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013 - Chapter Xiiimarechal De Retz Iii The Sentence And Execution · Book of Werewolves

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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen of the Book of Werewolves. This is a
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  Speaker 1: librivoqu's recording. All librivoques recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Morgan Scorpion. The Book of Werewolves by Sabine
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  Speaker 1: Bearing Gould, Chapter thirteen Machelle Dray. The sentence and execution
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  Speaker 1: the adjourned trial. The Marshal confesses, the case handed over
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  Speaker 1: to the ecclesiastical Tribunal, prompt steps taken by the Bishop,
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  Speaker 1: the sentence ratified by the secular court, the execution. On
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  Speaker 1: the twenty fourth of October, the trial of the marchal
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  Speaker 1: Deray was resumed. The prisoner entered in a carmelite habit,
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  Speaker 1: knelt and prayed in silence before the examination began. Then
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  Speaker 1: he ran his eye over the court, and the sight
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  Speaker 1: of the rack windless and cords made a slight shudder
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  Speaker 1: run through him. Messieur Jille de la Val began the President,
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  Speaker 1: you appear before me now for the second time, to
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  Speaker 1: answer to a certain requisition read by Monsieur re Lieutenant
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  Speaker 1: to Procureur de Nantes. I shall answer frankly. Monseigneur said
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  Speaker 1: the prisoner calmly, but I reserve the right of appeal
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  Speaker 1: to the benign intervention of the very venerated Majesty of
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  Speaker 1: the King of France, of whom I am, or have been,
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  Speaker 1: Chamberlain and Marshal, as may be proved by my letters
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  Speaker 1: patent duly and registered in the Parliament of Paris. This
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  Speaker 1: is no affair of the King of France, interrupted Pierre
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  Speaker 1: de l'o pertald. If you are chamberlain and marshal of
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  Speaker 1: his Majesty, you are also vassal of his grace, the
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  Speaker 1: Duke of Brittany. I do not deny it, but on
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  Speaker 1: the contrary, I trust to His Grace of Brittany to
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  Speaker 1: allow me to retire to a convent of Carmelites there
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  Speaker 1: to repent me of my sins, that is, as may be.
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  Speaker 1: Will you confess or must I send you to the
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  Speaker 1: rat torture me? Not, exclaimed Gialdorray, I will confess all.
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  Speaker 1: Tell me first what have onlye and Pontou said. They
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  Speaker 1: have confessed, Monsieur le lutenant de Pocureur, shall read you
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  Speaker 1: their allegations. Not so, said the lieutenant, who continued to
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  Speaker 1: show favor to the accused. I pronounced them false unless
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur de Ray confirms them by oath, which God forbid.
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  Speaker 1: Pierre de l'o Petald made a motion of anger to
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  Speaker 1: check this scoundalous pleading in favor of the accused, and
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  Speaker 1: then nodded to the clerk to read the evidence. The
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  Speaker 1: Sire de Ray, on, hearing that his servants had made
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  Speaker 1: such explicit avowals of their acts, remained motionless as though thunderstruck.
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  Speaker 1: He saw that it was in vain for him to equivocate,
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  Speaker 1: and that he would have to confess all. What have
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  Speaker 1: you to say, asked the President, when the confessions of
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  Speaker 1: an Vie and Pontou had been read. Say what befits you?
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  Speaker 1: My lord, interrupted the leeutenant to procureur, as though to
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  Speaker 1: indicate to the accused the line he was to take.
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  Speaker 1: Are not these abominable lies and calumnies trumped up to
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  Speaker 1: ruin you? Alas No, replied the sad array, and his
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  Speaker 1: face was pale as death. A Rie and Pontou have
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  Speaker 1: spoken the truth. God has loosened their tongues. My lord,
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  Speaker 1: relieve yourself of the burden of your crimes by acknowledging
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  Speaker 1: them at once, said Monsieur je l Petralle. Earnestly, Messieur,
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  Speaker 1: said the prisoner, after a moment's silence. It is quite
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  Speaker 1: true that I have robbed mothers of their little ones,
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  Speaker 1: and that I have killed their children or caused them
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  Speaker 1: to be killed, either by cutting their throats with daggers
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  Speaker 1: or knives, or by chopping off their heads with cleavers,
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  Speaker 1: or else. I have had their skulls broken by hammers
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  Speaker 1: or sticks. Sometimes I had their limbs unoff, one after another.
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  Speaker 1: At other times I have ripped them open that I
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  Speaker 1: might examine their entrails and hearts. I have occasionally strangled
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  Speaker 1: them or put them to a slow death, And when
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  Speaker 1: the children were dead, I had their bodies burned and
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  Speaker 1: reduced to ashes. When did you begin your execrable practices?
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  Speaker 1: Asked Pierre to lo Ptu, staggered by the frankness of
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  Speaker 1: these horrible avowals. The evil one must have possessed you.
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  Speaker 1: It came to me from myself, no doubt, at the
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  Speaker 1: instigation of the devil. But still these acts of cruelty
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  Speaker 1: afforded me incomparable delight. The desire to commit these atrocities
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  Speaker 1: came upon me. Eight years ago I left court to
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  Speaker 1: go to Chantonsey, that I might claim the property of
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  Speaker 1: my grandfather deceased. In the library of the castle, I
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  Speaker 1: found a Latin book Suetonius, I believe, full of accounts
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  Speaker 1: of the cruelties of the Roman ms. I read the
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  Speaker 1: charming history of Tiberius, Caracalla and other caesars, and the
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  Speaker 1: pleasure they took in watching the agonies of tortured children.
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  Speaker 1: Thereupon I resolved to imitate and surpass these same caesars,
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  Speaker 1: and that very night I began to do so. For
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  Speaker 1: some while I confided my secret to no one, but
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  Speaker 1: afterwards I communicated it to my cousin Gill de Sillier,
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  Speaker 1: then to Master Rogier de Briefville, next in succession to
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  Speaker 1: en Mie Pontau, Rossigneur and Mobin. He then confirmed all
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  Speaker 1: the accounts given by his two servants. He confessed to
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  Speaker 1: about one hundred and twenty murders in a single year,
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  Speaker 1: an average of eight hundred in less than seven years,
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  Speaker 1: exclaimed Pierre de l'o petal, with a cry of pain, Oh, Messier,
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  Speaker 1: you were possessed. His confession was to explicit and circumstantial
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  Speaker 1: for the lieutenant to procure to say another word word
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  Speaker 1: in his defense, but he pleaded that the case should
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  Speaker 1: be made over to the ecclesiastical court, as there were
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  Speaker 1: confessions of invocations of the devil and of witchcraft mixed
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  Speaker 1: up with those of murder. Pierre de l'o pertal saw
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  Speaker 1: that the object of the Lieutenant was to gain time
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  Speaker 1: for Madame du Ray to make a fresh attempt to
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  Speaker 1: obtain a pardon. However, he was unable to resist, so
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  Speaker 1: he consented that the case should be transferred to the
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  Speaker 1: bishop's court. But the bishop was not a man to
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  Speaker 1: let the matter slip, and there and then a sergeant
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  Speaker 1: of the bishop summoned gild de la val sere Deray
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  Speaker 1: to appear forthwith before the ecclesiastical tribunal. The Marshal was
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  Speaker 1: staggered by this unexpected citation, and he did not think
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  Speaker 1: of appealing against it to the President. He merely signed
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  Speaker 1: his readiness to follow, and he was at once conducted
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  Speaker 1: in the ecclesiastical court, assembled howardly to try him. This
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  Speaker 1: new trial lasted only a few hours. The Marshal, now
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  Speaker 1: thoroughly cowed, made no attempt to defend himself, but he
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  Speaker 1: endeavored to bribe the bishop into leniency by promise of
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  Speaker 1: the surrender of all his lands and goods to the church,
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  Speaker 1: and begged to be allowed to retire into the Carmelite
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  Speaker 1: monastery at Nunt. His request was peremptorily refused, and sentence
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  Speaker 1: of death was pronounced against him on the twenty fifth
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  Speaker 1: of October. The ecclesiastical court having pronounced judgment, the sentence
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  Speaker 1: was transmitted to the secular Court, which had now no
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  Speaker 1: pretext upon which to withhold ratification. There was some hesitation
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  Speaker 1: as to the kind of death the Marshal was to suffer.
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  Speaker 1: The members of the secular tribunal were not unanimous on
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  Speaker 1: this point. The President put it to the vote and
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  Speaker 1: collected the votes himself. Then he reseated himself, covered his head,
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  Speaker 1: and said, in a solemn voice, the Court, notwithstanding the quality,
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  Speaker 1: dignity and nobility of the accused, condemns him to be
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  Speaker 1: hung and burned. Wherefore I admonish you, who are condemned,
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  Speaker 1: to ask pardon of God and grace, to die well
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  Speaker 1: in great contrition for having committed the said crimes. And
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  Speaker 1: the said sentence shall be carried into execution to morrow
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  Speaker 1: morning between eleven and twelve o'clock. A similar sentence was
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  Speaker 1: pronounced upon Henrie and Pontou. On the morrow, October twenty sixth,
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  Speaker 1: at nine o'clock in the morning, a general procession composed
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  Speaker 1: of half the people of night, the clergy, and the bishop,
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  Speaker 1: bearing the blessed sacrament, left the cathedral and went round
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  Speaker 1: the city, visiting each of the principal churches, where masses
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  Speaker 1: were said for the three under sentence. At eleven the
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  Speaker 1: prisoners were conducted to the place of execution, which was
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  Speaker 1: in the meadow of Biez on the further side of
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  Speaker 1: the Loire. Three gibbets had been erected, one higher than
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  Speaker 1: the other, and beneath each was a pile of fagots,
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  Speaker 1: tar and brushwood. It was a glorious breezy day. Not
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  Speaker 1: a cloud was to be seen in the blue heavens.
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  Speaker 1: The Loire rolled silently towards the sea, its mighty volumes
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  Speaker 1: of turbid water seeming bright and blue as it reflected
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  Speaker 1: the brilliancy and color of the sky. The poplace shivered
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  Speaker 1: and whitened in the fresh air with a pleasant vessel,
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  Speaker 1: and the willows flickered and wavered. Above the stream. A
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  Speaker 1: vast cloud had assembled round the gallows. It was with
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  Speaker 1: difficulty that a way was made for the condemned who
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  Speaker 1: came on chanting the deeper fundis. The spectators of all
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  Speaker 1: ages took up the psalm and chanted it with them,
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  Speaker 1: so that the surge of the old Gregorian tone might
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  Speaker 1: have been heard by the Duke and the Bishop, who
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  Speaker 1: had shut themselves up in the Chateau of Nantes during
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  Speaker 1: the hour of execution. After the close of the Psalm,
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  Speaker 1: which was terminated by the requiem Requiem a turnan instead
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  Speaker 1: of the Gloria, the surd Array thanked those who had
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  Speaker 1: conducted him, and then embraced upon to and Anrie, before
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  Speaker 1: delivering himself of the following address, or rather sermon, My
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  Speaker 1: very dear friends and Sermonts, be strong and courageous against
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  Speaker 1: the assault of the devil, and feel great displeasure and
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  Speaker 1: contrition for your ill deeds, without despairing of God's mercy.
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  Speaker 1: Believe with me that there is no sin, however great,
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  Speaker 1: in the world, which God, in his grace and loving kindness,
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  Speaker 1: will not pardon when one asks it of him with
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  Speaker 1: contrition of heart. Remember that the Lord God is always
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  Speaker 1: ready to receive the sinner, than is the sinner to
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  Speaker 1: ask of him pardon. Moreover, let us very humbly thank
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  Speaker 1: Him for his great love to us in letting us
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  Speaker 1: die in full possession of our faculties, and not cutting
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  Speaker 1: us off suddenly in the midst of our misdeeds. Let
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  Speaker 1: us conceive such a love of God and such repentance
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  Speaker 1: that we shall not fear death, which is only a
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  Speaker 1: little pang, without which we could not see God in
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  Speaker 1: his glows. Besides, we must desire to be freed from
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  Speaker 1: this world, in which is only misery, that we may
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  Speaker 1: go to everlasting glory. Let us rejoice rather, for although
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  Speaker 1: we have sinned grievously here below, yet we shall be
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  Speaker 1: united in paradise, our souls being parted from our bodies,
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  Speaker 1: and we shall be together for ever and ever, if
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  Speaker 1: only we endure in our pious and honorable contrition to
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  Speaker 1: our last sigh. Then the marshal who was to be
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  Speaker 1: executed first left his companions and placed himself in the
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  Speaker 1: hands of his executioners. He took off his cap, knelt,
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  Speaker 1: kissed a crucifix, and made a pious oration to the crowd,
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  Speaker 1: much in the style of his address to his friends
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  Speaker 1: Ponteau and Envier. Then he commenced reciting the prayers of
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  Speaker 1: the dying. The executioner passed the cord round his neck
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  Speaker 1: and adjusted the knot. He mounted a tall stool erected
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  Speaker 1: at the foot of the gallows. As a last honour
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  Speaker 1: paid to the mobility of the criminal. The pile of
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  Speaker 1: firewood was lighted before the executioners had left him. Pontou
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  Speaker 1: and Anrie, who were still on their knees, raised their
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  Speaker 1: eyes to their master and cried to him, extending their arms.
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  Speaker 1: At this last hour, monseigneur, be a good and valiant
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  Speaker 1: soldier of God, and remember the passion of Jesus Christ
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  Speaker 1: which wrought our redemption. Farewell, we hoped soon to meet
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  Speaker 1: in paradise. The stool was cast down and the sired
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  Speaker 1: array dropped. The fire roared up. The flames leapt about
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  Speaker 1: him and enveloped him as he swung, suddenly mingling with
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  Speaker 1: the deep booming of the cathedral bell swelled up the wild,
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  Speaker 1: unearthly wail of the DEER'SI rae. No sound among the crowd,
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  Speaker 1: only the growl of the fire and the solemn strain
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  Speaker 1: of the hymn Lo the book exactly worded. Wherein all
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  Speaker 1: hath been recalled, thence shall judgment be awarded. When the
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  Speaker 1: judge his seat attaineth, and each hidden deed arraigneth. Nothing
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  Speaker 1: unavenged remaineth. What shall I, frail man, be pleading? Who
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  Speaker 1: for me be interceding? When the just are mercy needing?
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  Speaker 1: King of majesty, tremendous, who dost free salvation, send us,
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  Speaker 1: fount of pity, then befriend us. Low I kneel with
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  Speaker 1: heart submission, see like ashes my contrition. Help me in
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  Speaker 1: my last condition are that day of tears and mourning.
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  Speaker 1: I from the dust of earth, returning man for judgment,
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  Speaker 1: must prepare him. Spare o God in mercy, Spare him,
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  Speaker 1: Lord who didst our soul's redeem grant a blessed requiem.
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  Speaker 1: Six women veiled and robed in white, and six carmelites
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  Speaker 1: advanced bearing a coffin. It was whispered that one of
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  Speaker 1: the veiled women was Madame Ray, and that the others
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  Speaker 1: were members of the most illustrious houses of Brittany. The
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  Speaker 1: cord by which the marshal was hung was cut, and
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  Speaker 1: he fell into a cradle of iron prepared to receive
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  Speaker 1: the corpse. The body was removed before the fire had
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  Speaker 1: gained any mastery of it. It was placed in the coffin,
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  Speaker 1: and the monks and the women transported it to the
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  Speaker 1: Carmelite monastery of Nantes, according to the wishes of the deceased.
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  Speaker 1: In the meantime, the sentence had been executed upon Pontou
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  Speaker 1: and Nrie. They were hung and burned to dust. Their
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  Speaker 1: ashes were cast to the winds, whilst in the Carmelite
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  Speaker 1: Church of our Lady were celebrated with pomp the obsequies
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  Speaker 1: of the very high, very powerful, very illustrious Signor Gield
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  Speaker 1: de la Val sired array, late Chamberlain of King Charles
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  Speaker 1: Set and Marshal of France. End of Chapter thirteen.