Joan withstood the terrible ordeal of interrogation, the harassment she endured at the hands of the English guards, the harsh conditions of her imprisonment, and the judges’ attempts to convict her of heresy. Not even the threat of torture caused her to falter. Supported by her saints, she remained unyielding. She told those who threatened her with torture: “Truly, even if you were to break my limbs and sever my soul from my body, I could say nothing else to you. If you force me to speak, I will say that you made me speak by force.”
As the pressure mounted, she heard all the charges brought against her and was repeatedly ordered to submit to the judgment of the Church. She appealed to God and said she should be taken to the Pope.
Joan testified: “I asked my voices for advice on whether I should submit to the Church because the clergy were pressing me fiercely. They answered that if I wanted our Lord to help me, I should entrust myself to Him in everything.”