A Fifteenth Century French war hero, Gilles was also one of medieval
Europe's worst killers. An ally of Joan of Arc during the Hundred Year
War, de Rais was instrumental in driving the English out of France. In
his later years, after he was named Marshal of France by King Charles
VII, he settled in his estates in Brittany, where he turned his heroic
impulses towards torture and murder. He enjoyed killing mostly young
boys, whom he would sodomize before and after decapitation. When he
wasn't feeling up to the task he enjoyed watching his servants butcher
the boys and masturbated over their entrails.

Because he was a baron, no one took note of the disappearing children
around his castle. A great patron of the arts, Gilles also enjoyed
practicing black magic and alchemy. His reign of terror came to an end
when the Duke of Brittany dug up the mutilated remains of 50 boys in his
castle. He confessed to 140 killings but it is believed that the body count
could have been as high as 300. On October 26, 1440, Gilles was
simultaneously burned and hanged. His two servant accomplices were
simply burned alive.