😉 Hello story lovers! The article presents facts from the life of a French marshal, a participant in the Hundred Years War and an alchemist. Gilles de Rais is considered the prototype of Bluebeard, a famous fairytale villain.
Bluebeard Prototype
A French nobleman and aristocrat was found guilty of child murder and Satanism. Executed at 36. He went down in history as a hardened criminal. Many believe that Bluebeard from Charles Perrault’s fairy tale is de Rais. His full name is: Gilles de Montmorency-Laval, Baron de Ré, Comte de Brienne, Senor d’Ingran and de Chantoux.
The young man was one of the richest men in medieval France. He owned large land holdings in Brittany, Anjou, Wanda, numerous castles in the Loire Valley.
These are such lands and castles as: La Suze, Mashkul and Shamtose. He was widely known throughout France as a generous, educated, handsome and courageous knight.
Marshal of France Gilles de Rais (1404-1440)
At the age of 25, he was an associate of Joan of Arc, whose army put an end to the siege of Orleans by the British in 1429. This victory was decisive in the Hundred Years War (the war between England and France 1337-1453).
As a token of gratitude, Charles VII allowed the marshal to include the emblem of the royal house in his coat of arms. But the Marshal of France left a mark on the history of mankind not as a war hero, but as a criminal. In 1440 he was tried and burned at the stake.
At the trial, de Ré admitted that he had seduced and killed about 140 children. The inhabitants of Western France identified this criminal with Bluebeard – the hero of the fairy tale of the same name by Charles Perrault. The villain kills married women in cold blood, and keeps their corpses in his cellar.
Disputes about who actually became the prototype of Perrault’s fairy tale are still ongoing. It is possible that the man was de Rae. The ruins of the castles, where the criminal spent many years, leaving a bloody mark in human memory, are still considered the possession of Bluebeard.
The prototypes of Bluebeard include Henry VIII and Ivan the Terrible.
Bluebeard: truth and fiction
In Perrault’s tale, Bluebeard lures another victim to his castle with generous promises. Gilles de Rais behaved in a similar way. He promised mountains of gold to his servants and parents of future sacrifices.
Between 1432 and 1440, de Rais committed hundreds of abductions and murders. Witnesses told in court how he lured the little ones to him, to whom he told that they would serve as his pages or singers.
The villain chose peasant children from the crowd of people who begged for alms at the gates of his castle, and pointed out to his servants who he wanted to receive. One woman sold her son to him for an amount equivalent to the cost of a new dress.
There were cases when a child was exchanged for a loaf of bread. Gilles had 16 accomplices, including two women and two priests. So, the priest Andre Boucher once brought a nine-year-old boy to Live. For this, the murderer gave him a horse.
At first, the parents did not know what happened to their missing sons and daughters. But in 1440, when the murderer was arrested, a variety of rumors spread. Some claimed that he abducted children in order to exchange them with the British for captured French soldiers.
Others said that he ate children. Still others claimed that he wrote a book about magic with the blood of his victims.
Court
At the trial, the murderer confessed to a number of crimes. The defendant insisted that everything he told be translated into French, which was understandable to ordinary people (the court hearing was conducted in Latin). He made a confession only after the French Inquisition threatened him with torture on a rack.
Realizing that he could not avoid execution, he wanted only one thing – to save his soul from hellish torment. He denied accusations that he sold his soul to the devil during a satanic ritual. Gilles attributed his murderous addiction to his frequent consumption of fatty foods and a sweet cinnamon wine known as hypokras.
He once told one of his accomplices that he was born under a special constellation. Therefore, no one will be able to find out about the atrocities that he carries out. It is likely that de Ré was significantly influenced by his grandfather, Jean de Craon, his former guardian.
Gilles recalled that as a child he was allowed a lot. When Gilles was 16 years old, his grandfather and grandson kidnapped de Rais’ rich cousin, Catherine de Toire, forcing her to marry him. The church at first forbade them to marry, since Gilles and Catherine were in a family relationship.
Later, she still gave permission to conclude this union. Young Gilles realized that by force he could achieve whatever he wanted.
Terrible breath of death
The premature death of both parents undoubtedly left an imprint on de Rae’s psyche. At the age of 16, he already took part in the battle on the battlefield, and saw death with his own eyes.
At the trial, he was asked about when he began to commit his atrocities. Gilles de Rais replied that this happened shortly after the death of his guardian La Suz (his grandfather). The execution of Joan in 1431 came as a heavy blow to him. He fought in her army and firmly believed that the Maid of Orleans was sent by God to save France.
It is also noteworthy that the testimony he gave at the trial was recorded. One of the judges was the Duke of Brittany. From the Duke, Gilles de Rais embezzled a large amount of money in the course of dubious real estate transactions.
It was this fraud, and not the rumors about the murder of children, that served as the basis for bringing de Rais to justice. Most of the charges brought against him – in particular, alchemy, sacrilege, heresy and Satanism – were “standard set” for those who in those days came into conflict with the government or with the church.
For example, Joan of Arc was accused of committing the same crimes. However, Gilles’ confession testifies to the fact that some of the accusations were nevertheless fair.
Soon after the execution, his relatives made an attempt to restore his good name. They did not question the young man’s guilt, but insisted that he suffered from mental disorders.
Video
More information about the life of Gilles de Rais in this video
Did you like the article “Gilles de Rais: Bluebeard Prototype, Facts and Videos”. Tell me, what do you think about this? 😉 Come to the site for new stories! There are a lot of them ahead!