal of Joan of Arc's trial was to make her look bad. This would also make the king she had crowned look bad. Bishop Cauchon carefully planned the trial with many church officials. Many of these officials were from the University of Paris and supported the English.
The trial began on 21 February 1431. Bishop Cauchon sent a list of charges to Paris to get the opinion of university church leaders. They agreed with the charges. The trial continued, but Joan did not want to answer some questions. The court thought about using torture.
The court then gave her an official warning. As Cauchon read her sentence, she agreed to change her mind about her beliefs. But soon after, she changed her mind again. She was then burned at the stake on 30 May 1431.
New Position and Later Years
Cauchon could not go back to Beauvais because it was now controlled by the French. He was interested in a vacant position in Rouen. But he faced strong opposition and gave up that idea.
In December, Cauchon went with a cardinal to crown the young King Henry VI of England as King of France in Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Finally, he was appointed as the Bishop of Lisieux on 29 January 1432. He held this position until 15 December 1442.
When a French leader named Arthur de Richemont became friends with Charles VII of France again in 1436, Cauchon went as a representative to the Council of Basel. He worked for the English side in peace talks, but they were not successful. These talks ended with the French and Burgundians becoming friends again.
Cauchon spent his later years living between his new church area and a home in Rouen. His last act was to pay for the building of a new part of the Lisieux Cathedral. Cauchon died suddenly from heart failure at age 71 on 15 December 1442, in Rouen. He was buried in Lisieux Cathedral under the part he helped build. There is no specific marker for his grave, but his skeleton was found during repairs in 1931. No new markers were added after the repairs.
In the 1923 play Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw, it is said that Cauchon's body was later dug up and thrown into a sewer. However, it was actually Jean d'Estivet, one of the people who pushed for Joan's trial, who was found dead in a sewer.
See also
