Do you think Gilles de rais was really bad guy?

Question

Do you believe that Gilles de Rais was really bad person?

As I know that he was the one who fought and he serve as Joan of Arc's bodyguard. I really couldn't immegin how could he did such a crazy things like this following document states.

: But Gilles was still not sated; he would continue to sexually abuse the dead body, sometimes cutting open the stomach, then squatting in the entrails and masturbating. When he reached a climax he would collapse in a faint, and be carried off to his bed, where he would remain unconscious for hours. His accomplices would meanwhile dismember and burn the body. On some occasions, he later confessed, two children were procured, and each obliged to watch the

other being raped and tortured.

Do you think is it possible that Gilles was also the same victim of the condamn just like Joan was found gulty of being a witch?

Answer 1

Gilles de Rais was innocent & is now regarded as one of the last of the victims of the Inquisition to get porthumous justice.  He was a great war hero on the French side; his judges were pro-English and had an interest in blackening his name and, possibly, by association, that of Jehanne d'Arc. His confession was obtained under threat of torture and also excommunication, which he dreaded. A close examination of the testimony of his associates, in particular that of Poitou and Henriet, reveals that they are almost identical and were clearly extracted by means of torture. Even the statements of outsiders, alleging the disappearance of children, mostly boils down to hearsay; the very few cases where named children have vanished can be traced back to the testimony of just eight witnesses, which is not that many to suborn. (I am indebted to the scholar Kathleen Lehman for her painstaking examination of the trial records for this latter point). His judges also stood to gain from his death: in fact, Jean V Duke of Brittany disposed of his share of the loot before the trial was over.

In France, the subject of de Rais's possible innocence is far more freely discussed than it is in the English-speaking world. In 1992 a Vendéen author named Gilbert Prouteau was hired by the Breton tourist board to write a new biography. Prouteau was not quite the tame biographer that was wanted and his book, 'Gilles de Rais ou la gueule de loup', argued that Gilles de Rais was not guilty. Moreover, he summoned a Court of Cassation to re-try the case, which sensationally resulted in an acquittal. As of 1992, Gilles de Rais is officially an innocent man!

There is even a rumour that he was put forward for canonization recently, but I have been unable to find the source of this story.

More detail here:- http://www.229allenby.karoo.net/gillesderais/GillesdeRaisandme.html