Book 1: In Domremy, Chapter 1-2 Summary

The story narrator introduces himself as the Sieur Louis de Conte, born in 1410. He grows up in a family affiliated with the Armagnacs, French loyalists, and opposed to the Burgundians, English sympathizers. Plagues sweep the land and kill the French people. The English conquer parts of France and hold them for over seventy-five years. One night a band of mercenaries serving the Burgundian party kill Louis' family but overlook him, and survivors send the six-year-old to a priest in Domremy. There Louis learns to read and write. He plays with Joan d'Arc and comes to know the children and their parents. Everyone in Domremy sympathizes with the Armagnacs.

By the time Louis reaches fourteen years of age, three Popes vie for control of the Catholic Church. The people of Domremy accept only the Pope of...