GILLES DE RAIS: HERO & VILLAIN

Gilles de Montmorency-Laval, also known as Gilles de Rais,was a knight and a leader of the French Army, who fought during the Hundred Years' War, a war fought by the House of Plantagenet (the rulers of the Kingdom of England) against the French House of  Valois from 1337 to 1453 for the right to rule the Kingdom of France, as a companion of Joan of Arc, "La Pucelle d'Orleans”, the heroine of France, the symbol of that war, even now, because of her actions and also her death.

Gilles wa born in 1405 in Champtocé-sur-Loire. Even when he was a child he was very intelligent and skilled: in fact he was able to speak Latin and also was gifted in the military discipline. In teh following ears he was rained in war and military arts and in 1427 he became a commander of the Royal army, distinguishing himself because of his courage in battle.

In 1429 his only child was born from Catherine de Thouars of Brittany, and also in the same year he fought with Joan of Arcin some battles, like the Siege of Orléans, that ended in that year. During the whole war he was an important generaland in fact he was chosen to bring the Holy Ampulla with other 3 lords from the Abbey of Saint-Remy to Notre-Dame de Reims for the consacration of Charles VII as King of France, but he wasn't present when, in 1431, Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake.

But today Gilles de Rais is famous because of the long series of murders of children that he committed between 1432 and 1440. His first murder dates back to 1432 in Champtocé-sur-Loire, and in 1434 he moved to Machecoul, where he killed around 40 children, but their bodies were discovered only 3 years later, in 1437.

When he commited a murder, he organised it accurately: first,he chose a victim, always a child between 4 and 12 years; then he caught the victim, usually approaching him/her with some excuses, like that he had to give him/her a message or similar. After he had captured the victim, he killed him/her with a short double-edged sword he kept in his house; then, the corpse of the victim was burned in a dedicated room.

For many years he continued to kill and kill again, but in 1440 he was arrested following a long investigation in collaboration with the Bishop of Nantes. After many interrogations, Gilles was sentenced for the murders of around 200 children to be burned, and, in fact, on the 26th of October 1440 he was burned at the stake in Ile de Biess. 

Something you may not know about  Gilles de Rais is that he inspired the character of  Bluebeard, the infamous protagonist of the story of the same name.  

YURI