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Why did Charles VII not attempt to rescue St. Joan of Arc?

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Painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres showing Joan of Arc in armor holding a banner at an altar during the coronation of Charles VII in Reims Cathedral, with figures praying behind her. — St. Joan of Arc *Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII in Reims Cathedral*, by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1854; in the Louvre, Paris.

After St. Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians in 1430 and subsequently sold to the English, Charles VII made no attempt to rescue her.12

Historical records indicate that Charles was actively working toward a truce with the Duke of Burgundy at the time of her imprisonment. Furthermore, his court and advisers were distancing themselves from her; for instance, Renaud de Chartres, the archbishop of Reims, publicly accused Joan of acting willfully and rejecting counsel following her capture.2

Politically, Charles and his party chose not to intervene through ecclesiastical channels to save her. This inaction was likely influenced by the desire to secure a peace treaty with Burgundy, which was eventually achieved in 1435. Additionally, the English and their allies at the University of Paris sought to discredit Charles by framing his coronation as the work of a heretic or witch, creating a situation where the king may have felt that distancing himself from Joan was necessary to protect the legitimacy of his reign.32