He followed her everywhere, fought at her side, even under the walls of Paris, and was with her at Rheims the day of the coronation, at which time, says Monstrelet, the king rewarded his valour by naming him Marshal of France, at the age of twenty-five." "Lord!" Des Hermies interrupted, "promotion came rapidly in those times.
But I suppose warriors then weren't the bemedalled, time-serving incompetents they are now." "Oh, don't be misled.

The title of Marshal of France didn't mean so much in Gilles's time as it did afterward in the reign of Francis I, and nothing like what it has come to mean since Napoleon.
"What was the conduct of Gilles de Rais toward Jeanne d'Arc?
We have no certain knowledge.

M.Vallet de Viriville, without proof, accuses him of treachery.

M.l'abbe Bossard, on the contrary, claims--and alleges plausible reasons for entertaining the opinion--that he was loyal to her and watched over her devotedly.
"What is certain is that Gilles's soul became saturated with mystical ideas.

His whole history proves it.
"He was constantly in association with this extraordinary maid whose adventures seemed to attest the possibility of divine intervention in earthly affairs.