GILLES’S CRIMES
_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 akin to terror. It was not the fear of war, for the
people had had an intimate acquaintance with war for many years; nor
was it the fear of an epidemic nor of sudden death; and it was not easy
to tell with exactness what it was. It was so indefinite that belief
in it was at first refused. It was considered by many to be the result
of superstition; some declared it to be something of the vampire race
which by some sort of resurrection had changed its horrible character
so that it did not wait to prey upon the dead, but made its attacks
upon the living, choosing young children and maidens, and timing the
place and manner of attack so that not only was there no defence, but
there was also no opportunity for pursuit or recovery.
Michelet (_Histoire de France_) describes it as a beast of
extermination, unseen, unknown, unnatural, indescribable, invisible,
supernatural, omnipresent, possessed of powers of disappearance on the
instant, and so of escape, dissolving into thin air. It was believed
by many to be a physical manifestation of the Evil One. It made its
appearance in one place on one day and at another place the next day,
and at a distant place the next; it was here to-night and far away in
the morning; it ravaged the country, spreading terror, and leaving in
its track not simply fear and mourning, but the torture of insanity and
death. There was a mixture of enchantment, of impossibility, about the
performance which left it to be accounted for only upon the principle
of legerdemain, magic, the black art, and the presence of the devil. On
all sides, right and left, east and west, north and south, within this
terror-stricken district, sometimes each day for a week, sometimes not
again for a month, then not for three, and again not for six months or
more, but subject to these intervals, came the story from one section
to the other, of the disappearance, as though by enchantment, of a
child or children of tender age. No apparent distinction of sex was
made, but the subjects of attack were always young, say from six to
sixteen years; old enough to go about the farm or from one farm to
another, possibly from one village to another, when, without warning,
apparently without cause, without the slightest evidence as to the
means used, and without leaving the slightest trace of the tragedy,
suddenly a child was gone. No one knew or could find in what direction
it had gone, or how it had been taken. All that the terror-stricken
parents and family knew was that their child was here to-day, and now
he or she was not--it was playing about the door only a half-hour
since; now it was gone, gone as completely as though swallowed by the
earth.
No one knew where the blow would fall next; no one knew whether his
family circle was to be invaded, his house stricken, his child taken.
Every care and watchfulness was employed, consultations were had
between the stricken parents, the officers of the law were consulted,
and all that was known--apparently all that could be discovered--was
that their children were here yesterday, engaged in their little plays
or about their own little duties around the house or on the farm, and
in a moment, though the most rigorous and extensive search was made,
they were gone--gone absolutely, gone beyond possibility of recovery,
gone in numbers, gone from every part of the district mentioned, and no
sign or trace left of their fate. Fear, fright, terror, took possession
of all, and this, mixed with sorrow and grief, broke many a heart, sent
many a loving mother in insanity to the grave. The peasants who, by
reason of their age and strength supposed themselves to be safe, walked
lightly, as though afraid to put their feet upon the ground; spoke in
low voices as if afraid to trust themselves in ordinary tones, and
everything throughout the country was done with bated breath as if in
the presence of the dead.
The peasants, superstitious at the best of times, were now overcome
with fear and gave themselves up a prey to the idea of enchantment and
magic, and could only account for the disappearance of their loved ones
by the presence of the arch-enemy of mankind, against whom they had no
means of fighting, and whose assaults upon their devoted children they
had no means of resisting. The frightened parents were tortured by the
uncertainty of the fate that had overcome their loved ones. “Are they
dead?” “Have they been taken to the realms above or to the tortures
below?” “Are they in prison?” “Are they still living?” “Are they never
to be seen again?” “Might they not be in a distant part of the country
enduring pains and tortures?” “Might they not, even now, be weeping and
screaming themselves half mad and demanding the presence and comfort
of their mother?” “In what direction should we go?” “Has nobody seen
them?” “Has search been made?” “In what direction have we yet to go?”
No answer came to all these questions. The fate of the children was an
impenetrable mystery.
Did the parents recover from it? Yes, they became accustomed to it.
Human nature can become accustomed to anything. Their fate seemed
better, not because it was better, but because, not getting worse, they
got used to it and were able to stand it better. The first theory upon
which the people settled was that the disappearance of their children
was due to fairies, to evil genii, to a supernatural and mysterious
enemy--that this mysterious enemy was supernatural, they did not doubt.
This belief served to increase the pangs of their grief and to render
the unknown and undiscoverable fate of their beloved ones more horrible
to contemplate and more difficult for the parents to bear. They felt
themselves incapable and incompetent to war against this mysterious,
devastating, supernatural force; hence they resigned themselves to the
affliction, considering it to have been sent upon them by Almighty
God as a punishment for their sins. They did not know what sins they
had committed, but felt sure that nothing they had done would justify
even Almighty God in the abduction of the little ones who had not been
at fault, and the torture of the parents incident thereto; so they
rebelled against their fate.
The disappearance of children did not at first create great excitement
among the people; their disappearance was explained in a natural
manner: some accident had happened to them, possibly they had fallen
into one of the many rivers and were drowned; the lakes and rivers
were plentiful, their waters deep, their currents swift, the banks
steep. One child here in one province, another child there in a distant
province--such a disappearance did not count for much and did not
unduly or wonderfully excite the people; but when it came to spread
over the entire country and, by the comparison and the overlapping of
searches and the employment of officers, it was discovered that this
beast of extermination, this great, powerful, mysterious, supernatural
visitor or power, was making itself felt throughout the entire country,
and that no house was safe, that no parent could say with certainty
that his own child might not be taken next morning--then the country
became excited, alarmed, and, finally, terror-stricken.
At last it became apparent that these ravages were confined to a given
district, a circle of country approximately bounded by the present
cities of Vannes, Rennes, Angers, La Rochelle, and so opening to the
ocean. Of this circle, Nantes was approximately the centre. This
condition continued, growing more acute year by year. Each year new
families were stricken, and the terror became more widely spread.
A man of the character and ambitions of Gilles de Retz would naturally
have about him a corps of men to assist in carrying out his nefarious
courses. They would necessarily be without fear and without conscience,
adepts in secrecy and deceit, with the instincts and abilities of
detectives and ready to obey any behest of their master. Gilles had
such a corps of lieutenants; most of them were Bretons as he was,
thoroughly acquainted with the country, most of them lowly born, many
of them illegitimate and strongly suspected to have had fathers of
higher birth than their mothers. Gilles made choice of these familiars
from among his retinue, selecting those best qualified to carry out his
projects and to be his right hand in executing his plans.
The names of some of these have been preserved to us in the process
against Gilles: Eustache Blanchet, Henriet Griart, Jean Roussignol,
Gilles de Sillé, Hugues de Bremont, Étienne Corrillaut (_alias_
Poitou), Robin Romulart, and one woman, Perrine Martin, _alias_
La Meffraye. These performed for Gilles the rôle of secretary,
aide-de-camp, assistants, guards, spies, or servants, as occasion
demanded, and became identified in the minds of the peasants as
servants and representatives of Gilles de Retz. They spent practically
their lifetime in his service, and toward the end of their career
they came to be feared throughout the countryside as much as Gilles
himself. Indeed, it was their actions which first attracted public
attention towards him. It came to be noted that when infant or child
had disappeared, some of these had been seen in the neighbourhood; and
when all things pertaining thereto were so mysterious, the people stood
ready to catch at any straw which might serve as a possible solution.
The wiser persons, who were not so superstitious and did not attribute
this disappearance of children to supernatural causes, but rather to
the action of fiends, discovered and remarked the coincidence of the
presence of some one of these with the disappearance of an infant. The
attention of the officers was turned in his direction, and certain
suggestions or suspicions were given to the Bishop of Nantes, who
thereupon determined to open a secret inquest for the solution of the
mystery. By this means the matter was brought to light.
The most prominent and powerful of these familiars of Gilles de Retz
was an Italian priest and alchemist, François Prelati. He occupied
a position different from the others. One of the before-mentioned
familiars, Eustache Blanchet, a _soi-disant_ priest, belonging to his
ecclesiastical retinue, appears to have been better acquainted with
the private affairs of Gilles de Retz than any other, and to have been
entrusted with higher powers, and sent oftener on journeys of diplomacy
and confidential business. For what purpose he should have been sent
to Italy can now only be surmised; but in the year 1436, while in
Florence, he met François Prelati. His history has been given by
Saunière, but no one knows how much of it is fact and how much romance.
It appears, however, that Prelati was born in Mont Catane in the Valle
Nero; that he was educated as an ecclesiastic, admitted to orders, and
given the tonsure by the Bishop of Arezzo. He became interested in the
study of the occult sciences, especially chemistry or, as it was then
called, alchemy; and his love for this science overcame his desire for
ecclesiastical service.
He was about forty-five years of age when he became acquainted with
Gilles de Retz; was well bred, highly educated, of elegant manners,
handsome in appearance, well kept and cleanly in person, devoting
much care to the welfare of his hair, beard, and hands, all of which
repaid and showed the attention bestowed upon them. He was a good
conversationalist, of smooth, insinuating, and seductive manner. He
spoke Latin as well as he did Italian; his French was excellent,
probably better than that of Gilles or the Bretons with whom he
associated, while a slightly broken pronunciation conspired to make
it more attractive. He had a brilliant and sparkling wit and an
active imagination, was well posted in the affairs of the world, and
attractive to his fellows, whether men of letters, men of affairs, or
_des hommes de guerre_. The description given of him would indicate his
appearance to have been that of an elegant gentleman. It goes without
saying that he was learned as an alchemist and expert as a necromancer.
Such was François Prelati, the man who had been brought by Eustache
Blanchet from Italy to France to teach Gilles de Retz the black art.
Gilles, during this period, occupied alternately, according to his
pleasure, the two châteaux of Machecoul and Tiffauges. The latter is
situated to the north of the village of Tiffauges and, according to
tradition, occupies the site of an ancient Roman camp and is about
15 kilometres south of Clisson and 40 south of Nantes. The château
occupies an elevated plateau which forms a promontory between the
junction of the creek Crume with the river Sèvre, both of which
bathed the foot of the walls on either side. The latter continues its
way northward and empties into the Loire below Nantes. The château
was a castle covering space enough for a city. It is now in ruins,
except the grand tower and adjacent halls. The walls may be traced by
the débris in rows of stones now covered with sod and grass. It was
attacked and burned during the religious wars of the sixteenth century,
but its present ruinous condition began with the breaking-out of the
Revolution in 1789. The Vendeans, after gaining the battle of Torfou,
occupied it, having repaired it sufficiently to afford shelter and to
make it a place of defence. It remained in a fairly good condition
until the return of Napoleon from Elba, when it was again occupied as
a recruiting-place, or place of security by the Vendeans. After the
battle of Waterloo and the restoration of Louis XVIII., fearing some
further use of it by enemies, the government destroyed it, reducing it
to its present condition. The lowlands in the neighbourhood are marshy
and almost become lakes. The lake of Grand Lieu is not far distant, and
others are in the vicinity.
The ruins are interesting and the débris is easily recognised. One
with a slight knowledge of the arrangement can trace the walls of
the structure, as well as the triple cincture of fortifications
surrounding it. These are now covered with sod and green grass and
used for pasturage, while the level places, like the courts within the
castle and the parade-ground within the lines of fortification, are
subjected to cultivation. The château of Tiffauges was partially built
in the time of Saint Louis; the grand tower now remaining is said to
belong to that epoch; the large tower, the small tower, the chapel,
the great hall wherein the Baron presided over his retainers or, if
need be, received such lords and seigniors as came to visit him; the
dining-room, kitchen, scullery, with all their necessary appurtenances
of cellar, storehouse, warehouses, well-room, were all in evidence;
bedrooms, halls, parlours, etc., were prepared in abundance for the
reception of lords, ladies, and all who might attend upon the occasion
of a ball or fête. On another side of the courtyard, but adjoining
the main building, was a shorter wing, large enough to lodge his
knights, men-at-arms, soldiers, servants, varlets, etc. It was, in
these regards, similar to most other extensive castles or châteaux, and
can be compared to the château of Nantes where Gilles was tried and
convicted. (See frontispiece.)
The Château Tiffauges was a favourite residence of Gilles de Retz; it
was a stronghold, in which, if need be, he could have great security
and, in case of war or attack, could make a good defence. It was large
and commodious. Here it was that Gilles de Retz and François Prelati,
the Italian, had their laboratory in which they endeavoured, first by
alchemy, then by magic, and lastly by murder, to discover the Elixir
of Eternal Youth and the transmutation of metals into gold. Here took
place the attempt to obtain a conference with the Evil One, with the
idea of obtaining his supposed influence in their sublunary affairs.
A description of this laboratory has been left us. The chamber was high
up in the tower, with communicating passages in various directions,--to
the large tower and also to the basement and, as is said, to the
_oubliettes_ and the secret passageway to the Crume and so outside the
château. The laboratory occupied the full diameter of the tower; an
immense chimney was on one side of the room, in which was placed the
furnace where the mutilated bodies of many of the dead infants were
consumed. The chamber had but two windows, one to the north the other
to the south, both high up in the wall, both capable of being closed
and darkened by solid shutters.
Lemire says (p. 27):
“In the highest chamber of the small tower, he [Gilles] had
installed a chemical [alchemy] laboratory and there employed
his three sorcerers, one French, one English or Picardian, and
one Italian”;
And he describes with minutest detail the apparatus employed (p. 28):
“What Gilles desired was that Prelati should make gold, whether
by science, by magic, by the intervention of the devil, or by
these means united. He attempted the transmutation of metals
into gold. He distilled into retorts different liquids destined
to dissolve the mineral substances after certain formulas of
magic repeated under the invocation of demons. Prelati declared
to Gilles that to make these operations successful required
the addition of the hearts, hands, or eyes, but above all the
blood, of young children. The blood was to be used in tracing
the magic circles and figures.”
Lemire believes (p. 30) that Prelati employed the secrets of chemical
art, sulphur and phosphorus and similar substances, in forming fiery
serpents to deceive Gilles:
“Frogs and serpents, inoffensive but frightful in appearance, a
leopard which was naught else than a large dog with bristling
hair, cries of beasts, groans, sounds of trumpets; these were
the apparatus employed in the scenes of invocation.”
Then he tells (p. 31) how, to furnish victims for these magicians,
Gilles carried on his abduction of children, choosing the little
peasants who would not be missed, or whose parents would not be likely,
from poverty, to pursue the search.
Apparently the first step, at least the first step made public, against
Gilles de Retz, charging him with crime, and the first paper forming
part of the ecclesiastical record in the archives of the Department of
Loire-Inférieure, is the “Declaration of Infamy against Gilles de Retz
by the Bishop of Nantes, July 30, 1440.” It was in Latin:
“To all to whom these present letters shall come, Jean, by
the permission of the holy apostolic see, Bishop of Nantes,
with full assurance of salvation through our Lord and Saviour,
salute those present:
“We hereby make known by visiting in person the parish of the
Holy Mary at Nantes, in which is built the house or château
vulgarly called “la Suze,” the frequent habitation of Gilles de
Retz hereinafter described, a parishioner of this church and
of other parish churches designated further on. Upon public
rumour and on the numerous reports that have come upon us by
the denunciatory clamour of Agatha, wife of Denis de la Mignon;
of Donété, widow of the defunct Regnaud Donété of St. Marie; of
Jean Guibert and his wife of St. Vincent; of the widow Eonnet
Kerguen of St. Croix, Nantes; of Jeanne, wife of Jean Darell
of St. Similien near Nantes; of Theophanie, wife of Eonnet le
Charpentier of St. Clement outside the walls; fortified by the
depositions of the synodical witnesses of these churches and by
men who, thanks to their probity and their well known prudence,
are above suspicion, and who, in the course of our pastoral
visit in the same churches, we ourselves have interrogated
with the greatest care upon the facts below indicated, or
of still others pertaining to the duty of the bishop in his
pastoral visits, we have discovered, and the depositions of
the witnesses have proved to us, among other things, that
Gilles de Retz, our subject and justiciable, by himself or
by certain men his accomplices, has strangled, killed, and
inhumanly massacred a very large number of infants; that he has
committed upon them crimes against nature; that he has made, or
has caused to be made, numerous horrible invocations of demons;
he has made to them sacrifices and offerings, and has passed
a compact with them, without counting other crimes, numerous
and enormous, all of which belong within our jurisdiction;
and, finally, by several other visits made by us or by the
Commissary acting in our name, we know that Gilles de Retz has
perpetrated and committed these crimes and still others, within
the limits of our diocese.
“For which cause he was, and is now, and publicly for the
knowledge of all, rendered infamous towards all grave and
honest men. And to the end that no person shall have doubt
upon this subject, we have ordained, or fixed, or caused to be
fixed, our seal to these present letters.
“Given at Nantes, the day before the last of July, in the year
of our Lord, 1440.
“By the command of Monseignior, Bishop of Nantes.
(Signed) “J. PETIT.”
It does not appear that this declaration of infamy was ever made known
to Gilles de Retz. It was made by the Bishop of Nantes in accordance
with his ecclesiastical right and duty. It had, from early Christian
times, been the duty of the bishops of the Church to make episcopal
visits throughout their respective dioceses. By the capitularies of
Charlemagne and Carloman, it became the bishop’s right, if not his
duty, to listen to any complaints of the common people. This was in
the nature of an inquest by church authority into the crimes of high
or powerful persons, or into public scandals which were without other
rectification. The proceeding might be likened to an ecclesiastical
grand jury. It was, like that of the grand jury, a secret inquest,
_inquisitio famæ_, and in this particular instance, establishing the
infamy of Gilles, it opened against him the inquisitory proceeding
according to the rule: _Inquisitionem debet clamosa insinuatio
prævenire_. This declaration of infamy, made by the bishop and based
upon the complaints he had received and scandals he had heard during
his episcopal visit, was the beginning of the prosecution against
Gilles.
The secret investigation doubtless continued and culminated in the
citation of the Bishop to Gilles de Retz, September 13th, to appear
on September 19th, and answer the charges. After the preamble and
declarations of the requisite power and authority, and his knowledge of
the crimes of Gilles and of the public clamour, called in the official
document _hurlements ululantium_, the bishop proceeds:
“For these causes we will no longer hide the monstrous things,
nor will we allow heresy to develop itself, that heresy which,
like a cancer, devours everything if it is not promptly
extirpated even to the last root. Farther than that, we would
apply a remedy as prompt as it is efficacious. Therefore we
enjoin you, all and singular, and to those of you in particular
to whom the present letter shall come, immediately and in a
definite manner, each for himself and without counting on
the other, without depending upon the care of any other,
to cite before us, or before the official of our cathedral
church, on Monday, the fête-day of the Exaltation of the True
Cross, September 19, Gilles, as aforesaid designated the
Baron of Retz, to submit to our authority and to accept our
jurisdiction; we ourselves cite him by these letters to appear
before our bar to respond to the crimes that are laid upon him.
Execute, therefore, these orders, you, and each of you, and
every one of you, cause them to be executed.
“Given at Nantes on Tuesday, the 13th of September, in the year
of our Lord, 1440.
“By the command of the Bishop of Nantes.
(Signed) “JEAN GUIOLE.”
Whether the Bishop of Nantes had, in his official capacity, already
established a permanent ecclesiastical court for the trial of such
cases as might properly be brought before it, does not appear; nor
whether he had the necessary paraphernalia of officers such as
prosecutors, clerks, record-keepers, and an executive officer to serve
processes, maintain order, etc., etc., as would be usual and necessary
in all regularly established courts. So it is not known whether the
executive officer charged with the service of this writ was a regular
officer, or only one appointed for the occasion; but it abundantly
appears that one Robert Guillaumet, a notary of Nantes, received the
writ for execution, and that in this matter he acted as executive
officer for the Bishop.
Gilles de Retz was at that time at his château of Machecoul. Robert
Guillaumet took to his aid Jean l’Abbé, a captain in the service of
the Duke of Brittany, with a number of his troop, and together they
repaired to Machecoul for the purpose of arresting Gilles on the
warrant of the Bishop.
There has been some discussion over the part taken in the affair by
the Duke of Brittany himself, and how far the proceeding met his
approval, and how far he stood ready to give aid and assistance in
carrying out the purpose of the Bishop. Michelet (_Histoire de France_,
vol. v.) asserts that the Duke of Brittany was highly favourable to
the accusation; that “he was delighted at the opportunity to thus
strike at a Laval,” and he ascribes this to the fact that the Laval
family, though related to the Montforts, of which the Duke was one,
had formed against him an opposition, the intention of which was to
deliver Brittany to France. There can be but little doubt that the
Duke of Brittany was entirely favourable to the Bishop--they were near
relatives and good friends, they always had stood together, and though
the Bishop never had had any dispute with Gilles de Retz, yet the Duke
frequently had.
The Duke had already foreseen the waning fortune of Gilles, and stood
ready to profit by it. He had refused to make publication in Brittany
of the decree of interdiction of the King, for the sake of the
opportunity which might accrue to obtain good bargains in purchasing
the property of Gilles. It is scarcely possible, dependent as he must
have been upon the Duke and his government and the power and force of
the secular arm for the execution of any decree that might be passed,
that the Bishop of Nantes would proceed against so powerful a baron as
Gilles, the dean of the nobility of Brittany, Marshal of France, and
Lieutenant-General of the Duke’s army, and enter upon an undertaking
so gigantic, so fraught with danger, and so easy to miscarry, without
having first consulted with, and obtained the approval and favour of,
his sovereign, with the promise of material assistance and governmental
aid in case of need. This understanding between the Bishop and the Duke
is established by the outcome of the process. We see that in every step
the Bishop not only received countenance and favour at the hands of the
Duke, but that he could be relied upon to furnish the necessary strong
arm for the execution of the Bishop’s writs and decrees.
Armed with the writ and warrant of arrest, Robert Guillaumet and Jean
l’Abbé proceeded to Machecoul with their troop of soldiers. What was
their reception? Would they be successful in their undertaking and
bring the mighty Baron of Retz back to Nantes as prisoner? Would he
yield to the mandates of the law, obey the command of the Bishop,
and surrender himself as prisoner? He had a château, a veritable
stronghold, and he had his army of retainers within it--he could
defy both Robert Guillaumet with his writ and Jean l’Abbé with his
escort--but would he do so? Would he resist or would he yield? Michelet
passes the highest encomiums upon this little band, whose intrepidity
and courage he lauds as though it was leading a forlorn hope, for its
devotion to duty in entering upon so dangerous a procedure as this
arrest. There does not seem, however, to have been any reasonable
apprehension of danger. If Gilles resisted arrest, he would simply
remain within his castle, refuse to open his gate, and bid defiance
to the officers. They would then return to Nantes and report their
failure, and what would be done further was a matter for their
superiors, the authorities of the kingdom.
There may have been speculations as to what moved Gilles to surrender,
and no one can tell with certainty what thus influenced him. He
had three alternatives: resist arrest and fight it out with the
authorities, drive back the officers and then flee the country,
or submit to arrest. To shut himself up in his castle and resist
arrest would bring down the entire power of the kingdom, he would be
excommunicated by the Church and besieged by the Duke’s army--there
was little prospect of success in that direction. Flight would be a
confession of guilt, while he would have to leave everything behind--it
would be practically impossible for him to take his fortune or even
any considerable amount of valuables with him, and he would soon become
poverty-stricken and an outcast. It is more likely that he pursued the
conservative course of submitting to arrest, trusting to his rank,
fortune, power, and the law’s failure to make proof against him, hoping
by these to evade conviction.
That he was technically guilty of both heresy and sacrilege there
could be but little doubt, and it appears that he had greater fear of
these charges than of the others. When he found these were not to be
pressed, and that he was to be charged with the abduction of infants,
he may have felt stronger in the knowledge that he had never personally
committed these crimes, and that they could not be directly proved
against him. It is to be remembered that these offences had been
running for eight years; that they had been committed in all parts
of the country, always in isolated places, east, west, north, south;
and Gilles may have come to the conclusion, during the long series of
years, that whatever might be proved against his accomplices and active
agents, nothing could ever be proved against him. And now, as he must
make a decision immediately upon the arrival of Robert Guillaumet with
his warrant, Gilles may have felt that the shortest and easiest way
was the best. Partly, then, from pride, from policy, from bravado, and
in the belief that he would be able to defeat his adversaries in their
proofs, he gave orders to lower the bridge, to raise the portcullis,
and to open the gates of the castle.
Submitting himself to arrest, he is reported to have said: “I have
always had the design to become a monk, and here comes the Abbé to whom
I now engage myself” (_Procès Célèbres_: Paris, 1858, p. 14). Robert
Guillaumet and Jean l’Abbé made search of the castle. Prelati, Poitou,
and Henriet were arrested with Gilles at the château; Blanchet was
taken in the town; but most of the retinue of Gilles escaped. Then the
escort of Jean l’Abbé put themselves in order of march, guarding their
prisoners. Arrived at the château of Nantes, the gates were opened, and
Gilles de Retz, the dean of the barons of Brittany, Marshal of France,
and his party, were conducted within its heavy walls as prisoners and
malefactors. Gilles was assigned one of the upper chambers in the _Tour
Neuve_ of the château, and here he remained during the trial, until
the last day, when he was probably placed in the condemned cell. His
accomplices were not treated with the same consideration, but were
thrown pell-mell into the common prison of the castle.
The château of Nantes (frontispiece) is really a castle and would be
called such in England or in English-speaking countries. It was built
by, and had always belonged to, the government, first to the Duke and
afterward to the King. Its construction dates from the tenth century.
It was commenced by Conan, a Count of Rennes, an usurper, who commenced
the castle as a stronghold, by the possession of which he hoped to
resist the lawful claimant of the duchy and overawe the inhabitants of
the city. That portion called _Tour Neuve_ was built at this epoch,
situated at the confluence of the river Eure with the Loire, and the
waters of each of these rivers originally bathed the foot of the walls.
Conan did not long enjoy his possessions in Nantes; he was attacked
and overthrown, and Americ de Thouars took possession under the
title of Count of Nantes. During this epoch was built the château of
Champtoceau, which figured as the place of the capture of Clisson.
In the year 1207, Guy de Thouars repaired the château of Nantes, and
in 1227, Pierre de Dreux enlarged it, and so it remained until the time
of Francis II., when, under Du Cherfan in 1480 to 1499, it was enlarged
to its present dimensions. The bastion or _Tour Mercœur_, constructed
in 1588 by the duke of that name, then Governor of Nantes, was situated
at the angle of State Street and Port Maillaird. It has been renewed
and restored sundry times since then, but not to affect the integrity
of the building as a whole. The _Tour Neuve_ was the prison of Gilles
de Retz, and in the second story was the grand hall or audience-chamber
in which the ecclesiastical court was held.
The château of Nantes has figured largely in the history of Brittany
and France. It was the official residence of the Count of Nantes.
The Duke of Brittany resided there when in the city. So also it was
occupied by the kings of France and other great and noble personages
during their passage through, or temporary residence in, the city.
Charles VIII. and Duchess Anne were married in its chapel. The
celebrated Edict of Nantes, issued by Henry IV., King of France, in
April, 1598, by which the Protestants were permitted to exercise their
religion without hindrance, was passed and signed in this building. In
1654, the Cardinal of Retz (not to be confounded with Gilles de Retz)
was a prisoner here, and thence made his escape. Minister Fouché was
prisoner in this château; Madam Sévigné was also held here in 1648; in
1842, the Duchess of Berry was also prisoner in this château.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]