TheAffair of the Poisons (French:affaire des poisons,pronounced[afɛʁdepwazɔ̃]) was a major murder scandal in France during the reign of KingLouis XIV. Between 1677 and 1682, a number of prominent members of the aristocracy were implicated and sentenced on charges ofpoisoning andwitchcraft. The scandal reached into the inner circle of the king. It led to the execution of 36 people.^[1]

In 1672, upon the natural death of cavalry officer Godin de Sainte-Croix, an inventory of his papers revealed a box containing nine letters from his mistress, theMarquise de Brinvilliers, as well as the marquise's acknowledgment of a debt amounting to 30,000 livres. This box also contained various vials which, after being analyzed by an apothecary, were found to have contained various poisons that left little trace in the body.

The case began in 1675 after the trial of de Brinvilliers, who was accused of having conspired with de Sainte-Croix to poison her father Antoine Dreux d'Aubray in 1666, and two of her brothers, Antoine d'Aubray and François d'Aubray, in 1670, in order to inherit their estates. There were also rumours that she had poisoned poor people during her visits to hospitals.

After being accused, she fled but was arrested inLiège. De Brinvilliers was tortured and confessed, was sentenced to death, and on 17 July was tortured with thewater cure (forced to drink sixteen pints of water) and then beheaded, and her bodyburned at the stake. Her alleged accomplice Sainte-Croix did not face charges because he had died of natural causes in 1672.

The sensational trial drew attention to other mysterious deaths, starting rumours. Prominent people, including Louis XIV, became alarmed that they might be poisoned.

The affair proper opened in February 1677 after the arrest ofMagdelaine de La Grange on charges of forgery and murder. La Grange appealed toFrançois Michel Le Tellier, Marquis of Louvois, claiming that she had information about other crimes of high importance. Louvois reported to the king, who toldGabriel Nicolas de la Reynie, who, among other things, was the chief of the Paris police, to root out the poisoners. La Reynie sought to calm the king. The subsequent investigation of potential poisoners led to accusations of witchcraft, murder and more.

Authorities rounded up a number offortune tellers andalchemists who were suspected of selling not onlydivinations,séances andaphrodisiacs, but also "inheritance powders" (a euphemism for poison). Some of them confessed under torture and gave authorities lists of their clients, who had allegedly bought poison to get rid of their spouses or rivals in the royal court.

The most famous case was that of the midwife Catherine Deshayes Monvoisin orLa Voisin, who was arrested in 1679 after she was incriminated by the poisonerMarie Bosse. La Voisin implicated several important courtiers. These includedOlympia Mancini, the Countess of Soissons, her sister, theDuchess of Bouillon,François Henri de Montmorency, Duke of Luxembourg and, most importantly, the king's mistress,Madame de Montespan.

Questioned while intoxicated,^[2] La Voisin claimed that Montespan had bought aphrodisiacs and performedblack masses with her in order to gain and keep the king's favour over rival lovers. She had worked with a priest namedÉtienne Guibourg. There was no evidence beyond her confessions, but bad reputations followed these people afterwards. Eleanor Herman, in her bookSex with Kings (2009), claims that the police, given reports of "babies' bones", uncovered the remains of 2,500 infants in La Voisin's garden.^[3] However, Anne Somerset disputes this in her bookThe Affair of the Poisons (2003) and states there is no mention of the garden being searched for human remains.

Also involved in the scandal wasEustache Dauger de Cavoye, the eldest living scion of a prominent noble family. Cavoye was disinherited by his family when, in an act of debauchery, he chose to celebrate Good Friday with a black mass. Upon his disinheritance, he opened a lucrative trade in "inheritance powders" and aphrodisiacs. He mysteriously disappeared after the abrupt ending of Louis's official investigation in 1678. Because of this and his name, he was once suspected of being theMan in the Iron Mask. However, this theory has fallen out of favour because it is now known that he was imprisoned by his family in 1679 in thePrison Saint-Lazare.^{[citation needed]}

La Voisin was sentenced to death for witchcraft and poisoning, and burned at the stake on 22 February 1680. Marshal Montmorency-Bouteville was briefly jailed in 1680, but was later released and became a captain of the guard. MinisterJean-Baptiste Colbert helped to hush things up.

De La Reynie re-established the special court, theChambre Ardente ("burning court"), to judge cases of poisoning and witchcraft. It investigated a number of cases, including many connected to nobles and courtiers in the king's court. Over the years, the court sentenced 34 people to death for poisoning or witchcraft. Two died under torture and several courtiers were exiled. The court was abolished in 1682, because the king could not risk the publicity of such scandal. To this, Police Chief Reynie said "the enormity of their crimes proved their safeguard."^[1]

Perhaps the most important consequence of the scandal and subsequent persecutions was the expulsion from France of the Countess of Soissons and its effect on her son Eugene. He remained in France, only to find that his mother's high-profile disgrace prevented him from realising his personal ambitions, as he was effectively barred from pursuing a military career. Eugene would eventually leave France, nurturing a profound grudge against Louis XIV, and enter the service of France's sworn enemies, the Habsburgs.Prince Eugene of Savoy, or Prinz Eugen, would, in time, come to be known as one of the greatest generals of the age and one of the factors behind the failure of Louis's bid for hegemony in Europe.

The Poison Affair implicated 442 suspects: 367 orders of arrests were issued, of which 218 were carried out.^[1] Of the condemned, 36 were executed; five were sentenced to the galleys and 23 to exile.^[1] This excludes those who died in custody by torture or suicide.^[1] Additionally, many accused were never brought to trial, but placed outside of the justice system and imprisoned for life by alettre de cachet.^[1]

Of the people who were condemned to perpetual imprisonment bylettre de cachet, six women were imprisoned atChâteau de Villefranche; 18 men atChâteau de Salces^{[dubious –discuss]}; 12 women atBelle-Île-en-Mer; ten men atChâteau de Besançon; 14 women atSt André de Salins [fr]; and five women atFort-les-Bains [fr].^[1]

This lists those people of the Poison Affair who were sentenced or punished without verdict for having been professionally involved in criminal activity as poisoners or occultists or in other ways associated with the organization of La Voisin. Their punishment is mentioned after their name and role.

This lists people involved in the Poison Affair by being clients of the professionals above. Their punishment is mentioned after their name and role.

In October 1702Marie-Anne de La Ville was arrested for having created a new organisation similar to the one of la Voisin, but because of Affair of the Poisons, she and her colleagues were never brought to trial, but imprisoned without trial on alettre de cachet.^[1]

In 1907 French writerVictorien Sardou produced a playThe Affair of the Poisons. This later provided the basis for a 1955film adaptation of the same title directed byHenri Decoin.Marjorie Bowen's 1936 novelThe Poisoners also revolves around the incident.

The organisation of La Voisin and the Affair of the Poisons is portrayed in a novel byJudith Merkle Riley:The Oracle Glass (1994).

The Affair of the Poisons is the leading thread throughout the second season of the French-Canadian TV seriesVersailles. The series shows the courtiers being intoxicated with the powders and potions; even Madame de Montespan is portrayed as having a major role in the poisonings. In the fictionalization, La Voisin was altered to the character Agathe.

Scottish speed metal artistHellripper's 2020 album titledThe Affair of The Poisons contains lyrical themes based on the scandal.

Melissa Bonny wrote "See You in Hell" for Ad Infinitum's 2020 albumChapter I: Monarchy inspired by this event.

• Spana Prosecution
• Angel Makers of Nagyrév

• Mollenauer, Lynn Wood (2007).Strange Revelations: Magic, Poison, and Sacrilege in Louis XIV's France. Magic in History Series. Penn State Press.ISBN 978-0-271-02915-3.
• Le Nabour, Éric (1990).La Reynie: Le policier de Louis XIV (Présence de lhistoire). Perrin.ISBN 978-2-262-00806-2.
• Mossiker, Frances (1969).The Affair of the Poisons: Louis XIV, Madame de Montespan, and one of History's great Unsolved Mysteries. Alfred A. Knopf.ISBN 0-7221-6245-6.
• Excerpts from Bastille trial records of Guibourg and LaVoisin (French and English translation)

• Riley, Judith Merkle (2012).The Oracle Glass (Fiction). Sourcebooks.ISBN 978-1-4022-7059-8.
• Charbonneau, Karen (2010).The Wolf's Sun: Intrigue in 17th Century Brittany and Paris (Fiction). Ship's Cat Books.ISBN 978-0692749111.

• Madmen / Murderers / Sorcery / Warmongers. Royal Secrets. Vol. 2. Discovery Channel. 1996.ASIN B000CNT8MQ.

• 1677 in France
• 1682 in France
• 1670s in France
• 1680s in France
• 17th century in Paris
• Affair of the Poisons
• Political history of the Ancien Régime
• Law of the Ancien Régime
• 1677 murders
• 1682 murders
• 1670s murders
• 1680s murders
• Poisoners
• Scandals in France
• Serial murders in France

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