, 1874-01-18
EXECUTED FRENCH MARSHALS
One Of the Wickedest Characters
in History.
The Murderer Of One Hundred and Forty
Children.

that Of the nine Marsha1s OF France who have
been condemned to death since Giles ae Laval
Marshal de Rotz, and probably tho Wlckedes1
character in history, mas executed in Nantes IN
1440, Bazane ia the only one who has nos SUI"
fered capital punishment. III 1475,
LOUIS DE LUXEMBOURG,
Constab}e of Franco, WIS executed On the Place
de Grove for conspiracy against Charles VI.
and Louis XI. The Constable. man OF re~
markabre talent, but Of Unsuitable ambition and
unparalleled dnplicity had long been CARRYING
On a secret correspondence with tho English,
and hia letters fell into the hands OF
Louis, who ut once gaze orders for Biz
arrest. lie was tried and executed,
however, without waiting for the Kings
final decision in tho matter; for tho Constable
might have betrayed many Of his old accomplices
who still remained in high favor at Court, if be
had been put to the torture. He Was, therefore,
beheaded With all possible dispatch; and Ionls
afterward expressed much regret that tho un-
fortunate traitor had suffered 80 easy DEATH
The next Marshal on the list OF those who sui
fered tho death-penaltF uas
CHARLES DE GoSTAUr.
created Duke de Biron by Henry ". Biron had
greatly distinguished himself st 1vry, aud had
earned the warm friendship OF his King by many
eoldier-GEe achievements 1t seems. however,
tnoL ne cooH1ueseu nltlsea1 uAueSI4 tea5
neglected By Henry IT,, who lad not
rewarded him for his services to the
extent anticipated. 1Tnraged at this imaginary
slight, Biron attempted 10 revenge himself by
plotting against the Government; but he ap-
pears to have been less successful as consp1ra-
tor than soldier being detected in every treas-
enable design be attem, ,9ted. With that rare
-uagnanimty which was hi. crowning trait, Henry
! H. >~aEe his offending court Nr agatn aud again;
~ latter, wholly untous shed ~ such eSttaof-
T. II III Ax,11
,nasS and 1as n in. y convicted Of arins entered into
~. r., 'uspiracv for til dismoInberment
. " u1n TLa King, who en-. ertalned no Attle
~ a.t;ar, tor Is Did compaui on-n-afme, vas
r;l;nr to forgive eqen this last nense, psnsaoeo
p;ron would Confess his rnisdeet. ~ a aal7 10 10
quest he, however, tnfnwa Sit The tho walls Of tie
1s,a,;1a IN 1f;o9 Thirty years attetW5'ra, 1len-
ry L., ,xo,:rxonEsc1,
WAS taken prisoner b.r the royal s1o sps =. tnS
battle of castenandr aHa Gr{oI s4o at TouIouse
& ~ 5ip 10 the same wear the Marshal De ha1'iiae
1ras executed upon tho Place De Grexe ieE s nav
;nf7 conspjred against C, udina1 hlce'oueo'
the close Of eighteenth ( >ontMry,
,njer r. ,derick T. Of Prussia,
entered the French seryie just pelose ene a.s
yolution: rallied for il opanncaa Sauss St
the crisis came; was CT ,aset -. 80 - ,,,a
France, and given command ~ tuo - ~. a,;eht
North He had scarcely acl ua'1a 10 Uo,,+-n; a,I e..
successes over the Austrians ~ SSu ia Hn.a.ss
lenriennes, when he Was reca. 9en ny tno aosesn~ @
ment to answer some very ugl: Gnafets W 'Ae1t
son brought against him durlnh ;o;n, n.n =; toas
was necessary to be above 81 sRir,J ,rkner's head
days to escape the g11illotine; 80 49, l,ort
remained upon his shoulders btl: :; very snofs
time. About the same pcrlod, II. r.
PHILIP DE SoA1LLEs, ..~.: - liz
Duke de- Montmorency, to}1 . 1eIG fron, w ~ KS
heroic endeaTors to rescue LOUIS : c,i11otineil
At The same time. The last name on tnls nt.le a
death-roIl ia that Of Marshal Ney, ~h va ton-
damned md shot soon after the baltic OF Ma.es-
loo Many OF the French Marsha's y '.e 10 onase sre
and hnishtly men; but not % ieT o. L. NJ, Nd It ia
somcwhat remarkable that by tar th' ;aamE1. mps.
shocking character mentioned in modern "7''ts
vas a Marshal of France. THIS "aS
GILES DE LAVAL,
whose execution has already been Ie1e.Lsu Ties
The frisntfnl accounts Of the atrGe1 c, 10 ..5a
perpet1ated by this monster o. VICE ~ ~
ness would be utterly ineredltle N.s,o T,,r
thew 1cas we'll authentcated- Tho Mu "
sbal De Retz indeed lived IN an nEe WY y, ~ -
the wealthy aristoczacy knew no lass ~.
lint Of their own passions; when noolenea M
murdered their fathers tortured the1r LII
to death: poisoned their wives erd sisters AL
ed OF outraged their teDantry 1t ylll aoo G. ~ ~
1nitted almost all sorts OF CRIME VIII aoso1a
4
anr1a r;Ttnes when compared with the sins @. :
Ia nctz, Alichelet, who naturally omite tne
most trerolting portions OF the narrative oecsareu
that nothing ia history can be found 10 compare
in horror With the career Of
THIS AncH-F1ESD,
,,ssa IN the enormities Of the most corrupt
Roman age be added all the crime covered %
the Dead Sea. Indeed. tho conpl!ers OF tne
| aurustan history have related nDtmnR e9nahy
bad OF Elagabalus and Gommocn3 s'sa - ap, p,o1,
| strot1s luuatics and probably most historians
viii ressrd De Rctz in the same light.
| This Giles de Laval was awealthy and power
| FIJI noble. owning several castles anu m1cn
landed property near TIE Cy Or Sa, na,se5 nr;nv
| the reign Of Charles VII had 1onsns siae oy
| side with Joau Of arc; anu had won the patoh
OF q Marshal. After the war, ne retired TO ms
| estates, and plunged into that hfe OF penanch-
cry then fashionable anong the af ~ vnn,c
| with the higher classes ana every "ea.tny
! Baron almost had his paid body Of chorassers
| who ALWAYS accompanied him Oil his Vlslts. -
| Retz shortly announced Lis detcrmanaton W
setyanss amopg tho peasantrV WITH oruefs 10
| procure Es ruany bcy-Hingers as poss1hte. fof
| snn1e t;np they yere snccessful; but tho pa-
rents soon hccau,s Alarmed 1T finding that
| THEIR CHILDREN rEyrh nETuRsEp.
About this time an old "cman. whose 1dce
her appearance in the enviroIs OF Nantes
| Whenever she met with child alone or 1l'ipro-
tected. the old bag would either co1npel Of coax :
it to accompany her to this castle and 1aone 20 OF
these little ones were eyer seen asa'p. .oain9 ane
frightened peasautry now attempted to conceal
their children, but the servants OF the Mars'&i
frequently appeared upon the sesns and dshsza ea5bs
n children of both sexes Disappeared ip this
and the terror in xeh ,hs ,et ~FstslGa ,a
ral Illustrated py the fact that the bcreased pa
rents dared no: complain. This state OF affairs
I continued for .
| FOURTEEN YEARS.
and might have continued much longer nnt 1ol Or
happy combination Of CIRCUMSTANCES. Ihe DuEG L:i1
OF Brittany. who had nevor borne any goou wiii
| to Dc Retz, happened TO pay visit to the 1'lshop
of Nantes and VAS informed by .nhs peea,e o.
inr the secrets Of tho Marshars castle. !lie
listened to the recital in n h4sa s1slse e
his power to bring De Laval to trial. Accord
ins strong party VAS ssut to sum summon sa,np 1na
noblenan to answer the charges mace agalI1e. 11'
III, 1Dete.d nf soaking safety in flight, tne