Titans of History

GILLES DE RAIS

1404–40

Gilles de Rais … did cut the throats of, kill and heinously massacre many young and innocent boys … he did practice with these children unnatural lust and the vice of sodomy …

Report of the Bishop of Nantes on Gilles de Rais, 1440

Sadistic, depraved and mentally unhinged, Gilles de Rais was the first known serial killer, accused of the torture, rape and murder of scores of boys and young men in pursuit of extreme sexual gratification. His bouts of killing were interspersed with periods in which he would be racked with guilt, only to murder again as soon as the urge gripped him.

Gilles de Rais was born to a wealthy French aristocratic family during the long conflict with England known as the Hundred Years’ War. In 1415, when Gilles was just over ten years old, his mother became ill and died, and his father was killed by a wild boar while hunting. That same year, his uncle was killed fighting the English at the Battle of Agincourt, leaving Rais as the heir to the family fortune, which was still, for the moment, controlled by his grandfather, Jean de Craon.

Jean de Craon took custody of Gilles, but showed little interest in the boy’s welfare, using him as a political pawn while giving him a free rein to pursue his every desire. After two failed attempts to marry his grandson into wealthy families, he finally succeeded in finding a bride for him—a rich heiress who was kidnapped and held captive until she agreed to the marriage.

From the age of twenty-three Rais fought against the English with distinction, serving alongside Joan of Arc on a number of campaigns, although it is not known how close he was to her. Like Joan, he was believed to be deeply pious, and he certainly contributed to the building of a number of churches and one cathedral.

In 1432, the year after Joan had been burned at the stake, Rais retired from military service and returned to his family’s great castle at Machecoul, near the border with Brittany. With his grandfather now also dead, he began to spend his large inheritance on lavish entertainment and a luxurious lifestyle, provoking the irritation of his brother René, who was terrified that Gilles was whittling away the family fortune.

A more sordid truth lurked under the surface. From his base in Machecoul and using a number of accomplices, Gilles de Rais embarked upon a spree of carefully planned, sadistic sex murders, and may have been responsible for the killing of anything between 60 and 200 children—mainly boys—between the ages of six and eighteen.

The victims, who were usually blue-eyed and blond-haired, were either lured to the castle on a variety of pretexts or forcibly taken from the village of Machecoul or the surrounding area. The first victim was said to have been a twelve-year-old messenger boy, who was hanged by his neck on a metal hook, raped by Rais, and then murdered. As more and more children disappeared, the finger of suspicion soon pointed at Rais. However, the locals were terrified and ill-equipped to challenge one of the most powerful and wealthy men in France.

The majority of the victims were tortured in a specially built chamber, where they were strung up or tied down and then raped, before being killed by a variety of methods, including dismemberment, decapitation and disembowelment. At his trial Rais confessed to admiring the severed heads of the more beautiful victims, and taking pleasure from seeing their entrails ripped out. It was also alleged that Rais indulged in black magic and devil worship.

Meanwhile, René de Rais had determined to take control of the family fortune before Gilles spent it all, and threatened to march on Machecoul. The duke of Brittany also had designs on Gilles’ lands, and captured one of his castles. In response, in May 1440, Gilles seized the brother of one of his foes, a priest who had been in the middle of conducting Mass, provoking the bishop of Nantes—who also had a vested interest in Rais’ downfall—to instigate an inquiry into his behavior.

The bishop went on to interview the families of children abducted by Rais, and built up a shocking case against him. Rais was arrested in September 1440, and indicted on thirty-four counts of murder. Within a month he had confessed to his crimes—under the threat of torture—and been found guilty of murder, sodomy and heresy. On October 16, 1440, after expressing his remorse and being granted the right of confession, he was hanged and then burned, along with two of his servants.

To the last, Gilles de Rais professed the strength of his faith. The one charge that he refused to admit to was devil worship, and he broke down in a fit of sobbing when he was told that he would be excommunicated and denied the right of confession. Yet such flashes of conscience had done nothing to stop his campaign of sadism, murder and what he called “carnal delight.”