BEING THE HISTORY OF GILLES DE RETZ OF BRITTANY, FRANCE, WHO WAS EXECUTED AT NANTES IN 1440 A.D. AND WHO WAS THE ORIGINAL OF BLUE-BEARD IN THE TALES OF MOTHER GOOSE BY THOMAS WILSON, LL.D. CURATOR, DIVISION OF PREHISTORIC ARCHÆOLOGY, U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM COUNSELLOR OF THE BAR OF THE SUPREME COURTS, COURT OF CLAIMS AND OF APPEALS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FORMERLY U.S. CONSUL AT GHENT, BELGIUM; AT NANTES AND NICE, FRANCE ILLUSTRATED G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS NEW YORK & LONDON The Knickerbocke

The story of Bluebeard has become a classic in infantile mythical (folk-lore) literature wherever the English and French languages are spoken. Rev. Dr. Shahan suggests its possible existence in earlier languages and more distant countries (see p. xiv .). The story is more or less mythical. While it does not follow history with any pretence of fidelity, it has come to be recognised by the historians and literati of France as representing the life of Gilles de Retz (or Rais), a soldier of Brittany

His Name, Family, Marriage, and Education The original of Bluebeard in the Mother Goose story was Gilles de Rais (changed in 1581 to Retz), though he is sometimes called Gilles de Laval in history. Neither the date nor place of his birth is known with precision, but it took place in the autumn of 1404, probably at Machecoul, one of the family châteaux in the southern part of Brittany. The ancestors of Gilles de Retz belonged to four noble and illustrious families in Brittany: 1. Laval, sometimes

First for John V., Duke of Brittany, against the House of Blois. He Joins the Army of France and is Assigned to Duty with Joan of Arc. Crowning of the King, and Gilles Made Marshal of France. In the condition of his country at that time, it was but natural that this handsome, impetuous, rich, and powerful baron should take up arms as his profession. France and England were in the midst of the Hundred Years’ War. Brittany, Gilles’s own duchy, had been since the death of John IV. engaged in a civi

The personal Appearance of Gilles de Retz. An Epitome of his Life. His Extravagance and ruinous Expenditures. His Inheritance. His Sales and Transfers of Property. His Love for the Theatre. Mysteries. That of the Siege of Orleans. Mysteries at Nantes. The Cathedral. Expensive Visit to Orleans. Maison de la Suze. The Decree of the King interdicting his Sale or Incumbrance of Property. The increasing Demand for Money drives him to Magic in Search for the Philosopher’s Stone and the Transmutation o

Gilles’s Abduction of Children—His Familiars—Château Tiffauges—First Process against Gilles—Warrant—Arrest and Imprisonment—Château de Nantes. Beginning in the year 1432, a district comprising a large portion of western France, including the southern part of the Province of Brittany, the western part of the Province of Maine, and the northern part of the Province of Poitou, became excited by an undefined fear which, increased by its uncertainty and vagueness, produced in the people a feeling aki

The Ecclesiastical Tribunal—Record in the Archives of Loire-Inférieure—The Trial—His Confession—Judgment and Sentence. The ecclesiastical trial Against Gilles de Retz was of course conducted by the Bishop. He was the representative of the Church in the diocese, and he alone had the authority to act. His name was Jean de Malestroit. He was originally Bishop at St. Brieuc, but had been Bishop of Nantes since 1419. He called, as his assistants in the trial, to aid by their counsel and advice, the B

Trial before the Civil Court—Depositions—Conviction and Sentence Upon the arrest of Gilles and his henchmen, and during their trial before the ecclesiastical court, the army of retainers which had been employed by him, including his chapel and all his familiars, fled as would a flock of young chickens on the approach of a hawk. François Prelati, Eustache Blanchet, Henriet Griard, and Poitou seem to have been all who were arrested with Gilles. Gilles de Sillé and Roger de Briqueville had fled to

On October 26, 1440, at eleven o’clock, the time fixed, the procession approached the prison Bouffay; Gilles, Henriet, and Poitou were brought out, and with this long procession for an escort, were conducted across the two bridges to the place of execution. The two courts, ecclesiastical and civil, were present, and it has been said that the Duke of Brittany was also present. Three gibbets had been erected with their cross-arms, and at the foot of each a pile of wood and fagots ( bucher ) was la

Nearly every publisher in France, and many of those in England and the United States, have issued editions of Mother Goose stories. Most of those from France have been reprints, with variation, of the originals by Perrault: Boussod; B. Bernardin; Biblioth. Nat.; MM. Chavery; Dentu; Flammarion; Boulanger; Lemerre; Bornemann; Cattier; Duployé; Fayard; E. Guérin; Hachette; G. Delarue; Garnier Frères; Magnin. The editions of Mother Goose fairy tales and nursery rhymes in England and the United State

The story of Bluebeard has permeated modern literature. Reference is made to some of its publications. It appeared as a comedy with three acts, under the name of Barbe-Bleue . The music was by Grétry, and it was presented for the first time at Paris in the Théâtre des Italiens in 1789. Another was an opera bouffe written by MM. Henry Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, music by Offenbach, presented for the first time at Paris in the Théâtre des Variétés in 1866. Monsieur Charles Lemire published, in 189

Abbé Bossard is authority for the statement that the unique and original manuscript of the Mystery of Orleans in modern times is in the library of the Vatican, No. 1022, registered under de la reine de Suède (Queen of Sweden). This copy came from the library de Fleury or of Saint-Henoit-sur-Loire. It was written, he says, in the second half of the sixteenth century, and made a quarto volume of 509 leaves with 20,529 lines, and its author is unknown. It was published for the first time (from the

The Depositions in the Civil Court Peronne Loessart of Rochebernart, makes oath that the Baron de Retz, on returning from Vannes with his retinue, stopped in her town, at the Hotel of Jean Colin, in the immediate neighbourhood of her house. She had a son ten years of age then going to school whom one of the retinue of Gilles, called Poitou, desired to obtain as his page. It was agreed that he should have four pounds ( livres ) for his services, and Peronne, cent souls ( sous ), five francs, for