Gilles De Rais, aka The Bestial Baron, was the 15th century's notorious serial killer.  A French aristocrat was by turns immensely rich and bankrupt, a military hero and a moral leper, a pious Christian and a secret killer.  Eventually, he turned to devil worship in hopes of rebuilding his lost wealth.

In his good days, Gilles was a personal body guard to Joan of Arc.  He fought by her side in the Hundred Years' War and rose to the supreme rank of Marshal of France.  But blood, more than booty, held this war chief's allure for him.  When the hostilities of war paused in 1433, he looked toward new outlets for his lust of torture.

In his demented routine that varies in detail, The Bestial Baron would send out his trusted servants to bring a peasant youngster to him.  He would sexually abuse and then murder the child laughing all the while at the victim's agony.  He then would caress and dismember the still warm corpse before having it burned in a fireplace or tossed into his castle's latrine or lime pit.

The majority of Gilles De Rais victims were small, fair haired boys, although little girls were not immune. 

The Baron's crimes were rumored in the countryside for years, however, were not investigated until he had a run in with the Bishop of Nantes, a powerful political figure.  He was put on trial and confessed his guilt.  He tearfully blamed his crimes on permissive upbringing.  In his confession he conveyed in detail of sodomy, and murdering 140 children, although the actual total may have been higher.

The Bestial Baron was executed in Nantes in 1440 at the age of 36.  He was hanged and his body was tossed into a blazing pyre.  

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