History Fix

Ep. 135 Gilles de Rais: How Joan of Arc’s Co-Champion Became One of the Most Shocking Serial Killers of All Time

• Shea LaFountaine • Episode 135

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This one is not for the faint of heart! This week, in honor of Spooktober, I'm digging in to the story of Gilles de Rais, a French noblemen and military leader who fought alongside Joan of Arc to lift the siege of Orleans during the Hundred Years War. But that, turns out, isn't Gilles' only claim to fame. In the years following, he was responsible for kidnapping and then brutally assaulting, torturing, and murdering upwards of 140 children, making Gilles the first recorded and possibly most horrifying serial killer of all time. His bear all confessions are chilling, his acts unthinkable. There truly are no words. You've been warned.

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Back in July, I did an episode about Joan of Arc. She was someone who had been on my list for a long time. Her story is honestly bananas: an illiterate teenaged peasant girl with no military training leads an army to victory resulting in the crowning of a French king during the Hundred Years War. Oh and on top of that she claimed to hear the voices of Saints. Oh and on top of that they burnt her at the stake for said claims. It’s truly stranger than fiction. Today Joan of Arc is herself a saint and her story is one of the most awe inspiring of all history. But, as Joan led her army into Orleans (Or-lee-on) to liberate the city from English invaders, her greatest success, there was someone else at her side, a wealthy nobleman and prominent military leader named Gilles de Rais. Gilles de Rais shared in this victory with Joan, lifting the siege of Orleans (Or-lee-on) and was rewarded by being made Marshal of France. As Joan was being burnt alive for doing literally nothing wrong, Gilles was exalted. He retired to enjoy life at his many castles and estates, indulging in the arts and throwing lavish parties. But Gilles was doing something else too, something far far worse than anything Joan had even been accused of. Secretly, or not so secretly really, the war hero Gilles de Rais, protector of France, was actually committing unthinkable acts of violence against children. So much so that Gilles is considered to be, to date, the most horrifying serial killer of all time. And y’all, he’s going to be pretty hard to top. Let’s fix that.  


Hello, I’m Shea LaFountaine and this is History Fix where I discuss surprising true stories from history you won’t be able to stop thinking about. You guys ready for me to butcher all the French words again? That is my specialty. I had a YouTube comment on the Joan of Arc episode of someone being like “this was great but you said literally every French word wrong. You should really look up the pronunciation first.” Little did this person know I do look up all the pronunciations first. Shout out to Julian Miquel on YouTube for his awesome pronunciation videos. I feel like I know him personally at this point. So, yeah, I do look them up, but I guess I’m still doing it wrong. French is just, like, maybe y’all shouldn’t talk like that? Whatever, I’m gonna try my best. This story today you guys… I said in a recent episode that episode 72 about the Khmer Rouge was the most horrific content-wise episode I’ve done. I think this one takes the cake. Gille de Rais was one of the most depraved, sadistic, sick freaks I’ve ever heard of. I don’t know if anyone could ever really top him in fiction or reality. It’s beyond. Needless to say this is not an episode for kids. I know I said that about the Axeman of New Orleans, that one was actually kind of fine. Gille de Rais makes the Axeman look like the toothfairy. So I will try to give you a heads up when I’m about to say some things you can never unhear. My brain is forever changed just from researching this. 


Okay, on that note, let’s get into it. I am going to be heavily referencing an article written by Professor Douglas O. Linder at the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law. That is of course linked in the description. He does a really good job referencing the primary sources which, in this case, is the court records, trial transcripts and whatnot. I always appreciate a good primary source because it helps eliminate the whole game of telephone thing that happens with history. Gilles de Rais was born along the border of Brittany and Anjou in northwestern France in 1404. He was born into a very wealthy and prominent family. His father had recently inherited a huge fortune and all of his relatives on both sides of his family were feudal lords. They collectively owned tons of land and properties. So Gilles is a super rich kid. He was born in an actual castle called Champtoce (Shamp-toe). According to Linder quote “The houses from which Gilles came, both on his father’s and mother’s side, were among the noblest and most powerful of his time. In this privileged world of great lords, no one worked. They might make war against each other, and their fear of the Devil might drive them to piety, but mainly they luxuriated in their heavy fortresses, surrounded by servants and men-at-arms ready to respond to their every whim,” end quote. So that’s the sort of childhood Gilles enjoyed. As a child, he was tutored in Latin and taught to read and write. But in 1415, at the age of 11, both of his parents suddenly and unexpectedly died. His father was apparently killed in a really horrifyingly graphic hunting accident and it’s likely that Gilles witnessed this. We aren’t sure how his mother died. In his will, Gilles’ father said that Gilles was to be cared for by his cousin, his father’s cousin. He did not want Gilles to be cared for by his maternal grandfather, whose name was Jean de Craon (Krahn). Apparently Jean de Craon was just this really nasty cruel man. So he didn’t want this man raising his children. But of course, that’s exactly what happened. For whatever reason, when Gilles’ parents died, he passed into the care of his maternal grandfather, Jean de Craon. 


Linder says quote “Despite these stated wishes, Gilles somehow ended up in the care—or more accurately, lack of it—of his grandfather, Jean de Craon.  His grandfather taught him the art of extortion and banditry, but little more. Gilles, at the end of his life, attributed his years of evil-doing to the lax education and unbridled idleness that came with living with his grandfather.  Gilles said that in his childhood he [quote within a quote] ‘pleased himself with every illicit act’ and ‘perpetrated many high and enormous crimes . . . against God and His commandments.’” end quote. So we have this toxic combination arising here. We have a wealthy, pampered rich kid with way too much time on his hands, very little supervision, and no guidance whatsoever, or really guidance in the wrong direction if anything. And let me tell you from my experience teaching, there are two different types of air quotes “bad kids” that you can have in your class. There’s the type that comes from a rough home life, they live in poverty, there’s neglect and possibly even abuse at home, and then there are the spoiled rich kids who are allowed to do whatever they want and regularly walk all over their parents, no regard for authority. Let me tell you, I would take the poor bad kid over the rich bad kid any day. The worst students I ever had were spoiled rich kids. Do not do that to your kid. That was Gilles de Rais. He was an entitled spoiled rich kid with a terrible role model. 


Now, for a while, Gilles was able to channel all of his angst into the military, and that was probably really good for him, I mean I guess, I don’t know. It may have also led to his undoing who knows. In 1427 his grandfather hired a military mentor to train Gilles which led to him being appointed as a military captain for the Duke of Anjou. He was really good at it. He’s winning victories and whatnot. Fast forward to February of 1429. Joan of Arc has had a meeting with Charles VII who should be the king of France but he can’t get to the place where they always crown their kings because England has laid siege to Orleans (Or-lee-on). There’s this risk right now, during the Hundred Years War, of the English king being crowned king of France. Charles really needs to be crowned. He needs this coronation to happen. Joan comes along to help him make that happen. This is all episode 123 if you missed it. To make that happen, they need to take back the city of Orleans (Or-lee-on) from the English. Amazingly, Charles authorizes Joan, who is a teenaged girl with no military training, to lead an army into Orleans (Or-lee-on) to try to liberate the city. As she approaches, she is met by an escort of a few dozen men who are there to help and protect her and these men are led by Gilles de Rais. Together, Joan and Gilles successfully lift the siege of Orleans (Or-lee-on). 


For his involvement, Gilles is made Marshal of France. Joan’s family is made part of the nobility. She gets some made up title “Maid of Orleans (Or-lee-on)” and her home town is exempt from paying taxes. Those were her rewards. But the next year, she is captured by the English and famously executed for wearing men's clothing and claiming that she could hear the voices of saints. Okay, so keep all that in mind, the fate of Joan of Arc and the reasons for it. Now let’s take a look at what happened with Gilles de Rais after all this. 


In 1432, a year after Joan was killed, Gilles lifted the siege of Lagny (lan-yee) near Paris. No, I’m not going to say Pair-ee, hopefully that isn’t counting as a mispronunciation. This was a major victory for him so he is still on top. In November of that same year, Gilles’ grandfather, Jean de Craon, died. Two years later, so 1434, he goes on another military campaign but it doesn’t actually result in any fighting. He’s getting kind of bored with it. He’s like “eh, I don’t get to ram my thingy into someone’s intestines. Darn. What am I even doing this for then?” and he leaves the military life behind. He loses interest. That last one wasn’t violent enough for him. So, Gilles was really good at being a military guy but I think we have to consider how the violence he partook in may have contributed to the atrocities he would commit later. I mean this was really gnarly stuff he was doing. As a guy in the military in the 1400s it was perfectly acceptable to behave in a completely depraved manner. We’re talking murder, rape, pillaging. It was all fair game if it was part of a war. And there’s a good chance that this is what drew Gilles de Rais to the military to begin with. I have a feeling he greatly enjoyed that part of it. Because when he has this sort of uneventful campaign in 1434, he throws in the towel and moves on. 


Gilles goes home to his castle Chamtoce (Shamp-toes) and just lives this super extravagant life. He was extraordinarily wealthy. According to Linder, in 1432, his wealth was estimated at 800,000 livres (lee-vras) which was a type of currency that was used in France for around a thousand years until 1794. I tried but it’s very very difficult to tell you how much that’s worth today. If my calculations are correct, 800,000 livres is something like 1.1 million dollars. But that’s in 1432. There are no inflation calculators going back to the 1400s. The economy was a totally different beast back then. So I have no way of explaining how much money 800,000 livres is but just know that it’s a lot. Gilles de Rais was an exorbitantly wealthy man. But, his family was becoming concerned because he seemed to be completely squandering this fortune very quickly. Linder explains quote “But, within the short span of two years, he managed to lose a considerable portion of his inheritance…Traveling often to the city of Nantes (Nant), he came accompanied by a guard of 200 men-at-arms, plus numerous esquires, pages, chaplains, singers, and astrologers.  In his fortress, where the drawbridge was always raised and the gates closed, he supposedly kept a chapel with silk and gold tapestries and gem-encrusted sacred vessels. In 1435, in an annual celebration of the liberation of Orleans (Or-lee-on), Rais sponsored ‘mystery plays; featuring actors in elaborate and expensive costumes, with Rais purchasing new costumes for each play, not wanting them to be used twice. Spectators were served wine and various delicacies, all at Rais’ expense,” end quote. So his family sees all this excessive spending happening and they start to worry that he is going to run out of money and start selling off the family estates because they own all these castles and stuff. So they go to King Charles and they’re like “you gotta help us stop Gilles from squandering absolutely everything.” The king intercedes on their behalf and he makes it so that Gilles cannot enter into contracts to sell any property. If he runs out of money he runs out of money, but the ancestral lands are safe for now. 


But Gilles is not pleased. He’s been disgraced by the king. He holes up in the castle and sort of retreats from public life. He’s got the drawbridge up, the gates closed, we know he likes to party and indulge but like what is he actually doing? Well, from pretty much when his grandfather died in 1432, children started disappearing near the Champtoce (Shamp-toes) castle. A lot of these missing children were poor children who were last seen begging for alms by the gates of the castle. That was a thing you did. If you were poor, you went to ask the rich people for money, or you sent your kids to go do it. So all these kids were being sent to Champtoce and they weren’t coming home. Linder says quote “Servants or cousins of Rais, living at the master’s expense, often met the beggars at the gate and distributed clothes, money, and food.  If there was a beautiful boy in the group, he might be promised a treat if they would follow the servant into the castle kitchen.  They never came out.  Others were last seen running errands to a Rais castle.  Or when Rais was staying nearby, young boys were last noticed gathering plums, tending sheep, guarding cows, or chasing butterflies in the woods.  Sometimes worried parents approached some of Rais’ people and asked about the whereabouts of their children, only to receive shrugs or be told not to worry—that they will turn up soon enough. What happened to the children was a mystery.  But peasants occasionally reported seeing at night red glares, and hearing cries, coming from a casement high up in a castle tower,” end quote. And if you are watching the video version of this then you are seeing the ruins of one of those towers at Champtoce (Shamp-toes) Castle. Perhaps the very one the cries were heard coming from. 


In 1438, Gilles is forced to sell the Champtoce castle because he’s spent all his money. I don’t really get how because he was supposed to not be able to enter into contracts to sell properties per the king’s orders. I don’t know. I don’t get it, but he sells the castle. Now, before he passes it over to its new owner, though, it comes out later that he first has to have the skeletons of 40 children removed. He orders five of his manservants to go to the tower of the fortress and remove the skeletons of some 40 children. They are transported to his other castle at Machecoul (Mash-cool) where they are burned. So he’s like “yeah, cool, I’ll hand over the keys, let me just grab something real quick from the tower, hang on a sec.” So now he’s at Machecoul (Mash-cool) and this just continues, the disappearances of these peasant children, mostly boys. 


Gilles has another fun hobby too though and that is conjuring the devil. Yes, he’s very into trying to conjure the devil and apparently participated in upwards of 12 rituals to try to summon the devil. Linder writes quote “One such invocation occurred in the summer of 1439 in his castle at Tiffauges (tee-foje). His conjurer, a charming 22-year-old from Florence named Francois Prelati directed Rais, his priest, and two of Rais’ valets as they traced several circles in the soil with the tip of a sword.  Prelati invited anyone who wished to speak and make a pact with the Devil to step inside the circle.  Rais willingly did so, holding in his hand a note he signed, should the Devil appear: [that said] “Come at my bidding, and I will give you whatever you want, except my soul and the curtailment of my life.” Although “he did everything he could,” Rais reported later that he never actually saw or spoke to the Devil in this or any other invocations—although he became convinced that other participants had,” end quote. He doesn’t give up though. He starts wearing this necklace with a silver box that has this black powder in it. Prelati had given him this powder, claiming that it was a present for Gilles from his personal demon. Prelati also has Gilles prepare an offering for the devil, cause he’s like really desperate to meet the devil. This offering consists of the heart and hand and possibly the eyes of a young boy that he had recently killed. 


So, that’s happening, the devil conjuring stuff that he’s failing miserably at. And, meanwhile, anywhere Gilles goes, he has all these properties still, anywhere he goes children are disappearing. By 1440, Gilles is broke once again. He can’t stop spending all the money. So he’s forced to sell off another castle. He sells it to this guy named Geoffrey Le Ferron who was the treasurer of Brittany. So he sells it but then he has second thoughts he’s like “man, I really didn’t want to do that. I’m just gonna take it back. Whatever, screw this guy” and he tries to forcibly take the castle back that he had just sold. The new owner, Geoffrey Le Ferron, had left his brother Jean Le Ferron in charge of the new castle. Now, Jean was a clergyman. He was part of the church and had the protection of the church. But that did not stop Gilles. He bursts into the church where Jean Le Ferron was like preaching a sermon. He grabs Jean and drags him back to the castle. He forces him to open the castle doors and then he locks him up in irons. So, despite all of the absolutely horrific things Gilles has already done, now he has kidnapped a clergyman and this, this is what gets people’s attention. Forget the children. You can’t kidnap a preacher like that. Jean’s brother Geoffrey, who actually owned the castle, was a very powerful and well connected man. He sends his allies to liberate his brother Jean and arrest Gilles. 


So the church is having to deal with this now. But also, now that Gilles de Rais’ name has come up in regards to the kidnapping of one of their own men, they can’t very well continue to ignore all the claims of missing children. Someone’s like “hey, just so you know, we’re up to around 140 missing kids and everyone is saying this Gilles guy had something to do with it. Might want to toss that on the docket while you’re at it. Oh and also he’s been trying to conjure the devil for a while now, in case you’re interested.” I think it’s so silly that the kidnapping of this guy over a property dispute is the thing that finally gets Gilles arrested. That’s insane to me. 


So they haul Gilles off to jail along with some of his accomplices including Prelati and some other guys. Gilles had two different trials. One of them was secular and the other was ecclesiastical or religious. So the secular trial was for the murders of all the missing children and the kidnapping of Jean Le Ferron and stealing back of the castle. The religious, ecclesiastical trial was of course for the multiple attempts to summon the devil. If Joan can’t talk to saints you certainly can’t summon the devil my dude. 


Over the next three weeks, witness after witness came forward to tell their stories. These were mostly the parents of missing children. According to one woman, she had left her 8 year old son home with her infant daughter while she left to plant a field. When she came home the baby was there alone and the 8 year old was missing and never seen again. Linder says quote “Other witnesses told of other disappearances: an eighteen-year-old boy last seen playing with a ball of thread near Rais’ castle; a twelve-year-old who disappeared after being asked by one of Rais’ men to carry a message to the castle; a nine-year-old boy who was tending animals when approached by a Rais accomplice and then never seen again; two boys, ages 15 and 7, sent off to buy bread in Machecoul (Mash-cool), but who never returned home.  The sad tales went on and on,” end quote. Multiple people reported accomplices of Gilles’. There was a woman named Perrine Martin who would lead young boys to Gilles’ castle. Gilles’ two valets, Henriet (on-ree-ay) Griart (Gree-ar) and Etienne Corrillaut (Co-ree-oh) who went by Poitou (Pwe-too) were also reported for helping to recruit and deliver children. I mean, these names are just impossible. On-ree-ay Gree-ar… just why? 


At first Gilles is trying to deny everything but then all these people get hauled in to testify against him - Prelati the conjurer, Perrine Martin, the two valets, and Gilles’ personal priest. They all tell their side of the story and the tale that unfolds is absolutely horrifying. Like, it’s way worse than anyone expected. When the witness testimony ended, the prosecutor goes “okay, Gilles, what do you have to say to all that?” Gilles says nothing. So then the prosecutor reminds him that he can use torture if necessary to get Gilles to talk and the threat works. Gilles agrees to make a full confession which he does before a notary and a few officials. I have a translation of what the notary recorded during that confession that I’m going to read to you but, this is the part of the episode where I tell you to skip ahead two minutes if you don’t feel like hearing something you cannot unhear. This is really messed up stuff, okay? Two minutes. You’ve been warned. 


It says quote “the said Gilles de Rais, the accused, voluntarily  and publicly, before everyone, confessed that, because of his passion and sensual delight, he took and had others take so many children that he could not determine with certitude the number whom he'd killed and caused to be killed, with whom he committed the vice and sin of sodomy; and he said and confessed that he had ejaculated spermatic seed in the most culpable fashion on the bellies of the said children, as much after their deaths as during it; on which children sometimes he and sometimes some of his accomplices, notably the aforesaid Gilles de Sillé (see-lay), Milord Roger de Briqueville, knight, Henriet (Hon-ree-ay) and Poitou (pwe-too), Rossignol and Petit Robin (Ro-bah), [these are all people in case you can’t tell] inflicted various types and manners of torment; sometimes they severed the head from the body with dirks, daggers, and knives, sometimes they struck them violently on the head with a cudgel or other blunt instruments, sometimes they suspended them with cords from a peg or small hook in his room and strangled them; and when they were languishing, he committed the sodomitic vice on them in the aforesaid manner. Which children dead, he embraced them, and he gave way to contemplating those who had the most beautiful heads and members, and he had their bodies cruelly opened up and delighted at the sight of their internal organs; and very often, when the said children were dying, he sat on their bellies and delighted in watching them die thus, and with the aforesaid Corrillaut (Cor-ee-oh) and Henriet (Hon-ree-ay) he laughed at them, after which he had the children burned and their cadavers turned to ashes by the said Corrillaut (Cor-ee-oh) and Henriet (Hon-ree-ay),” end quote. And then it goes on to tell all the various places where he did this which was pretty much all of his various castles and properties where he spent his time. He admits that he did this to too many children to even keep track. He doesn’t know how many. The court estimates it to be somewhere around 140 based on all the parents who have come forward with tales of missing children. But I could actually see it being more than that. Because how many of them were just never reported. Some estimates put it at closer to 200 children. 


Now after he finally gets all of this off of his chest, Gilles gets weirdly kind of into it. He actually confesses two more times and each time he adds more and more gruesome details. Like he says that he liked to kiss the severed heads of the most beautiful boys that he killed. And he’s confessing all of this with a lot of emotion, he breaks down in tears. He blames this behavior on a lack of proper upbringing and he requests that his confession be written in French, it would normally be written in Latin, but he wants it written in French as a warning to other parents. Yes, he wants the parents of France to read this confession so that they will do a better job raising their kids than his parents and grandfather did. He wants to teach the parents of France a thing or two. There’s so much to unpack there but, in it I see a way of avoiding any guilt personally. He’s like “it’s not my fault. It was the way I was raised.” And at the same time it’s like he’s delighting in sharing his story now. Like he’s boasting about it. He’s getting something out of people finally knowing all these depraved things he’s done. And he’s doing it in this really sick and twisted way where he’s almost playing the role of like this wise teacher imparting knowledge on others. I would love to read some kind of psychological evaluation of this guy. I feel like he was psycho on another whole level we can barely comprehend. 


In the end, Gilles and two of his accomplices, Henriet and and Corrillaut (Cor-ee-oh) AKA Poitou (pwe-too) are hanged and then burned. Like, burned as they’re being hanged for these crimes. I’m assuming it’s like hanged for all the murdering, the secular crime, and burned for the devil conjuring, the ecclesiastical crime. As he was being led out to be executed, Gilles reportedly said to his two accomplices quote “We have sinned, all three of us, but as soon as our souls depart our bodies we shall all see God in His glory in Heaven,” end quote. This guy was delusional. Like, do you even want to see God? You seemed to be trying real hard to summon the devil there bud. You might actually get your wish this time. 


You wanna know one of the craziest things to me about this story though? Remember how Gilles was trying to make his confession be like this lesson to other parents? It actually some freaking how ends up being viewed that way. Gilles, this like makes me sick to my stomach, but Gilles somehow ends up getting viewed in a positive light after his execution? According to Encyclopedia Britannica quote “De Rais had been contrite and composed in the face of execution. This, bizarrely, brought him posthumous acclaim as a model of Christian penitence. A three-day fast was even observed after his death. In one last nauseous irony, a tradition emerged in which parents around Nantes commemorated the anniversary of de Rais’s execution by whipping their children, perhaps to impress upon them the gravity of the sins for which he had repented. This practice is believed to have survived for more than a century after his death,” end quote. What is wrong with people? This is the craziest part of this entire story to me. Model of Christian penitence? A three day fast? I’m so confused by all of it. But I have to admit it doesn’t actually surprise me. 


I want to take a minute to compare the story of Gilles de Rais with that of his contemporary, Joan of Arc. Joan is celebrated now, of course, as a literal saint. She is viewed very highly posthumously. But that was not the case at the time of her execution. It took 25 years to even clear her name. Joan was executed, by the way, for refusing to deny that she heard the voices of saints speaking to her. She denied it initially in order to save her own life and then, she was like “wait that’s wrong. That’s a lie. Lying is wrong. I do hear the voices of saints and if you’re going to kill me for that then so be it.” That’s why they killed Joan of Arc, because her moral integrity was such that she would rather die than lie before God. Okay? And they killed her like that. Very little hesitation. Now let’s look at Gilles de Rais. Gilles de Rais got away with torturing, sexually assaulting, and brutally murdering upwards of 140 children over a period of almost ten years. Throughout that time he tried at least 12 times to summon the devil. Forget the saints. He didn’t care about saints. He wanted to talk to the devil. He did this in multiple locations with multiple accomplices, tons of witnesses, and no one lifted a finger to try to stop him for almost a decade. What’s the difference here? Same place, France. Same time period, 1400s. Same backstory even. Joan and Gilles worked together to lift the siege of Orleans (Or-lee-on) and crown Charles king. What’s the difference? Well there are a few. Number one, Gilles was a man. Number two he was a very wealthy man from a very powerful family… Yeah, that’s pretty much it. That’s pretty much all it took. And, I hate to say it, but that’s pretty much all it still takes. Look at Jeffrey Epstein. Yes, totally different level of brutality as far as the crimes themselves but otherwise It’s the same thing. It’s a powerful, wealthy man being able to get away with whatever he wants, even with all kinds of witnesses and accomplices because who would ever dare accuse him? The mighty? The great? The powerful? That’s the only difference between Joan of Arc and Gilles de Rais and it made all the difference in the world. Even after his mind numbingly appalling confession, they still celebrated him after his death, this man. That’s an age old societal problem that’s as much alive now as it was in the 1400s.


Linder had this to say quote “That Gilles de Rais, with the help a number of his young accomplices, could go on such a prolonged killing spree without facing a serious investigation, much less a trial, for eight years says a lot about privilege and class in the feudal world of the 1430s.  Gilles de Rais was wealthy and connected, with a guard of more than 200 men, and he carried the title of Marshal of France because of his success in battles with the English during the Hundred Years War, including the key battle to retake Orleans (Or-lee-on), serving bravely at the side of Joan of Arc.  On the other hand, his victims were young and poor—nobodies in the eyes of the privileged class.  Child victims, who in many cases made the simple mistake of seeking alms outside the gates of one of the several castles he owned.  Who, in a position of power, really cared about these children? Who, in a position of power, would believe them against the word of Gilles de Rais?,” end quote. 


Now, as if anything could fire me up more, there are theories, more modern theories that Gilles de Rais was actually innocent. This is in the category of what we call revisionist history. So basically the theory is that Gilles was being threatened with torture during his trial, which we know he was. That’s true. And we also know that when torture is involved in trials you often get false confessions. We see this with witch trials all the time, people accused of witchcraft confessing to make the torture stop. So the theory is that Gilles de Rais was forced into a false confession with the threat of torture. Why though? Why did they want him to confess to this? Well the theory is that it was a conspiracy by his enemies, specifically the Duke of Brittany who was involved in the trial, so that they could seize his land and riches. That’s the theory. I’m not seeing it at all for a few reasons. Number one, what about all the missing children? These children really did go missing. What happened to them if Gilles’ confession was false? Number two, they didn’t actually torture Gilles de Rais, they just threatened to. Usually false confessions because of torture happen after the person has actually been tortured, or like during it. Right, anything to make the torture stop. Gilles was completely fine when he confessed no less than three times in vivid detail to his heinous crimes. And that brings me to number three. Typically a forced confession under torture might be something like “yeah, I did it, I killed the children.” Or even like “everything they said is true. I’m guilty.” A false confession is not usually a super detailed account of acts most people couldn’t even dream up in their most depraved nightmares. If Gilles de Rais was lying, he was going above and beyond what his enemies had hoped to torture out of him. Like, knock out performance by this guy. I’m not buying it and I’m not the only one. 


Johnny Wilkes writes in a History Extra article about a mock retrial of Gilles de Rais done back in 1992 by a writer named Gilbert Prouteau (Prow-toe). In this mock trial, Gilles was found not guilty. But get this, Wilkes writes quote “It must be noted that no one participating in the trial thoroughly researched primary documents and the defense attorneys fabricated evidence for the event. Prouteau (Prow-toe) himself called the mock trial “an absolute joke.” end quote. Um, what? What are y’all even doing then? Why are we trying to get this guy fakely pronounced not guilty if none of y’all even know the first thing about the case? Does that not seem potentially very detrimental to anyone else? Linder has some strong feelings about the Gilles de Rais innocence theory of course saying quote “Is Gilles de Rais innocent? The short answer to that is a clear NO! [in all caps and with an exclamation point]” end quote. Linder points out the same things I did as far as debunking the mere threat of torture forcing an extremely detailed and corroborated confession. He adds some other insight as to how this theory could have even come about writing quote “But the notion, pushed now by a surprising number of modern-day conspiracy theorists, that Rais and his accomplices killed not a single, solitary child flies in the face of a mountain of evidence. Yes, as these proclaimers of innocence point out, none of that evidence is physical. Prosecutors introduced no bones of children, no bloody knives. But medieval trials differed from modern trials in almost too many ways to count, and no one at the time would have expected such physical evidence to be produced at a time when oaths were seen as a near guarantee of witness truthfulness,” end quote. So, no, there’s no DNA evidence guys. DNA testing wasn’t a thing until the 1980s. That doesn’t mean Gilles de Rais was innocent. 


Um, man, wow, I’m really speechless on this one. I’m unfortunately going to be thinking about this one for a long time. The most prolific serial killer of all time, and, on top of that, a serial killer and serial rapist and serial torturer of children. The worst sort of human that ever lived and most people you know have probably never heard of him. There’s such a valuable lesson in the story of Gilles de Rais. I didn’t painstakingly read you that gruesome and horrific confession for nothing. I needed you to know what he did, the extent of it. We have to stop letting powerful people get away with stuff. Power from race, gender, wealth, titles, fame, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. I wish I could say this was a 1400s thing but it’s still happening today. It’s a societal failure because of the way our society is set up. Because of what’s important to us, what we prioritize. It’s all wrong. You know what really gets me? It wasn’t even the reports of over one hundred missing children wherever Gilles de Rais went that got him arrested. That was a mere footnote. It was the fact that he had abducted a clergyman and tried to steal back his castle. That’s what people cared about. That was crossing the line. The children had been completely ignored, invisible in the shadow of Gille de Rias’ power. That’s where the real lesson lies. Because if anyone had paid attention, if anyone had cared to stop this madman regardless of his prestige, so many of those children could have been saved. So many of them could have avoided facing this gut wrenching fate that’s so hard for us to even think about almost 600 years later. 


Thank you all so very much for listening to History Fix, I hope you found this story interesting and maybe you even learned something new. Be sure to follow my instagram @historyfixpodcast to see some images that go along with this episode and to stay on top of new episodes as they drop. I’d also really appreciate it if you’d rate and follow History Fix on whatever app you’re using to listen, and help me spread the word by telling a few friends about it. That’ll make it much easier to get your next fix. 


Information used in this episode was sourced from the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law, History Extra, Encyclopedia Britannica, and the book The Trial of Gilles de Rais by George Bataille (Ba-tie). As always, links to these sources can be found in the show notes.