Gilles de Rais
(according to World Sexual Records, by J. Means, B.S. E.E.)
Fifteenth century French
nobleman,
war hero, and one of
medieval Europe's worst
sadistic killers.
An ally of Joan of Arc during the Hundred Year War, he was later named Marshal of France by King Charles VII. Afterward he settled in his estates in Brittany, where his heroic nature gave way to his murderous impulse. He enjoyed killing his victims, mostly young boys, whom he would sodomize before and after decapitation. Sometimes he would watch as his servants butchered the children and later would masturbate over their entrails.
Because he was a baron, he was able to avoid suspicion for a long time while the death toll rose steadily. His reign of terror came to an end when the Duke of Brittany dug up the mutilated remains of 50 boys in his castle. He confessed to 140 killings; conjecture puts the toll as high as 800.
On October 26, 1440, as a macabre example of overkill, Gilles was simultaneously hanged and burned alive.