Page 69 - All About History - Issue 70-18

The Baron of Blood
A 16th century depiction
of Rais’ execution
the salvation that death would bring them. At eleven o’clock,
Gilles de Rais was hanged before his body was cut down
into the flames. Though Poitou and Henriet were consumed
entirely by fire, Rais’ remains were seemingly retrieved and
taken away for burial.
Yet despite his crimes, Gilles de Rais was not vilified.
Instead his noble birth, twinned with his remorsefulness
and bravery as he faced the executioner elevated him to
the very model of Christian penitence. A three day fast was
held in honour of his piety. For decades after his death,
the anniversary of the execution was commemorated by a
practice in which parents whipped their children, to impress
upon them the value of repentance.
In the centuries that have passed since Gilles de Rais went
to his death, historians have studied the trial records and
the eyewitness accounts of the murders, hoping to establish
whether he was truly guilty of the crimes. Although his own
confession sealed his fate, it was extracted under threat of
torture and excommunication, so might he have been an
innocent man? If so, what reason could there possibly be for
framing this celebrated Marshal of France?
A possible motive might be found in the posthumous fate
of Rais’ extensive lands. When he was found guilty, they
were awarded to the Duke of Brittany, whose cousin, Jean
de Malestroit, also happened to be one of the trial judges.
Others have maintained that he was the victim of a church
plot thanks to his associations with Joan of Arc and his
kidnapping of the priest. Potentially, he had enemies in very
high places. No physical evidence was ever presented to the
courts despite the enormous number of alleged victims and
with witch trials blazing a trail across Europe, Rais had the
potential misfortune to have been accused at a time when
the pitchforks were out. Some of those who have made a
case for his acquittal more recently, including the notorious
occultist Aleister Crowley, have claimed that Rais might well
have practised witchcraft or paganism but was not involved
in any criminal activity. Instead, the argument follows, he
was simply a martyr to ancient religion, a victim of the
Inquisition that swept across the continent.
According to some sources, in 1992, Jean-Yves Goëau-
Brissonnière, Freemason Grand Master of the Grand Lodge
of France, organised a so-called retrial of Rais before a court
of politicians and UNESCO experts. It returned a verdict of
not guilty. Critics of the trial have pointed out that no one
involved in the endeavour was a Medieval historian and it did
little to sway those who believed Rais was guilty.
The grisly story of Gilles de Rais has persisted in the public
consciousness, serving as one inspiration amongst many for
the legend of Bluebeard, the most famous surviving version
of which was written by Charles Perrault in 1697. The story
of Bluebeard is that of a fearsome yet immensely wealthy
nobleman whose wives have a nasty habit of disappearing.
He is later found to have murdered them and stored their
bodies in a locked room, which is discovered by his newest
bride thanks to a magical key. Of course, Bluebeard is
eventually vanquished and the forces of good prevail.
No human remains were found in Rais’ property and his
victims were children. Therefore, his role in the story of
Bluebeard is a somewhat generic one, that of a wealthy and
well-connected pillar of the establishment who is secretly a
monster. Another Brittany-based inspiration can be found in
the story of Conomor The Cursed, who was haunted by the
ghosts of his murdered wives. Ultimately, the question of
Gilles de Rais’ guilt or innocence hangs on who we believe.
If weight is given to the confessions and eyewitness
accounts then he was a guilty man. Yet on the other hand,
what if those who cried foul were right, and Rais was really
the victim, not the perpetrator?
The majority of historians today still conclude that
Gilles de Rais was guilty of the crimes for which he was
executed. It’s unlikely now that conclusive evidence will
be found either way but until it is, Gilles de Rais remains © Alamy, Thinkstock
the bogeyman of Medieval France, a real Bluebeard who
terrorised the most innocent of all.
Some artists preferred
to depict Rais as being
under demonic influence
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