THE TWO SIDES OF THE FRENCH BLUE BEARD

Throughout history many important figures have been given the label as either good or evil. In the case of Gilles De Rais, he played both roles in his lifetime. Only one of these roles really follows his name and that’s evil.

Gilles De Rais was born 1406 during which the Hundred Year War was taking place. France in the 1400’s was a land were the people were greedy, politically driven, and not to forget violent. De Rais was no exception to this behavior. By 1416 both of De Rais’ parents were dead and he was put into the custody of his grandfather Jean D'Craon. D’Craon was placed easily as one of the wealthiest men in France. He believed in the importance of the art of war and living above the law. D’Craon instilled both of these concepts into De Rais’ adolescent mind.

With the Hundred Year War still going strong, a poor maid girl comes into the picture, Joan of Arc. She convinced Charles VII that she talked to God and that she could save France. She was given an army, the man who was by her side on the battle field was none other then De Rais. He becomes Joan’s exclusive advisor on the battle field. They were quit successful in war and were gaining praise from the citizens of France and the king. La Tremoille, the kings chief advisor was jealous of the praise for Joan of Arc. He advised the king against attempting to save Joan when she was captured and facing execution. De Rais abandoned Joan in her time of need, despite her role in his career. In the spring of 1431, Joan was sentenced to death by being burned at the stake.

For his bravery and highly intelligent strategies on the battlefield, De Rais was given the title of Marshal of France. This made him the highest ranked solider of the French army. Unfortunately for De Rais he was not very good with politics and with his high ranking title he made a number of enemies, that were thirsty for him to make a mistake.

In 1432, De Rais grandfather D’Craon died and De Rais took over his estates. The Hundred Year War was now over and De Rais was sent into retirement. De Rais moves to Machecoul, the last home he will have as a free man. For the retired De Rais, who only knew brutality for the battle field, this new life seemed boring. So he had it in his mind to kill, this time not for his country but for his own pleasure.

According to some historians, the first murder that De Rais committed was in the year of 1432. They also believe that De Rais’ cousins, Gilles de Sille and Roger de Briqueville, were the first accomplice. De Sille is believed to be the one who actually snatched the first child for De Rais. The child was an unknown twelve year old boy who was supposed to be apprenticing under a man by the name of Guillaume Hilairet. At De Rais’ trial one of his accomplices known as Poitou told the court what he knew about the child. Poitou told the court that De Rais did have the boy and that he sodomized him while he was hanging by the neck from a hook. Then De Rais took the boy down and tried to comfort him. He would go back and forth telling the boy that he was going to kill him or that he was going to have him killed. Poitous real name was Etienne Corrillaut. He was originally brought to De Rais to be slain but De Rais decided to keep him because of his good looks. In order to stay alive however Poitous was to help out with the crimes. Poitous gave great details to the courts at De Rais’s trail. He told them that the children were killed sometimes “by decapitating them, sometimes by cutting their throats, sometimes by dismembering them, sometimes by breaking their necks with a stick, and that there was a weapon specifically for their execution, known as a braquemard." A braquemard was a double edged thick short sword.

According to Poitous, the children were never kept alive for more then one night. Most of them would die from agonizing wounds. Poitous also told the court that there were times when these traumas were inflicted on the children and De Rais would sodomize them, he enjoyed feeling them die. It was also said that De Rais would perform sexual acts on the dead children.

De Rais did not say much until he was threatened with torture. At that point he testified “when the children were dead he kissed them and those who had the most handsome limbs and heads he held up to admire them, and had their bodies cruelly cut open and took delight at the sight of their inner organs, and very often when the said children were dying he sat on their stomachs and took pleasure in seeing them die and laughed.” Most of the children’s bodies were cremated in a chamber of the castle. The fires were said to burn slow, to help with the smell. Then the ashes were dumped in a cesspool or a moat.

The first unfortunate group for children were all kidnapped back to back. Although, the court records are not completely reliable with the dates. De Silles was said as not only taking the first child but actually abducting the first group. He was noted as being seen wearing a veil when talking to the children. The missing children caused great concern among the people living in Machecoul. At the trial one parent told the court about the suspicion that fall upon De Rais. He also mentioned that everyone feared De Rais and his men. They were scared that anyone who questioned De Rais might be imprisoned or would meet a worse fate.

The number of accomplices grew as De Rais’ blood thirst grew. At one point a women was brought into the picture. Her name was Perrine Martin, but she was known as La Meffraye meaning the terror. She was seen around the area dressed in a black hood and cape temping children to follow her. La Meffraye was not listed in the trial transcripts but it is believed that she was sent to prison in Brittany.

De Rais was not good with his money and was always looking for a fast easy way to get back the money that he would lose. In the 15th century, alchemy was forbidden, De Rais was raised to believe that he was above the law, he found himself caught up in the world of alchemy. There were two occasions where De Rais was tricked by alchemist and lost some money. De Rais’ naughty behavior did not stop there. Not only was he looking for restore the money he lost, he also wanted supremacy. He thought that he could gain this through the devil. He made a few attempts to see the devil but was unsuccessful.

After a year or so of the failed attempts with easy money and supremacy, De Rais’ younger brother Rene, was sick of his brother wasting the family money. Rene was coming to take over the castle De Rais had been living in during most of the murders. De Rais was terrified at the thought of his brother finding evidence of his evil deeds. So he sent some of his two of his accomplices to get rid of the large amount of bodies that were being stored in the castle still.

The end for De Rais was rapidly approaching. There were to many elements against De Rais, because all the while his enemies were never to far. De Rais was like a caged starved animal who had been let loose after his retirement from the military. He was making to many mistakes. What finally got him into trouble was in 1440 when he kidnapped a priest. This priest was not just any priest, he was the brother of an important figure in Brittany. This was too far for many. The duke of Brittany was allied with the Bishop of Nantes, Jean de Malestroit. Malestroit was a long lived enemy of De Rais. Malestroit decided to gain some information on De Rais for his own gain and the Dukes.
It is hard to picture the look on his face when he found out about De Rais’s book that was written in childrens blood or how much pleasure De Rais got from watching children died and masturbating over their bodies.

The time now was July 1440 and Malestroit decided to let the public know about their once beloved war hero. Part of his report stated, "Milord Gilles de Rais, knight, lord, and baron, our subject and under our jurisdiction, with certain accomplices, did cut the throats of, kill and heinously massacre many young and innocent boys, that he did practice with these children unnatural lust and the vice of sodomy, often calls up or causes others to practice the dreadful invocation of demons, did sacrifice to and make pacts with the latter, and did perpetrate other enormous crimes within the limits of our jurisdiction..." September 15th, 1440 the Duke’s men arrested De Rais and his party.

Between the dates of September 18th through October 8, the court and the prosecutor listened to eye witness accounts and the testimony of horror stricken parents that lost their children to the hands of De Rais. When everyone had heard enough, De Rais was charged with 35 counts of murder, violating the church, sodomy, and heresy. The court stated that De Rais murder 140 children in a 14 year span. Although, some say that this is incorrect because 14 years from the year of his arrest would have placed the first murder in the year 1426. De Rais claimed that the first murder did not happen until 1432.

De Rais was asked four times during the trial to give answers to his actions. All four times he refused, and even became upset with the court for accusing him of such crimes. For his refusal, the church excommunicated him. The fear for his mortal soul was great and he plead with the court saying that he was sorry and would corroborated. The church readmitted him back into the church. For this, he admitted to a few crimes but not everything and did not offer any kind of detail or reason.

The prosecutor believed that he could get more out of De Rais and asked the court if he could use torture to get De Rais talking. The court agreed to this and sent De Rais to a torture chamber in La Tour Neuve. After sending a day at a torture chamber, De Rais could not handle it. He wanted to let everything out but, not in front of the court. Instead he wanted to completely confess in his own chambers, the court agreed.

The following day, De Rais confessed to everything in detail. He told the judges that he killed the peasant children for his own pleasure and that was it. De Rais was trying one last time to save himself. In this time era in France, killing peasants even multiple times was not really a big deal but killing for the devil was. The judges did not believe De Rais killed for just his own pleasure because of the testimony of his accomplices stating that they all did try to summon the devil. They reportedly used the hand, heart, and eyes of a child victim to do this.

Once again, De Rais was excommunicated from the church. He was reported to have fallen to the ground screaming and crying to be allowed back into the church. Instead he was sentenced to die by hanging from the neck, and then to have his body burned until it is ash. De Rais was to die next to two of his accomplices Poitou and Henriet. De Rais asked if he could die first, to set an example. On October 26th, 1440 De Rais, Poitou, and Henriet were at the gallows ready to face their executions. De Rais gave a speech to the crowd admitting his sins and warning parents of the dangers of children without good guidance. These were his last words.

De Rais lived a life as two very different people. The first half of his life he fought along side Joan of Arc, doing great deeds for his follow French man. He was loved and praised. The second half was filled with murder, sodomy, greed, and the occult. He was feared and hated. Unfortunately for De Rais, he will forever be known as the murdering ruthless Blue Beard of France.