Joan of Arc, nicknamed the Virgin of Orleans, is classified as a national hero in France and a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. During the Hundred Years War, in the 15th century, she led the French to achieve numerous victories against the British, paving the way for the settlement of Charles VII (Charles VII) as king of France.
But Arc met a tragic end after she fell into the hands of the British, where she was tried on charges of practicing witchcraft and heresy and was burned alive at the age of 19.
Gil de Reese avatar
Alongside Joan of Arc in this war was the French commander in charge of the Duchy of Brittany, Gilles de Rais. The latter achieved great fame in France at that time thanks to military service, before he too knew his end by burning for the crimes committed against the French.
More than 500 victims
During the battles against the English, Gail de Reese, born in 1404 from one of the rich and powerful feudal families of Brittany, fought alongside Joan of Arc. During the enthronement of Charles VII as king, the latter was in the front row alongside the king. On the day of the inauguration in Reims, Charles VII did not hesitate to confer on him the rank of marshal of the French army, making him one of the most important French military figures of that period.
After the failure of the siege of Paris, he lost the confidence of Charles VII. Coinciding with the death of his wife, the latter collapsed and quickly decided to return to her lands in the Machelcoul and Tiffauges regions of Nantes.
With his departure from military life, de Reese wasted the money and fortunes he inherited from his wife and at the same time went on to perform rituals described as satanic recommended by numerous alchemists.
According to his loyal guards, Gale resorted to the kidnapping of hundreds of children, some sources spoke of more than 500 children, to practice his sadistic rituals on them, where the latter resorted to raping and abusing them before slaughtering and burning their bodies. .
Meanwhile, the families of the kidnapped children, who were in his lands, did not dare to face him and face him for fear of revenge.
Painting depicting the execution of Joan of Arc
death sentence by fire
But with his accumulated debts and growing suspicions about his sadistic practices, on 15 September 1440 Gale was arrested in his palace in Machcol by the soldiers of Jean V, Duke of Brittany. At the same time, the families of the victims went to present their testimonies against the former marshal of the French army, asking that the fate of their children be revealed.
At first, he denied the charges against him. But under the constant testimony presented against him by the families of the victims, by the peasants, he soon collapsed and confessed all that was attributed to him.
Furthermore, research campaigns at his residence have contributed to the discovery of enormous quantities of charred human bones belonging to children who have been victims of his sadistic acts.
With all the evidence available, de Reese was sentenced to death by burning on October 26, 1440.
In honor of his military efforts in the service of France and respecting his military position, the executioners secretly strangled him before throwing his body into the crematorium in front of the masses who had not realized at that moment of his death and followed the ardent process. with passion.
