Real Life Horror

Joan Of Arc's Bestie

Joan of Arc's Bestie
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But while Joan gets most of the credit for helping France stand up to England in the 15th century, she couldn't have done it without the support of allies like Gilles de Rais, her "ardent companion," and one of the bravest knights in the French army. De Rais even made it into the big-budget Joan of Arc movie starring Milla Jovovich, where he's played by Vincent Cassel.

So why don't people name churches after this dude too? Probably because of de Rais' night job as a horrific serial killer who preyed particularly on children between the ages of 6 and 18.

Again, we're talking about one of the few men in the French army who helped make Joan of Arc's career and eventual sainthood possible ... and who also happened to be a torturing, butchering, child-murdering monster. The accounts of his trial and confession make for a soul-scarring read: Not content with killing and abusing his victims in gruesome ways, de Rais would also play with them psychologically, convincing them it was only a game before unleashing something even worse. This guy would have been kicked out of Arkham Asylum for creeping out the Joker.

Depending on whom you ask, de Rais killed as few as 80 or as many as 800 children, making him one of the most prolific serial killers in history. Obviously, Joan of Arc never knew about any of this. And just like his old pal, de Rais was eventually burned by the authorities (the preferred method of getting rid of undesirables back then), though in this case he had that shit coming.

Source : http://www.cracked.com/article_20751_6-true-stories-from-history-creepier-than-any-horror-movie_p2.html