14. French National Hero Was a Serial Child Rapist and Killer
French aristocrat Gilles de Rais (1404 – 1440), was a respected knight, and a beloved national hero who oozed charm and rose to prominence as Joan of Arc’s right hand man. Then the veil was removed, and his popularity and career were cut short, along with his head, when it was discovered that, in his private life, he was an outright monster.
By age 15, Gilles had earned a reputation as an accomplished knight, and by the time Joan of Arc challenged the English in 1429, he was already one of France’s most celebrated military men. He was assigned to guard Joan of Arc, fought in several battles at her side, and became her chief lieutenant. In recognition of his services, king Charles VII honored Gilles de Rais by naming him Marshall of France.
He retired from the military in 1434, but he was not as good with money as he was with soldiers, and soon dissipated his inherited wealth with a recklessly lavish lifestyle. Within a year of retirement, Gilles lost most of his lands, and to raise more cash, he turned to alchemy in the hope of turning base metals into gold. He also turned to Satanism, hoping to gain knowledge, power, and riches, by summoning the devil.
He also turned to the serial rape, torture, and murder of children. In 1440, Gilles got into a tiff with local church figures, and things escalated until he ended up kidnapping a priest. That triggered an investigation of Gilles, which revealed that the celebrated national hero had been murdering children – mostly boys, but also the occasional girl – by the hundreds.
Gilles habitually lured peasant and lower class children to his castle with gifts, such as candies, toys, or clothing. After they were fed and pampered to put them at ease, the children were led to a bedroom where they were seized by Gilles and his accomplices. As he confessed, he derived sadistic pleasure from watching the kids’ fear when he explained what was in store for them: torture, sodomy, and murder, usually via decapitation.
The children and their clothing would then be burned, and their ashes dumped in a moat. After Gilles confessed to his crimes, he and he and his accomplices were sentenced to death. He was executed on October 26th, 1440, by burning and hanging, simultaneously. His deeds inspired the fairy tale of Bluebeard, about a wealthy serial wife killer.