Challenge: Prove- Or Disprove- That Gilles de Rais Was Innocent.

UCB79

For centuries "Bluebeard" was considered one of history's greatest monsters, his guilt as firmly estab-
lished as the shape of the earth. But in recent decades defenders of Gilles have stepped forward, arguing
that he was in fact framed, and thus innocent- and it must be said they made some good points(for
example, that much of the voluminous evidence against him was actually procured by torture, that no
child's corpse was ever found @ his castle, & that his chief prosecutor, in what today would be regarded as a blatant conflict-of-interest, was awarded Gilles' lands after his execution). In fact in 1992 a special French court of rehabilitation found Gilles innocent! Nonetheless, I am skeptical. Lord knows medieval
justice all too often left much to be desired. But if Gilles didn't kill all those poor children, who did?( They
didn't just disappear!) But, my fellow posters, as this thread's title says- your thoughts!
 
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McAuslan_in_the_Rough

Were the types of accusations made against Gilles de Rais commonly made against aristocrats or even commoners of the time? I don't want to give a justice system where torture plays a large part too much credit, but if the accusations were unique, that almost adds some credibility to them - presumably if you want to get your hands on someone's lands, there were simpler, more common false accusations. Anyone have any books on the topic to recommend?
 

UCB79

McAuslan_in_the_Rough said:
Were the types of accusations made against Gilles de Rais commonly made against aristocrats or even commoners of the time? I don't want to give a justice system where torture plays a large part too much credit, but if the accusations were unique, that almost adds some credibility to them - presumably if you want to get your hands on someone's lands, there were simpler, more common false accusations. Anyone have any books on the topic to recommend?
Click to expand...

Jean II, Duke of Alencon(& good friend of Joan of Arc)was arrested, tried, & convicted in 1458 on charges
of conspiracy & treason. He was sentenced to death & though the sentence was never carried out, he died in
prison in 1476. I'm bringing this up because this was the other big trial of someone well born(Gilles after all
had once been Constable of France & also a friend of Joan's who fought alongside her)held in France during
Charles VII's reign. Trials like Alencon's seem to be far more common in medieval France than trials like those
of Gilles. This is @ least circumstantial evidence of Gilles' guilt in that you DIDN'T every day see nobles acc-
used of what Gilles was.
 
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