Who Was Gilles de Rais?
Born around 1405 in Champtocé-sur-Loire, France, Gilles de Rais came from a prominent family with links to the House of Craon through his mother’s family and the powerful Laval family through his father.
However, both of de Rais’s parents died while he was a child, with his father dying in a hunting accident around 1415 and his mother passing away a few years after that.
Rais was then raised by his maternal grandfather, Jean de Craon. The young de Rais was said to be an intelligent child who was fluent in several languages, including Latin.
With an eye toward continuing to grow his family’s wealth and influence, Jean de Craon attempted to arrange for his grandson to be married to a woman from a noble family. After several failed attempts, de Rais became engaged to Catherine de Thouars, his third cousin.
Before any objections could be officially leveled, de Rais kidnapped Catherine and married her in a small chapel without official pronouncement. The marriage was declared incestuous by the Catholic Church and was not recognized.
However, the marriage was soon fully endorsed by the local bishop of Angers after penance, which likely included significant monetary compensation was paid to the Church.
As Jean de Craon had hoped, the marriage strengthened the prestige and influence of both families. The couple’s only child, Marie, was born in 1434.
Military Career
In 1420, a civil war broke out for control of the medieval feudal state known as the Duchy of Brittany. In February of that year, members of a rival House kidnapped Duke John V.
The Duke’s wife, Joan, then rallied her husband’s supporters to support the House of Montfort. These supporters included Jean de Craon and his sixteen-year-old grandson.
After the Duke’s release, Jean de Craon and Gilles de Rais were generously rewarded for their loyalty. This included substantial land grants, which were later converted into monetary gifts.
In 1425, Rais was sent to the court of Charles VII to study and master proper court manners.
In 1427, Rais fought against the English in the Hundred Years War. That year, he laid siege to an English-occupied fortress called the ‘Château of Lude.’ He successfully overtook the fortress and captured the English commander.
Gilles de Rais served as a military commander from 1427 to 1435, notably fighting alongside Joan of Arc at the Siege of Orleans. In 1429, Rais was given the title of Marshal, the nation’s highest military honor.
Lavish Lifestyle
In May 1431, Joan of Arc was famously burned at the stake, having been captured and turned over to the English the previous year.
The following year, in November 1432, Rais’s grandfather and benefactor, Jean de Craon, died. By the time his grandfather died, Rais had already developed a reputation for high living and lavish spending.
This point is illustrated by the fact that when he died, Jean left his sword and armor to Gilles’s younger brother, René de La Suze, rather than Gilles. This gesture very much went against custom and tradition and is seen by historians as a deliberate slight against Gilles because of his wanton and reckless spending.
By this time, Rais had mostly retired from military service and had become known for his flamboyant lifestyle and hard-partying ways.
By the early 1430s, Gilles de Rais had amassed a large fortune and was one of the wealthiest men in all of Europe. However, by mid-decade, his eccentric and lavish spending had whittled down his fortune.
Rais spent his fortune hosting extravagant parties with the finest foods, liquor, and entertainment. He also financed plays, literature, and other aspects of the arts. Rais also constructed a personal chapel called the ‘Chapel of the Holy Innocents.’
Some close to him said that he was worried about his eternal soul, which, in light of his crimes, is not that surprising.
Meanwhile, Rais’s family vehemently opposed his reckless spending, which was financed by selling off lands and property that should have remained in the family’s possession.
Eventually, his family petitioned the king, and in July 1435, they were successfully granted a royal edict, which declared Rais a “waster,” and prohibited those in his jurisdiction from purchasing property from Rais.
After selling off most of his remaining personal effects, Gilles de Rais left Orleans in late 1435.
Atrocities Revealed
Following his departure from Orleans, Rais reportedly became involved in the occult, specifically alchemy and demon summoning, in a vain attempt to restore his fortune. Later, testimony at his trial claimed that Rais summoned a demon named Barron and sacrificed a child to the entity in exchange for wealth.
However, Rais’s foray into Black Magic did not yield the desired results. Instead, he found himself in worse financial shape than ever.
During this time, there were also whispers and rumors about children going missing in and around Rais’s castles.
Yet it wasn’t until Rais and his servants abducted a religious cleric at a parish church during a dispute over land that Gilles de Rais was investigated.
The Church began an investigation into Rais and the dark rumors surrounding him. The investigation was headed by the Bishop of Nantes. At the same time, a secular investigation into Rais’s alleged crimes was also being conducted.
Rais was ordered to appear before the ecclesiastical court of Nantes to answer for charges, including more than one hundred counts of child murder, sodomy, heresy, and invoking demons. He was arrested in September 1440 and imprisoned in Nantes.
His secular prosecutors charged Rais with many of the same crimes. The extensive eyewitness testimony was damning, including witnesses who said they saw Rais’s servants burying the corpses of dozens of children near one of his castles.
The bodies of many of the victims were also recovered, lending further credibility to the witness testimony.
Confession and Execution
On October 21, 1440, Gilles de Rais confessed to many of the crimes of which he was accused. He claimed to have started sexually abusing and murdering children, primarily young boys, beginning in 1432.
He seemed to gain sexual excitement from the terror and cruelty he inflicted on his victims. Often sitting on their chest as they gasped their last breath.
Gilles de Rais and two of his bodyguards were found guilty and sentenced to be executed. All three men were sentenced to death by hanging and burning. The execution was set for October 26, 1440.
Rais asked to be allowed to be executed first, and his request was granted. He reportedly addressed the crowd before his death and expressed remorse for his actions.
Rais had also requested that he be allowed to be buried in the church of the monastary of Notre-Dame des Carmes in Nantes. This request was also granted.
Closing Thoughts
Much like the infamous Elizabeth Báthory, scholars, academics, and historians are somewhat divided over the extent and veracity of some of the claims leveled against Gilles de Rais.
However, in the case of Rais, the debate centers around the scale and number of victims rather than his guilt or innocence. Most agree that the evidence presented, coupled with Rais’s confession and seeming contrition, was proof that he was involved in at least several child murders.
Sources:
“Gilles de Rais: History’s First Serial Killer?” Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/story/gilles-de-rais-historys-first-serial-killer
“Gilles de Rais.” Criminal Minds Wiki, https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/Gilles_de_Rais
D., Seth. “Gilles de Rais Biography.” The Famous People, 8 September 2024, https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/gilles-de-rais-6780.php
The Joan of Arc connection is what makes this case so disorienting — the same man who fought beside her at Orléans ended up confessing to murdering children. And that historiographical debate at the end is the honest note: the scale is disputed, but the guilt isn't. The trial records, the recovered bodies, the confession — it's rare to get this much documentation from 1440. Whether it was dozens or hundreds, the fall from national hero to the gallows in under a decade is staggering.