10 Real Life Horror Stories That Will Freak You Out
6. Gilles De Rais (1405-1440)
Although not as well known as a man of his accomplishments, (both good and evil, depending on your stance) should be, Gilles De Rais has gone down in the history books as a close companion of Joan of Arc, a skilled military leader in the French army and as the Baron De Rais, born around 1405 and dying in October of 1440.
He is also remembered for the murder, torture and rape of anywhere between 80 and 800 children. He distinguished himself with many fine accomplishments fitting for a noble of the french aristocracy at a time when France and England were leading the western world, and fought with reckless bravery on the battlefields of the Hundred Years War between England and France. He fought alongside Joan of Arc and was present when the Siege of Orleans finally ended. However, after Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, and the death of his grandfather who had tutored him through much of his childhood and led the family - De Rais withdrew from the military and public life.
He built a chapel where he officiated himself, despite not being an ordained priest of any religion, and produced a theatrical spectacular which required 500 extras and 140 main parts, which bankrupted De Rais. He sold property to support his extravagant lifestyle and continued to lose land, money and respect. 600 costumes were worn once for the play, then discarded and built afresh for each performance. Unlimited supplies of food and drink were available for all of the spectators at the expense of De Rais. With no avenue of revenue left available to him, he began to dabble in the occult, attempting to summon a demon three times and failing three times. De Rais provided a contract that would allow him immense riches in return for whatever the demon asked for. Once the experiments failed, De Rais was advised that the parts of a child would placate the demon. De Rais provided these body parts at a future invocation and still the demon did not appear. De Rais was an immensely prolific paedophile and murderer.
Over a period of decades, he murdered a confirmed 200 children, with an estimate rising as high as 600 including the deaths without bodies as evidence, and up to 800 as the highest estimate. The boys, although girls were common too, would be pampered after being kidnapped. Dressed in sumptuary clothing that they would have never before even seen. They would share a large meal, and heavy drinking of fine alcohols, particularly hippocras; which is a stimulant. Then the boy would be taken to an upper room of the castle, which only Gilles and his cronies could enter. There the boy would be confronted with the true nature of what was about to happen to him, which was reportedly a source of huge pleasure for De Rais. De Rais would hang the child from the ceiling with hooks and a rope, and then masturbate upon their stomach and legs. He would then take the child down, comfort them and assure them that he only wished to play. Then, either he, or his accomplices would kill the child; either by decapitation, slitting of the throat, dismemberment or smashing their necks with a stick. De Rais kept a particular short sword at hand to use in the murder of the children.
At his trial, De Rais assistants and partners in crime confessed that De Rais would abuse the children before wounding them, and at other times after their death. He would not abuse them in the most common way, but prefered to sodomise the children, or use their injuries to pleasure himself. Indeed, in his own confession Gilles De Rais testified that he would kiss the children after they were dead, and hold up the most handsome heads to admire. He would have their bodies cut open and took delight in seeing their organs. He would commonly sit on the stomachs of the dying children and take pleasure in seeing them dying in pain. He would laugh and laugh. The children were mostly burned, leaving very little evidence of the sheer number of victims. Gilles De Rais was found guilty after a series of investigations and burnt at the stake, whilst simultaneously being hanged by the neck until dead. However, his guilt has always been in question, as a series of extremely convenient circumstances arose from his death, such as the judge at his trial receiving all of De Rais' lands, titles and wealth upon his death. However, the evidence for his innocence is extremely limited. There is much, much more that could be said about The Wolf Gilles De Rais. Further context can be found here.