IN SEARCH OF BLUEBEARD

The Castle of Tiffauges stands at a bend in the busy D753 which runs west from Cholet, ancient town of weavers, to the salt marshes of Saint-Jean-de-Monts. It is known as Le Château de Barbe-Bleue: Bluebeard's Castle. Although most of the castle is in ruins, it is still impressive: its infamous keep and the vast scope of its defensive walls provide a clue to its importance as a medieval stronghold. It is a thriving tourist venue now, but it once formed part of the vast estates owned by Gilles de Montmorency-Laval, Baron de Rais, Marshall of France.

I sit, sheltered from the hot sun under a huge oak tree, chatting to Monsieur Maurice Chatry, a former deputy mayor of the town of Tiffauges and an authority on Gilles de Rais. I ask him about the connection between Gilles and the Castle of Tiffauges:

"Gilles de Rais was not a native of Tiffauges. He held the title of Laval, which was also his family name. He became an orphan at a very young age, and he was brought up by his grandfather who initiated him into the arts of warfare rather than any intellectual pursuits. Gilles was already greedy for territory and he had his sights set on the castle and lands of Tiffauges, which at that time belonged to the Thouars family. Catherine de Thouars, a young girl of Gilles's own age, was heiress to these vast estates. With the backing of his grandfather, Gilles first abducted, and then married Catherine. He was not yet sixteen."

I'm starting to get the picture. Here was a man of his time – no stranger to warfare or indeed banditry — who, from a very early age, was accustomed to take by force anything he desired.

Gilles de Rais, handsome, successful, richer even than the king, becomes the monstrous anti-hero of my second full-length play, 'Confessional'.