Murder Scandal at Louis XIV 's court - The Affaire Of The Poisons

The affair of the poisons, or in French l'affaire des poisons, was a scandal which erupted at the court of Versailles in 1675 and which lasted until 1682. The scandal concerned a series of murders by poisoning in France during the reign of Louis XIV. During this time, numerous people, including prominent figures and members of the nobility, were suspected and convicted of murder, witchcraft and other offenses. How many of the accusations were based on facts and how many were simply fabrications is still unclear today. The scandal erupted in 1675 when Marie-Madeleine de Brunvilliers, with the aid of her lover the chevalier Gaudin de Sainte-Croix, poisoned de Brunvilliers' father and had her brothers murdered. Her sisters survived an assassination attempt. Marie-Madeleine de Brunvilliers was consequently burned at the stake. The trial and execution of de Brunvilliers put other mysterious deaths surrounding prominent people under the spotlight. Numerous people at the court in Versailles, ranging from the lower and high nobility to the king's immediate entourage, were drawn into the affair. A particularly fatal suspicion even fell on Madame de Montespan, who was said to have captured the king's heart with the help of love potions and black masses, among other things. The worried Louis XIV set up a commission called the Chambre Ardente and instructed the lieutenant-general of the police of Paris, Gabriel Nicolas de Larigny, to get to the bottom of the matter. The police investigated a number of Parisian fortune-tellers and alchemists who were suspected not only of practicing fortune-telling in spiritualistic sessions, but also of selling aphrodisiacs and poisons. Their customers wanted to use the poisons to get rid of either their husbands or their rivals at court. An alleged Parisian coven of witches was supplying France's aristocrats with poison. De Larigny unmasked several members of the coven, including numerous aristocrats who were among the clientele of the alleged witch and midwife Catherine Monvoisin, who was also known as La Voisin. The respected pharmacist and chemist Christophe Glazé, from whose pharmacy the Marquise de Brunvilliers and the Chevalier Saint-Croix had obtained the necessary ingredients in order to poison Brunvilliers' father, was also investigated. The latter was exonerated, but subsequently pharmacists in France were required by law to keep an inventory in which the names of the buyers of poisons had to be listed. Furthermore, the activities of two fortune-tellers, Marie Bosse and La Dame Vigoureux, were investigated. Both ladies were arrested. The two fortune-tellers denied all charges, but did provide the police with names of accomplices, among whom Catherine Monvoisin was mentioned. As rumors had existed since 1670, after the sudden death of Henriette Anne of England, the Duchess of Orléans, that she had been poisoned by her husband, Philippe d'Orléans, or by his lover, the Chevalier de Lorraine, de la Réunie also investigated the aristocracy at the court of Versailles. The first noble to be arrested was Madame de Poulayon, who had unsuccessfully tried to poison her husband in order to gain possession of his fortune. Gradually, more high-ranking courtiers were accused. As the accused were high-ranking courtiers, clear evidence against them had to be produced. Therefore, La Voisin, the other fortune-tellers and pharmacists, were interrogated by use of torture devices such as the Spanish boot and the rack. Several courtiers were charged with witchcraft and murder. Although most of the accusations were never proven, during the course of the investigations there were 360 arrests, 218 interrogations, some under torture, and 110 sentences were imposed. Two suspects died while being tortured, 36 suspects were executed by the sword or were burned at the stake, four were sent to the galleys, 34 were banished, and 30 were acquitted. To this day, it remains unclear whether many of the accusations were merely slanderous stories invented for the purpose of discrediting high-ranking courtiers who might have belonged to a different faction. On February 22, 1680, La Voisin, Marie Bosse, and La Vigoureux were sentenced to death by burning at the stake. Officially, the investigations of the Chambre Ardente were closed in August 1680. However, the La Réunie had been instructed by Louis XIV to secretly investigate rumors about Madame de Montespan's involvement in the scandal, as the name of her chambermaid, Claude de Zouillet, had appeared in several testimonies. Louis XIV suspected that he had ingested vast quantities of poison administered to him by de Montespan. Furthermore, de Montespan was rumored of being guilty of the death of the king's former mistress, Marie Angélique de Scoraille, the Duchess of Fontange. Several of La Voisin's accomplices testified that the murder of the Duchess de Fontange had been planned. However, an autopsy held by physicians hired by de Fontange's relatives revealed that the Duchess de Fontange died of tuberculosis. Recent studies of the autopsy also exonerate de Montespan from any involvement in the death of Marie Angélique de Scoraille. De La Réunie spent two years compiling evidence against Madame de Montespan, but eventually Madame de Maintenon, Minister of State Colbert and the Marquis de Louvois decided to cover up de Montespan's involvement as she was the mother of legalized children of the king, and it would have been an embarrassment for Louis XIV if it had been revealed that he had unknowingly been administered aphrodisiacs. However, the affair caused Madame de Montespan to irretrievably lose the king's favor. At this point in time, de La Réunie was ordered to stop any further investigations as it was feared that more aristocrats in close proximity to the king might have been involved. The affair of the poisons ended with a final execution in July 1683. A few days later, the king passed a law regulating the trade in poisons. Louis XIV had fortune telling banned throughout France. Witchcraft was declared a delusion by decree, thereby ending the witch craze in France. Thank you for watching.