Gilles de Rais, Baron de Rais, was a knight and lord from Brittany, Anjou and Poitou, a leader in the French army during the Hundred Years' War, and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc. He is best known for his reputation and later conviction as a confessed serial killer of children.
Gilles de Rais by Éloi Firmin Féron (1835) This oil painting is an artist's impression, since no contemporary portrait or description has survived. The artwork was commissioned by the July Monarchy for display in the Gallery of French Marshals of the Musée de l'Histoire de France (Versailles).
Champtocé castle tower ruins
Related to the 4th degree, Gilles de Rais and his wife Catherine de Thouars are maternally and paternally descended from Amaury III de Craon.
Reconstruction of the Château de Tiffauges and its surrounding walls
A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people, with the killings taking place over a significant period of time between them. The serial killers' psychological gratification is the motivation for the killings, and many serial murders involve sexual contact with the victims at different points during the murder process. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that the motives of serial killers can include anger, thrill-seeking, financial gain, and attention seeking, and killings may be executed as such. The victims tend to have things in common such as, demographic profile, appearance, gender or race. The FBI will focus on particular patterns that the serial killers follow throughout their murders. They will then use on the patterns they find for key clues into finding the killer along with their motives. Although a serial killer is a distinct classification that differs from that of a mass murderer, spree killer, or contract killer, there are overlaps between them.
An 1829 illustration of Irish serial killer William Burke murdering Margery Campbell
Juhani Aataminpoika, a Finnish serial killer also known as "Kerpeikkari" (which means 'executioner'), was one of the most active serial killers of the 19th century, killing as many as 12 people in 1849 within five weeks before being caught.
The 'Nemesis of Neglect': Jack the Ripper depicted as a phantom stalking Whitechapel, and as an embodiment of social neglect, in a Punch cartoon of 1888
Mug shot of serial killer, cannibal and necrophile Ottis Toole