These incidents are usually of a religious order.

They must necessarily be so, for Jeanne's story--and I cannot repeat it too often--is the story of a saint, just like that of Colette of Corbie, or of Catherine of Sienna.
I have yielded frequently, perhaps too frequently, to the desire to make the reader live among the men and things of the fifteenth century.

And in order not to distract him suddenly from them, I have avoided suggesting any comparison with other periods, although many such occurred to me.
My history is founded on the form and substance of ancient documents; but I have hardly ever introduced into it literal quotations; I believe that unless it possesses a certain unity of language a book is unreadable, and I want to be read.
It is neither affectation of style nor artistic taste that has led me to adhere as far as possible to the tone of the period and to prefer archaic forms of language whenever I thought they would be intelligible, it is because ideas are changed when words are changed and because one cannot substitute modern for ancient expressions without altering sentiments and characters.
I have endeavoured to make my style simple and familiar.

History is too often written in a high-flown manner that renders it wearisome and false.

Why should we imagine historical facts to be out of the ordinary run of things and on a scale different from every-day humanity?
The writer of a history such as this is terribly tempted to throw himself into the battle.