Retz, RAISS, or RAIZ, GILLES DE

Retz, RAISS, or RAIZ, GILLES DE, a 15th-century monster of iniquity, was a Breton of high rank and family connections, who distinguished himself under Charles VII. in the struggle with the English, fighting by the side of the Maid at Orleans, and bearing the alms-dish at the coronation. Born in 1404, he was made marshal of France at twenty-five, but soon retired to his estates, where for over ten years he is alleged to have indulged in the most infamous orgies, having kidnapped or enticed to his castle as many as 150 children, who were sacrificed as victims to his unnatural lusts or his sorceries. He was at length hanged and burned at Nantes in 1440, after a trial closed by his own confession. It should be noted that the whole story is by no means free from suspicion, and, moreover, that both the Bishop of Nantes and the Duke of Brittany were active personal enemies of Retz. Attempts have been made to find in him an historical original for 'Bluebeard' by persons ignorant of the world-wide diffusion of stories of forbidden chambers and punishments for curiosity. See Baring-Gould's Book of Were-Wolves (1865).