26, 27.] [Footnote 477: Monstrelet, vol.iv, p.294.Stevenson, _Letters and Papers_, p.

lxii.] [Footnote 478: Boucher de Molandon and A.de Beaucorps, _L'armee anglaise vaincue par Jeanne d'Arc sous les murs d'Orleans_, Orleans, 1892, in 8vo, p.61.

L.Jarry, _loc.

cit._] Between la Beauce and la Sologne, at the entrance to the loyal provinces Touraine, Blesois, and Berry, the ducal city confronted the enemy, lying on a bend of the Loire, just as the arrow's point is lodged on the taut bow.[479] Bishopric, university, market of the country far and wide, on its belfries, towers, and steeples it raised proudly towards heaven the cross of Our Lord, the three _coeurs de lis_ of the city and the three _fleurs de lis_ of the dukes.

Beneath the high slate roofs of its houses of stone or wood, built along winding streets or dark alleys, Orleans sheltered fifteen thousand souls.