Produced by Chris Curnow, Charlie Howard, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) [Illustration: Château (Castle) of Nantes, where Gilles was tried.--From the river Loire.] 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. [Illustration] 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