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._
In the condition of his country at that time, it was but natural that this handsome, impetuous, rich, and powerful baron should take up arms as his profession. France and England were in the midst of the Hundred Years’ War. Brittany, Gilles’s own duchy, had been since the death of John IV. engaged in a civil war over the succession. The family of Montforts (son of a younger son) had gained the victory over the Penthièvres and Blois (daughter of an elder son). Gilles’s father and his family had fought on the side of Blois, but on his defeat they had made their peace with the victorious Duke.
When Gilles was about sixteen years old an incident occurred which renewed the civil war and swept him into its midst. The head of the Blois family, with his mother, the daughter of De Clisson, set a trap for John V. (De Montfort), Duke of Brittany, inviting him, under a flag of truce, to a friendly conference to be held at the castle of Champtoceaux. This conference was only a pretence, the flag of truce was violated, and John V. was entrapped and held prisoner. He was treated with great severity, bound in chains, and cast into a dungeon. This inhuman treatment on the part of the Blois and Penthièvres, being in violation of every principle held sacred by men and soldiers, aroused the indignation of the Bretons to a pitch beyond control. The peculiar interest of this to the present memoir is that, while the ancestral families of Gilles de Rais had always theretofore fought on the side of the Penthièvres and Blois, they now turned to the other side and took up for John V. of Montfort.
Du Guesclin, the uncle, and Brumor, the grandfather, of Gilles de Rais on his father’s side, were now dead; but Jean de Craon, his grandfather on his mother’s side, he who had been so indulgent a guardian, still lived, and on the 23d of February, 1420, a few months before the marriage of Gilles, they repaired to the town of Vannes, attending upon a session of the States-General, convoked in the absence of the Duke by his wife. Part of the ceremony of Gilles and his grandfather was the oath of allegiance for the deliverance of their prince: “We swear upon the cross to employ our bodies and our goods, and to enter into this quarrel for life and for death,”--and they signed it with their proper hands and sealed it with their seals. The war broke out anew. Alain de Rohan was made Lieutenant-General. An army of fifty thousand men volunteered and took the field under him. In the front rank, by the side of his grandfather, at the head of all the vassals of their united baronies, was Gilles de Retz. This army marched against Lamballe which capitulated, Guingamp, the same, and successively Jugon, Chateaulan, Broon, and finally against the château of Champtoceaux in which the Duke was incarcerated. This resisted the assault but was besieged and finally taken, the fortress demolished, and John V. was released and returned to Nantes where he was given a triumphal entry.
The Château de Clisson, the headquarters of the Penthièvre faction, was south of Nantes twenty kilometres, and in the immediate neighbourhood of the most extensive property of Gilles de Retz. In revenge for his adhesion to the Duke of Brittany, which Margaret de Clisson was pleased to call his treason to her side, she found it most convenient to raid and destroy the adjacent properties of Gilles de Retz. In reprisal, the Duchess of Brittany confiscated certain rights which Olivier, Count de Blois, had in or about the Château de Clisson, and transferred them to the family of Gilles, and this was ratified by the Duke after his release. Then, as he says, “In recognition of the good and loyal services of his cousins, of Suze and Rais,” he gives to them all the lands of Olivier de Blois, formerly Count de Penthièvre, and of Charles his brother. This was afterwards compromised by the payment of a certain sum of money. Penthièvres, Blois, and Clisson were cited to appear before the States-General, at which Gilles and his grandfather assisted as counsellors; and, as an end of all things, the Parliament of Brittany declared the Penthièvres guilty of felony, treason, and _lèse-majesté_, condemned them to death, and deprived them in perpetuity of their name, arms, and all honour in Brittany; but they escaped to France.
This was the introduction of Gilles de Retz to the profession of arms and his first appearance as one of the lords of the country. He was at that time only sixteen years old, and immediately upon the conclusion of this campaign he was married to Catherine de Thouars.
France, at that epoch, was in danger of the fate which afterwards befell Poland. The duchy of Aquitaine, which comprised nearly all south-western France, had for its duke Edward III., King of England. The duchy of Burgundy had for its head Philip the Good, who was Count of Flanders and was stronger in his duchy than was the King of France in his kingdom. These two were banded together by a treaty, offensive and defensive, and they and their countries were then, and had been for nigh sixty years, carrying on war against France with the avowed determination of establishing the King of England on her throne. The Duke of Bedford, son-in-law of the Duke of Burgundy, was the English general commanding in France. The Count of Richemont, the second son of the Duke of Brittany, was also the son-in-law of the Duke of Burgundy. Thus these strong nobles, princes, and kings were allied against France. In the dukedom of Brittany the contending houses of Blois and Montfort had been aided, respectively, by the King of France and the King of England, and had accepted and supported an English army on Breton soil. We all know of the condition of the dukedom of Normandy; how, only a few hundred years earlier, William captured England at the battle of Hastings and established himself as her king. This process was now in danger of repetition, only with the conditions reversed, and France had then in prospect a worse fate than she ever had before or since.
Such was the condition of France at the time of the death of Charles VI., on October 21, 1422, when his son, Charles VII., came to the throne. Charles VII., was married to Mary of Anjou, the daughter of Yolande of Aragon, Queen of Sicily, the widow of Louis of Anjou; a woman of noble heart, great spirit and patriotism, and devoted to France. Yolande set herself, with all her beauty and diplomacy, to divide and break up this coterie of great noblemen who had organised themselves against the King, and to induce some of them to become supporters of France. On March 24, 1425, Yolande started for Brittany accompanied by sundry powerful seigneurs. Jean de Craon, grandfather of Gilles de Retz, was one of those approached, and his valiant services rendered to John V. of Brittany, in releasing him from the dungeon at Champtoceaux, gave him great and deserved influence.
Gilles de Retz had returned to his home after the defeat of the Blois party, and was residing there in the quiet and peace of his newly married life, when this new turn was made in the political kaleidoscope. A council of the States-General of Brittany was assembled at the city of Nantes, and Gilles was one of the seigneurs in attendance. Naturally, he would be one of the lieutenants of his grandfather, Jean de Craon, who had openly espoused the cause of the King of France, and who went into the council with the expressed desire to win the Duke of Brittany in that direction. The Assembly pronounced strongly in favour of the alliance with the King of France, and the month of September was fixed as the time, and the town of Saumur, midway between Nantes and Angers, was appointed as the place, for a conference between the Duke of Brittany and the King of France. The terms fixed by the Duke were the same as those laid down by the Duke of Burgundy--that was, the expulsion of the Penthièvre and Blois families from the Court of France. The King consented, and thus gained the active aid of the Duke of Brittany and the moral support of the Duke of Burgundy.
The peace between the Duke of Brittany and the King of France brought its first great fruits in the offer to the King by the Count of Richemont, the brother of the Duke of Brittany, of his services against England, which was accepted, and he, the Count of Richmont, was made Constable of France. To him, probably more than to any other man, was France indebted for the final victory over England, and the establishment of France in her place among the nations of the world. Gilles de Retz, still with his grandfather, Jean de Craon, embraced the side of the King with ardour. He was rich and Charles was poor. He entered with spirit into all the pleasure and gayety of the Court. He became a pronounced favourite, and despite the subsequent defection or opposition of the Duke of Brittany, and the renunciation or withdrawal of favour from the Count of Richemont, Gilles de Retz and his grandfather remained indissolubly bound to Charles VII. and to France.
The first appearance of Gilles de Retz in the service of the King of France, or as a member of his Court, was September 8, 1425. He took service with the Breton troops and made his first essay as a soldier on the side of the King of France in the siege of Saint-Jean-de-Beuvron.
Gilles de Retz associated himself with Ambroise de Loré and the Baron Beaumanoir (the son or grandson of him who led the fight for Brittany in the _Combat de Trente_). These three attacked and captured the fortress of Rainefort in Anjou, which capitulated with terms that spared the English soldiers, but left to be punished the Frenchmen who had committed treason against their country. Ambroise de Loré sought to save them, but Gilles was firm in his decision that they should hang as traitors, and such was their fate. The château of Malicorne was attacked by the same three, and captured, or surrendered, on the same terms. The two friends, Beaumanoir and Gilles, held together in their undertakings; they were together at the siege of Montargis, which was conducted by Constable Richemont and La Hire.
It was at this siege that La Hire, about to make the assault, was asked to join with the rest in prayer to God for aid and safety in the coming fight; he had not much experience in religious vernacular, but he joined hands, and with the fervour of a bigot and the faith of a devotee said: “O God, I pray Thee to do for me to-day what Thou wouldst that I should do for Thee, were I God and Thou La Hire.” In the assault which immediately followed, Gilles de Retz arrived at the top of the wall in advance of his soldiers. The first Englishman encountered was Captain Blackburn, the commander of the English forces, whom Gilles engaged in a hand-to-hand combat, killing him outright. On seeing their chief slain, the English soldiers threw down their arms and capitulated on the usual terms. This exploit was recognised by all his superiors, and covered the young soldier with glory. But the victories of the French in the north were not equal to those gained by the English in the south, who, having captured nearly all France, Paris included, advanced into the interior, until at last they appeared before Orleans and commenced its memorable siege.
Then, in 1429, came the brilliant meteor across the sky of France, Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans. Her visions at Domremy, her travels across France, passing safely through the lines of the enemy, her arrival at the castle of Chinon, her presentation to the King, her assault and capture of Orleans, are all matters of history. The theatre of her exploits in western France was not far distant from the barony and residence of Gilles de Retz. He was the kind of man to be captivated by the Maid of Orleans, and he became one of her most devoted followers. It is said that he received from the King orders to be captain in her escort, whether as its commander does not appear, but he was with her at Chinon, Poitiers, Blois, Orleans, Jargeau, Meung, Beaugency, and Patay.
On the occasion of the King’s coronation at Rheims, Gilles de Retz received the baton of Marshal of France. There is a question as to the date, but none as to the fact. Some authorities give the date as June 21, 1429; others, again, say that with other peers of France he was promoted on the day of the coronation of the King, July 17, 1429; still others assert it to have been in the month of September. It is explainable that all three of these dates are correct, for the King might well have announced, on the earliest date, that he was to be promoted to the rank of Marshal of France; the ceremony of installation may have taken place upon the occasion of the King’s coronation, and yet the commission not have been signed, or recorded, until September. That he was an officer in high command upon that occasion, and in favour with the King, cannot be doubted.
The Kings of France, from Clovis, the first convert to Christianity, down to Louis XIV., were crowned in the cathedral at Rheims. There is a tradition that upon the crowning of King Clovis a white dove miraculously descended from Heaven and hovered over, if it did not alight upon, the King’s head, bearing in its beak the _ampulla_ containing the consecrated oil for his coronation. The latter was retained and became a holy emblem under the name of Sainte Ampoule, and was preserved in the Abbey of Saint Remy, near the cathedral at Rheims, until it was destroyed during the French Revolution. From Clovis to Louis XIV. it figured in the coronation of every king of France. At the coronation of Charles VII., Gilles de Retz as Marshal of France, Marshal Boussac, Admiral de Culan, and Lord Graville were the four nobles of France chosen as its escort and guard of honour. After the coronation, Gilles remained in the service in his former position of guard, or captain of the guard, of Joan of Arc. He accompanied her to Paris, which the English evacuated and left to the care of the Duke of Burgundy.
The capture of Joan at Compiègne took place May 20, 1430, and her execution May 30, 1431. There is no evidence reported of Gilles’s presence during any of this time. There has been found among the records of the barony of Rais, a paper wherein he acknowledged a debt to “Roland Mauvoisin, Captain of Prinçay, the sum of _huitvingtes_ [twenty-eight] crowns of gold, for the purchase of a horse, saddle, and bridle, promised to his dear and well beloved Michel Machafer, captain of a certain company, as soon as they arrived at Louviers, in order to engage said captain to come with him on this voyage.” This paper was dated December 26, 1431, at Rouen, and is signed with his own proper hand.
NOTE.--The army service of the Baron de Retz, his relation to Joan of Arc, and his investiture as Marshal of France, are authenticated in sundry histories of France.
Monstrelet (vol. ii., p. 96) mentions him as a Marshal of France.
Michelet (vol. v., p. 71) mentions the Marshal de Retz as one of the Bretons who went to the aid of the city of Orleans.
Sismondi (_Histoire des Français_, vol. xiii., p. 124), speaking of the advent of Joan of Arc, says:
“Le Roi l’envoya à Blois, après de la petite armée qu’y rassemblaient les Marécheaux de Rais et de Saint Sevire, Ambroise de Loré et le sire de Goncourt.”
In _Jeanne d’Arc_, by H. Wallon (Paris, 1860), the author says:
“Le Maréchall de Boussac et le seignieur de Rais, investés du Commandement y rentrent Ares--peu aprés, avec La Hire, Polon de Xaintrailles et tous ceux que devaient faire l’escort, 10 ou 12000 x hommes.”
And again in _Jeanne d’Arc_, by Harriet Parr (London: 1866, vol. i. p. 91). “The captains appointed to command the exploration (to Orleans) were the Marshal de Boussac, the Marshal de Retz, and Louis de Culant, Admiral of France.”
The extent of the relation of Gilles with the incident of Joan of Arc may be obtained by taking Quicherat’s history of the _Process for the Condemnation and Rehabilitation of Joan of Arc_ (5 vols., Paris, 1849) the references in the index under the title of “Gilles de Rais”:
Rais (Gilles de Laval, sire de) present at the arrival of Joan before the King at the castle of Chinon, iv., 363, 407.
He accompanies her to Orleans, iii., 4; iv., 5, 41, 53, 213, 491; v., 290; vi., 12, 20.
His return to Blois, iv., 54, 56, 152, 155, 221, 222; v., 290.
He assists at the Council with Jacques Boucher, iv., 57, 158. Combat at the capture of St. Loup, iv., 6, 43; at the capture of St. Augustine, iv., 61, 158, 226; at the capture of Tourelles, iv., 44; v., 261.
His departure from Orleans with Joan, iv., 165.
Took part in the expedition of Jargeau, iv., 12; v., 108, 261.
Combat at Patay, iv., 238, 239, 319, 371, 419.
He goes to Rheims, vi., 69, 180, 248, 378.
He is escort of the Sainte Ampoule on the occasion of the coronation of the King, iv., 77, 185; v., 129.
Made Marshal of France, v., 129.
In command at Montepilloy, iv., 83, 193.
Is sent to Senlis, iv., 24.
Figures in the attack on Paris, iv., 26, 86, 87, 197, 199.
Opposes (makes war on) the false Jeanne d’Arc, v., 333.
The _Livres de Comptes_, the official accounts of the Royal Exchequer, mention Gilles de Retz in connection with Joan of Arc on sundry occasions.
The eighth account of Guillaume Chartiers, receiver-general of finance, published by Godfrey in _Histoire de Charles VII_. (p. 89).
To Messire Gilles de Rais, Councillor and Chamberlain of the king, Sire and Marshal of France, the sum of one thousand pounds that our lord the king by his letters patent of xxi juin (M) CCCCXX at-arms in the Company of Joan of Arc and the employment in her service preparing for the siege of Tarjean.
Paid by the city of Tours to John Colez _10 livres tournois_ for having brought the good news of the capture of Orleans by _la pucelle_ [Joan of Arc], _Mgr. de Rais et les gens de leur compagnie_.