Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2010
Abstract
The article relates the life of Gilles de Rais (1404-1440), French nobleman and loyal companion of Joan of Arc. The protocols of the trial in 1440 bear witness to his numerous murders of children, mainly boys.
In accordance with the charges and along with his servants, he was executed in 1440. The shifts of perception of this contradictory personage draws historians' attention.
Till the end of the 18th century, his charge sheets were often presented as the demonstration of the crimen laesae majestatis trial. The 19th century saw him as a motif, today he's the prime example of a pedophile.