Gilles de Rais was a rich Breton noble who fought beside Joan of Arc and became a Marshal of France, then was tried and executed at Nantes in 1440 for the murder of children. Thomas Wilson of the Smithsonian sets out his soldiering, his extravagant life at home, the accusations against him and the ecclesiastical and civil trials, and asks how far he became the Bluebeard of the fairy tale.
A sober historical study of one of medieval Europe’s most notorious criminals and the legend he inspired. Download the free EPUB.