Gilles de Rais was perhaps the most infamous sexual criminal in history, responsible for the rape, mutilation, and murder of more than 150 children (some estimates put the figure as high as 800). A fifteenth-century French nobleman, noteworthy as a brave lieutenant to Joan of Arc during the sieges of Orléans and Paris, Gilles de Rais experienced significant renown and prestige before his eventual downfall, trial, and execution in 1440. The story of Gilles de Rais is that of the squandered life par excellence, of a life devoted to squandering and destroying everything around him. As did most nobles, he possessed large estates, but his prodigal nature would eventually lead him to debt and financial ruin. He engaged in a lifestyle of prodigious waste and dissipation, spending vast sums of money on huge entourages and senseless luxuries. Of course, his extravagance regarding wealth was echoed by his extravagance in vice…
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