Fire can hide many crimes.
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Also Known As: Gilles de Rais, Marechal de Retz

Introduction

The Gilles de Laval was a murder case from the 15th century. Gilles de Laval was a French nobleman and the oldest son of Guy de Laval, a noble of Brittany, France. Gilles inherited his father’s estate at the age of 20 and married a wealthy woman named Catharine de Thouars in 1420. His grandmother died in 1432 and his fortune increased. He had a spending problem and most of his money was gone in less than two years. He sold much of his land but spent alot of time in his Castle of Machecoul which had a moat surrounding the castle. The drawbridge would come down and servants would give the poor food and money. Rumors went around the town about children who went to beg were led into the kitchen and never came back out.

The Accusations

In 1440 Gilles was accused of murdering children and performing sacrificial rituals to the devil. The matter reached the Duke of Brittany, but he just ignored it for a little while. But he then finally he agreed to arrest him and have him taken to court. His servants and wife all left except for two, Henriet and Pontou. Henriet was believed to be his mistress. Parents began to testify against him telling the judges that they haven’t seen their children since they went to that castle. They believed their children were murdered then burned.

A Letter

The investigators told the testimonies to the duke of Brittany. The duke didn’t know what to do, that is until he recieved a strange letter in the mail from Gilles himself confessing to the gruesome crimes. He wanted to spend the rest of his life in a Carmelite monastery and all of his money to go to the poor.

His trial was on October in 1440, where he was said to have mental instabilities. He told the court that he would concentrate on God and dressed in all white like a Carmelite. He was charged with murdering over 200 children and burning each and every one in his giant fireplace. After it was said he was guilty he denied everything, saying everything was false.

Unknown to him Henriet and Pontou confessed to helping him with all the crimes. Henriet said she helped remove all of the children’s corpses, which were in the Castle of Chantonce, owned by Gilles, and were taken to Machecoul where they were burned. It was said that the children were killed in a particular room where Henriet and other servants tortured the children and would stab them in the jugular so that the blood would splatter. Gilles would stand underneath and take a blood shower. After they died Gilles would cry and pray in his bed while the ashes were hurled out the window into the moat. Other bodies were severely burned they were stashed in a hayloft at Castle Marchecoul.

The story that she told in the court room was so grotesque and many didn’t believe her. She told them that it was true and he enjoyed chopping the children’s heads off. She said he was inspired by the Roman Empire and took great pleasure in torturing and killing children. The minute after he read about the Romans he started committing murders. She also described in great detail how he would sit on the child’s chest and cut the throat half-way and would take the blood and rub it on his beard and hands. He would order the servants to hang the infants until almost dead, take them down and cut their throats open. She confessed that a little girl was crying on the steps because she recently lost her mother, he brought the little girl in and brutally killed her. Her body was thrown out of the tower, but somehow her body got caught on a nail and anyone could see it. Pontou had to go down on a rope and take the body down.

The Trial

His trial was October 24th, he thought he would be able to retire to a monastery. When he learned what Henriet and Pontou said about him, he was in shock. It got to him and he finally broke down and confessed to everything. He told everyone he cut throats, strangled children, chopped off their heads with cleavers, bashed their skulls with a hammer, and would cut them open to examine their organs. He told the jury he killed about 800 people, about 120 of those were done in a single year. He confessed to being involved with the devil, which they considered witchcraft. His trial lasted a few hours, he tried to bribe them with giving them everything he owned to go to the monastery and was denied.

Gilles gets his wish

On October 26th, the two servants were hanged and burned and their ashes were thrown in the wind. Gilles preached to the public about God and resisting the devil before burning to death. His body was taken down before it was all gone in the fire and was placed in a coffin . It was carried away by six Carmelites and six women in white robes. His dream of going to the monastery was fullfilled, they took his remains to the monastery.

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