The House at the Sign of the Rose

In rue de la Cathédrale in Poitiers there is a rather grand looking student residence at Number 49. It is popularly known as the Hôtel de l'enseigne de la Rose (the House at the Sign of the Rose). It has a plaque on one side of its grand gateway saying Joan of Arc stayed there in 1429. But in fact, it turns out that not only did she not stay there, as the building is not old enough, it is not even actually on the site of the building she did stay in. That's two doors up, and has a different plaque. 

 

Student residence, known as the  Hôtel de l'enseigne de la Rose, but not the building by that name, nor on the site, of where Joan of Arc stayed.

Joan had come to Poitiers to see the King, Charles VII. She was interrogated by a group of theologians, who established that her divine mission was legitimate. 

 

The building on the site of the original Hôtel de l'enseigne de la Rose, where Joan stayed.

The English and their Burgundian allies had taken control of Paris, so Poitiers had become one of the the capitals of the 'Kingdom of Bourges'. The Royal Parliament was operating from the current Courthouse. Joan (Fr. Jeanne d'Arc) stayed in the home of Jean Rabateau, President of the Parliament, for a month in March and April of 1429, before she went off to break the seige of Orléans.