Chapter I: Front Matter

BLUE-BEARD

A CONTRIBUTION TO HISTORY AND
FOLK-LORE

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 Knickerbocker Press
1899

COPYRIGHT, 1899
BY
THOMAS WILSON

Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London

The Knickerbocker Press, New York

TO
MY DEAR WIFE
THE COMPANION OF MY TRAVELS
WHILE THE MATERIAL FOR THIS VOLUME WAS GATHERED
THE PARTNER OF MY MANY JOYS
THE SHARER OF MY FEW SORROWS
THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED

T. W.

CONTENTS

PAGE
INTRODUCTION ix

CHAPTER I

GILLES DE RETZ. 1404–1420

His Name, Family, Marriage, and Education 1

CHAPTER II

GILLES AS A SOLDIER. 1420–1429

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 9

CHAPTER III

GILLES’S LIFE AT HOME IN BRITTANY 1430–1439

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. An
Increasing Demand for Money Drives him to Magic in Search
for the Philosopher’s Stone and the Transmutation of Base
Metals into Gold. Magic 24

CHAPTER IV

GILLES’S CRIMES

Gilles’s Abduction of Children. His Familiars. Château de
Tiffauges. First Process against Gilles. Warrant. Arrest
and Imprisonment. Château de Nantes 64

CHAPTER V

GILLES’S TRIAL BEFORE THE ECCLESIASTICAL TRIBUNAL

The Ecclesiastical Tribunal. Record in the Archives of
Loire-Inférieure. The Trial. His Confession. Judgment and
Sentence 93

CHAPTER VI

THE TRIAL BEFORE THE CIVIL COURT

Trial before the Civil Court. Depositions. Conviction and
Sentence 167

CHAPTER VII

THE EXECUTION 177

APPENDIX A

MOTHER GOOSE PUBLICATIONS 183

APPENDIX B

BLUEBEARD STORIES 186

APPENDIX C

MYSTERY OF THE SIEGE OF ORLEANS 189

APPENDIX D

DEPOSITIONS IN CIVIL COURT AGAINST GILLES 195

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
CHÂTEAU (CASTLE) OF NANTES, WHERE GILLES WAS TRIED.--FROM THE
RIVER LOIRE _Frontispiece_

GILLE’S SIGNATURE AND RUBRIC 22

A STREET IN NANTES--ANCIENT HOUSES 47

FACSIMILE OF FOLIO PAGE FROM ARCHIVES OF TRIAL AT NANTES.
CONFESSION OF GILLE DE RETZ 138

GROTTO OF BONNE VIERGE DE CRÉÉ-LAIT. EXPIATORY ALTAR OF
GILLES ERECTED BY HIS DAUGHTER 179