Callixtus III
Pope who in June 1455, in the first year of his pontificate, granted the petition of Joan of Arc’s family and appointed three French prelates to judge whether her condemnation was null. They annulled it in July 1456.
His rescript on the case of Joan of Arc is dated at Rome on 11 June 1455, in his first year as pope. It sets out the family’s complaint and commits the cause to the archbishop of Reims and the bishops of Paris and Coutances, who are to take an inquisitor with them, hear both sides and decide what is just (Callixtus III, rescript of 11 June 1455, Quicherat, vol. 2, pp. 95–98). The editor of the trial records notes that he was Alfonso Borgia, formerly archbishop of Valencia, elected in April 1455 (Callixtus III, rescript of 11 June 1455, Quicherat, vol. 2, pp. 95–98).
The judges gave their sentence as “specially delegated by our most Holy Lord the Pope” (Nullification Trial, sentence of 7 July 1456 (Murray, pp. 321–327)). See the Trial of Joan of Arc.
In the timeline
- 30 May 1431, firm dateThe Trial of Joan of Arc
A church court at Rouen under Bishop Pierre Cauchon tries Joan of Arc for heresy, and on 30 May 1431 she is burned as relapsed. In 1456 judges appointed by Pope Callixtus III declare that trial and its sentences null. Both verdicts are known from the courts’ own records.