“Paris, in those days, was the largest city in the Christian world and was neither easy to defend nor to attack. We took a number of English strongholds near the city and prepared to attack the city itself.
“On 8 September, we began the final attack. There was heavy artillery fire from the walls, but it did little damage. There were two ditches in front of the city walls, one dry and the other filled with water. We needed to know how deep the water was, so I dismounted and went down into the first ditch. A few of the captains, including Gilles de Rais, came with me.
“As we did so, the French army charged the length of the wall. I put my lance into the water to see how deep it was. At the same time, I called out to the defenders on the walls to surrender to the King of France or they woul
