Agincourt again, King Alfred, a medieval serial killer, and Ben Franklin

On October 26, 899, King Alfred the Great died. Alfred is a character in Bernard Cornwell’s wonderful Saxon series. Uthred, the major character, doesn’t like Alfred all that much, but his sardonic observations of the pious king are always entertaining.
On October 26, 1440, Gilles de Rais was executed for an appalling series of crimes against children. He was not your typical mass murderer, assuming there is such a creature. A Breton lord, a Marshal of France, he’d fought with Joan of Arc against the English and won a reputation for reckless courage. Once he retired to his own estates, he began to sexually assault and murder children, with the help of a cousin and servants. His victims are said to have numbered at least 80, possibly more than 200. An investigation by the Bishop of Nantes exposed his crimes and he and his partners in crime were all hanged. He confessed and was allowed to be buried in consecrated ground, which I admit surprised me very much.
This next one is not medieval, but on October 26, 1776, my hero, Benjamin Franklin, sailed for France in a successful attempt to seek French aid for the fledgling American Revolution. I am totally convinced that if not for Ben and George Washington, we’d have lost the war. It also would have been great fun to have an ale with Ben at the local tavern.
Lastly, my friend Koby had a marvelously detailed post yesterday about Agincourt and agreed to let me repost it here:

“Lastly, and most importantly, the Battle of Agincourt took place today. I need not explain much about this famous battle, I am sure, where the English defeated the French despite being outnumbered by odds of between 4-1 to 6-1.
Among the many dead: Charles I d’Albret, Count of Dreux, the Constable of France; Jacques de Châtillon, Lord of Dampierre, the Admiral of France; David de Rambures, the Grand Master of Crossbowmen; Antoine of Burgundy, Duke of Brabant and Limburg, and consort Duke of Luxembourg; John I, Duke of Alençon-Perche; Edward III, Duke of Bar; Philip of Burgundy, Count of Nevers and Rethel; Frederick of Lorraine, Count of Vaudémont; Robert of Bar, Count of Marle and Soissons; John VI, Count of Roucy; Waleran III of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny-Saint-Pol; Edward II, Count of Grandpré; Henry II, Count of Blâmont; Jean de Montaigu, Archbishop of Sens; John of Bar, Lord of Puisaye; Jean I de Croÿ, Lord of Croÿ-d’Araines; Jean de Béthune, Lord of Marueil; Jan I van Brederode.
Among the captured: Jean Le Maingre, the Marshal of France; Charles of Artois Count of Eu, the French Lieutenant of Normandy and Guyenn; John of Bourbon Duke of Bourbon-Auvergne-Forez; Charles of Orleans Duke of Orleans-Blois-Valois; John of Orleans Count of Angoulême-Périgord; and Louis de Bourbon, Count of Vendôme.
Arguably more significant than the dead were the prisoners, since by the laws of chivalry the property of a prisoner could not be seized. This meant that (in theory) great parts of France could not be called upon for military resources.
On the English side, the notable dead were Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, Michael de la Pole, 3rd Earl of Suffolk and Dafydd Gam, a Welsh hero who saved Henry V’s life during the battle. “