CHAPTER IV

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.