Gilles de Rais
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Gilles de Rais Baron de Retz |
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Gilles de Rais by Éloi Firmin Féron (1835) (artist's impression since no contemporary portrait has survived).
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| Birth name | Gilles de Montmorency-Laval |
| Born | prob. c. September 1405 , Anjou |
| Died | 26 October 1440 (aged 35) Nantes, Brittany |
| Buried at | church of the monastery of Notre-Dame des Carmes in Nantes |
| Allegiance |
Kingdom of France Duchy of Brittany |
| Years of service | 1420-1435 |
| Rank | Marshal of France |
| Battles/wars | |
| Signature |  |
| Gilles de Rais | |
|---|---|
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Spouse(s) | Catherine de Thouars of Brittany (1420–1440) (his death) |
| Children | Marie (1429–1457) (left no children) |
| Parent(s) | Guy II de Montmorency-Laval Marie de Craon |
| Killings | |
| Victims | 140 ? |
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Span of killings
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1431–1440 |
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Date apprehended
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15 September 1440 |
Gilles de Montmorency-Laval (prob. c. September 1405 – 26 October 1440),Baron de Rais, was a knight and lord from Brittany, Anjou and Poitou, a leader in the French army, and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc. He is best known for his reputation and later conviction as a confessed serial killer of children.
A member of the House of Montmorency-Laval, Gilles de Rais grew up under the tutelage of his maternal grandfather and increased his fortune by marriage. He earned the favour of the Duke of Brittany and was admitted to the French court. From 1427 to 1435, Gilles served as a commander in the Royal Army, and fought alongside Joan of Arc against the English and their Burgundian allies during the Hundred Years' War, for which he was appointed Marshal of France.
In 1434/1435, he retired from military life, depleted his wealth by staging an extravagant theatrical spectacle of his own composition, and was accused of dabbling in the occult. After 1432 Gilles was accused of engaging in a series of child murders, with victims possibly numbering in the hundreds. The killings came to an end in 1440, when a violent dispute with a clergyman led to an ecclesiastical investigation which brought the crimes to light, and attributed them to Gilles. At his trial the parents of missing children in the surrounding area and Gilles' own confederates in crime testified against him. Gilles was condemned to death and hanged at Nantes on 26 October 1440.
Gilles de Rais is believed to be the inspiration for the 1697 fairy tale "Bluebeard" ("Barbe bleue") by Charles Perrault.
Gilles de Rais was probably born in late 1405 to Guy II de Montmorency-Laval and Marie de Craon in the family castle at . He was an intelligent child, speaking fluent Latin, illuminating manuscripts, and dividing his education between military discipline and moral and intellectual development. Following the deaths of his father and mother in 1415, Gilles and his younger brother René de La Suze were placed under the tutelage of Jean de Craon, their maternal grandfather. Jean de Craon was a schemer who attempted to arrange a marriage for twelve-year-old Gilles with four-year-old Jeanne Paynel, one of the richest heiresses in Normandy, and, when the plan failed, attempted unsuccessfully to unite the boy with Béatrice de Rohan, the niece to the Duke of Brittany. On 30 November 1420, however, Craon substantially increased his grandson's fortune by marrying him to Catherine de Thouars of Brittany, heiress of La Vendée and Poitou. Their only child Marie was born in 1429.
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