The Affair of the Poisons: Murder, Infanticide, and Satanism at the Court of Louis XIV

by Anne Somerset

  18. Ibid., V, pp. 462–3, 367, 462–3.

  19. Ibid., pp. 369, 287; ibid., VI, p. 91.

  20. Ibid., V, pp. 448–9.

  21. Ibid., VI, pp. 17, 12, 15.

  22. Ibid., p. 17.

  23. Ibid., pp. 88, 44–5.

  24. Ibid., V, pp. 287, 448, 474–5, 291, 379, 448; ibid., VI, pp. 79–80, 84.

  25. Ibid., V, pp. 421–3, 425.

  26. Colbert VI, p. 413; Rav. V, p. 502; Beurain, p. 46.

  27. Rav. V, p. 478.

  28. See Lemoine, Les des Oeillets, passim.

  29. Primi Visconti, pp. 108–9.

  30. Colbert VI, p. 420.

  31. Lemoine, op. cit., p. 49.

  32. Rav. V, p. 483.

  33. Ibid., pp. 483–5.

  34. Ibid., p. 490.

  35. Ibid., pp. 490–1.

  36. Ibid., pp. 176, 360–1.

  37. Ibid., pp. 286, 293; AN 1127, fo. 111.

  38. Rav. V, p. 493.

  39. SS (Norton) I, pp. 43–4; Segur, Tapissier, p. 15.

  40. PRO SP 78/141/fo. 136.

  41. Segur, Luxembourg … et … Orange, p. 536.

  42. Ibid., pp. 287, 212.

  43. Rowlands, p. 55; Spanheim, pp. 334–5.

  44. SS (Truc) III, pp. 753–4; Primi Visconti, p. 145.

  45. BN Mss Clairambault 1192, fo. 22.

  46. Rav. V, pp. 495–501.

  47. Primi Visconti, p. 144; SS (Norton) I, pp. 43–4.

  48. Rav. V, pp. 501–2.

  49. Scott-Stevenson I, p. 255.

  50. Rav. V, pp. 501–2.

  51. Ibid., VI, pp. 3–7.

  52. Ibid., pp. 18–19.

  53. Ibid., pp. 19–20.

  54. Ibid., pp. 31–6.

  55. L. Racine, p. 42.

  56. Ibid., p. 69.

  57. Ibid., p. 70; Lacretelle, p. 80.

  58. Rav. VI, pp. 50–3.

  59. Lacretelle, p. 97.

  60. Ibid., p. 221.

  61. Rav. VI, p. 95.

  62. Ibid., p. 25.

  63. Ibid., V, pp. 407–9, 426.

  64. Ibid., VI, pp. 55–7.

  65. Ibid., p. 25.

  66. Ibid., p. 58.

  67. Ibid., p. 67.

  7: A Court in Chaos

  1. For a description of her death see Lafayette, Histoire de Madame, pp. 190–208.

  2. Shelmerdine, p. 120.

  3. Saint-Maurice I, p. 455.

  4. Ibid., p. 453; Fabre, pp. 133, 198–9.

  5. Shelmerdine, p. 114; Saint-Maurice I, p. 485; Scott-Stevenson II, p. 124.

  6. Shelmerdine, p. 123; SS (Truc) I, pp. 923–5.

  7. Marchesseau, pp. 64–8; Fabre, p. 164; John Rohl, Martin Warren & David Hunt, Purple Secret (1998), p. 193.

  8. Sourches I, p. 16; Saint-Maurice I, p. 88; Patin III, p. 787.

  9. Bussy IV, pp. 124, 137.

  10. Mercure Galant, January 1680.

  11. Rouben, pp. 163–4; Rav. VI, pp. 115, 117.

  12. Ibid., pp. 120–3.

  13. Ibid., pp. 96–7.

  14. Ibid.

  15. Sév. VI, pp. 213, 217–18.

  16. Segur, Tapissier, p. 76.

  17. Sév. VI, p. 214.

  18. Motteville III, p. 116; Lafayette, op. cit., p. 55.

  19. Ibid.

  20. Magne, pp. 157, 162.

  21. Ibid., p. 311; Saint-Maurice I, pp. 405, 426; ibid., II, pp. 471–2, 573.

  22. Saint-Maurice II, pp. 554, 581.

  23. Lafayette, op. cit., p. 136; Bussy V, pp. 50–1.

  24. Sév. VI, p. 226; Bussy V, pp. 50–1; Rav. VI, p. 131.

  25. Sourches I, pp. 134–5n; La Fare, p. 213; Rav. VI, p. 103; Sév. VI, p. 231.

  26. Rav. VI, pp. 132, 193.

  27. Primi Visconti, p. 289; Rav. VI, p. 147; Choisy I, p. 224; Sév. VI, p. 282; Primi Visconti, p. 291.

  28. La Fare, p. 213; Primi Visconti, pp. 288–9.

  29. Bussy V, p. 59; Rav. VI, p. 138.

  30. Scott-Stevenson I, p. 98.

  31. Bussy V, p. 45.

  32. Primi Visconti, p. 287; Dangeau III, p. 49.

  33. SS (Norton) III, p. 281.

  34. Courtois, p. 159.

  35. Sourches I, p. 125; René, p. 230.

  36. Ibid., pp. 500–1.

  37. SS (Truc) II, pp. 1200–2.

  38. René, p. 243.

  39. Sourches III, pp. 39–40. Lafayette, Memoirs of the Court, p. 205.

  40. Segur, Tapissier, pp. 82, 82n.

  41. BA Mss 10347, fos. 372–5; ibid., fos. 535–6.

  42. Sourches I, p. 368; Bussy V, p. 528.

  43. Ibid., p. 52; Rav. VI, p. 124.

  44. Ibid., VII, pp. 145–6, 167.

  45. SS (Truc) I, p. 488; Dangeau V, p. 427; SS (Truc) I, p. 488.

  46. BN Mss Clairambault 1192, fo. 19.

  47. Beurain, pp. 42–3.

  48. Ibid., pp. 46–7.

  49. Ibid., p. 47; Sév. VI, p. 218.

  50. Rav. VI, p. 130; Sév. VI, p. 225.

  51. BN Mss Clairambault 1192, fos. 24–24v; ibid. fo. 27.

  52. Segur, Tapissier, pp. 104, 79.

  53. SS (Truc) II, p. 627; SS (Norton) I, pp. 43–4.

  54. BN Mss Clairambault 986, fo. 294; Sév. VI, p. 232; Segur, Tapissier, pp. 79, 94; Bussy V, pp. 50–1.

  55. Segur, Tapissier, pp. 103, 89.

  56. SS (Truc) IV, p. 322; Primi Visconti, p. 115; Choisy I, p. 78; Spanheim, p. 247.

  57. SS (Truc) IV, p. 327; Primi Visconti, p. 115.

  58. Dangeau III, p. 264.

  59. Bussy III, pp. 374, 377.

  60. Rav. VI, pp. 34, 142, 140.

  61. Bussy V, pp. 45–6, 50–1.

  62. Sév. VI, pp. 233–5.

  63. Rav. VI, p. 119.

  64. Sév. VI, pp. 233–5.

  65. Primi Visconti, p. 288; see also Voltaire I, p. 345.

  66. Sév. V, pp. 266–7.

  67. PRO SP 78/143/fo. 88v; Spanheim, p. 248; SS (Truc) III, pp. 322–6.

  68. Segur, Tapissier, p. 96; Sév. VI, p. 245.

  69. Feuquières, Lettres V, p. 75.

  70. Rav. VI, pp. 124–8; Feuquières, Lettres V, p. 76.

  71. Ibid., pp. 169, 131.

  72. Rav. VI, p. 190.

  73. Scott-Stevenson I, pp. 136–7; Van der Cruysse, Lettres Françaises, pp. 132–4; Coynart, pp. 155–6.

  74. Feuquières, Lettres V, pp. 165–6, 177, 77.

  75. SS (Truc) III, pp. 753–4; Sourches II, p. 211.

  76. SS (Truc) II, p. 42, ibid. III, pp. 753–4; paper given by Guy Rowlands to Society for Court Studies 17.06.02 on The Court and Political Culture of the French Army under Louis XIV.

  77. Feuquières, Lettres V, pp. xxvii–viii.

  78. Lafayette, Histoire de Madame, pp. 139–40; Motteville III, p. 344.

  79. Saint-Maurice I, p. 278.

  80. Rav. VI, pp. 31–2, 93, 102, 98.

  81. Ibid., pp. 128–9.

  82. BN Mss Clairambault 986, fo. 301; Bussy V, pp. 70–1.

  83. BN Mss Clairambault 986, fo. 301; SS (Truc) VI, p. 578.

  84. Sév. VI, p. 225; Bussy V, pp. 49, 48.

  85. Sév. VI, pp. 231–2, 227, 229.

  86. Ibid., pp. 229–30, 244–5.

  87. Primi Visconti, p. 282.

  88. La Fare, p. 213; Sév. VI, pp. 259–60.

  89. Primi Visconti, p. 287; Sév. VI, p. 242; Bussy V, pp. 184, 187.

  90. Rav. VI, p. 137.

  91. Nass, p. 127; Feuquières, Lettres, V, p. 101.

  92. Rav. VI, pp. 137–8.

  93. Bussy V, pp. 46–7, 49.

  94. BA Mss 10347, fos. 263ff.

  95. Rav. VI, p. 423; Sév. VI, p. 278.

  96. Rav. VI, pp. 150–81.

  97. Ibid., p. 189.

  98. Ibid., pp. 180, 183.

  99. Sév. VI, pp. 278–9.

  100. Rav. VI, pp. 199–201.

  101. Ibid., V, pp. 479–81, ibid., VI, p. 203.

  102. Sév. VI, pp. 357–8; Bussy V, p. 103.

  103. BA Mss 10347, fo. 610.

  10
4. Sév. VI, p. 368; Bussy V, pp. 107–8; Rav. VII, p. 56.

  105. Sév. VI, pp. 366–7.

  106. Rav. VI, p. 144.

  107. Beurain, pp. 84–5, 53.

  108. Ibid., pp. 60–1.

  109. Ibid., p. 63.

  110. BN Mss Clairambault 986, fo. 191; Sév. VI, p. 408.

  111. Beurain, pp. 65–6.

  112. Ibid., p. 68.

  113. Ibid., pp. 71–3.

  114. Ibid., pp. 74–5.

  115. Sév. VI, p. 408; Bussy V, pp. 118–19.

  116. Ibid.

  117. Ibid., pp. 282, 287–8, 282.

  118. Segur, Tapissier, p. 142; Primi Visconti, p. 296; Segur, Tapissier, p. 145.

  119. Sév. VI, p. 433.

  120. Beurain, pp. 88–9; Segur, Tapissier, pp. 133–4.

  121. Ibid., p. 131.

  122. Rav. VI, p. 211; Sév. VI, pp. 433, 408.

  8: Accusations Against Mme de Montespan

  1. SS (Norton) I, p. 413.

  2. SS (Truc) III, pp. 48–9; Saint-Maurice II, pp. 174–5; SS (Norton) I, p. 413.

  3. Rav. VI, p. 19.

  4. Ibid., pp. 47–8.

  5. AN 1127, fo. 138.

  6. Rav. VI, pp. 211–14; BN Mss Français 7608, fo. 288.

  7. Rav. VI, p. 225.

  8. Ibid., pp. 217–18.

  9. Ibid., p. 400; ibid., V, p. 252; ibid. VI, pp. 173, 63; AN 1127, fo. 29.

  10. AN 1127, fo. 29.

  11. AN 1127, fos. 29, 119.

  12. BN Mss Français, 7608, fo. 307.

  13. Rav. VI, pp. 215–17.

  14. Ibid., p. 232.

  15. Ibid., pp. 249–52, 255–9.

  16. Ibid.

  17. Ibid., pp. 273–6.

  18. Ibid., pp. 283–4.

  19. AN 1127, fo. 29, repeated 3 September; BN Mss Français 7608, fo. 302; see also Colbert VI, p. 414, Rav. VI, p. 306.

  20. BN Mss Français 7608, fo. 301.

  21. Rav. VI, pp. 281–2.

  22. Ibid., p. 433.

  23. PRO SP 78/140, fo. 146; Rav. VI, p. 288.

  24. Ibid., p. 287.

  25. BN Mss Français 7608, fos. 295–6.

  26. Colbert VI, p. 409; Rav. VI, p. 299; BN Mss Français 7608, fos. 297, 304.

  27. Ibid.

  28. Rav. VI, p. 305.

  29. BN Mss Clairambault 986, fo. 315.

  30. Colbert VI, p. 415; Rav. VI, p. 303.

  31. Ibid., p. 424; Colbert VI, p. 420.

  32. Rav. VI, pp. 304, 37, 140. 194–5.

  33. Ibid., V, p. 330.

  34. Ibid., pp. 271, 448–9; ibid., VI, pp. 30, 167–76.

  35. Ibid., V, pp. 265–6.

  36. Sourches I, p. 214n; see also Ormesson II, pp. 529–30.

  37. Lough, France Observed, p. 147; Grandet I, pp. 498–500.

  38. Rav. V, p. 485.

  39. Ibid., VI, p. 319.

  40. Ibid., p. 179.

  41. Ibid., pp. 194–8.

  42. Ibid., pp. 234–7.

  43. Colbert VI, p. 417.

  44. Rav. VI, pp. 241–5.

  45. Ibid., pp. 321, 265, 198, 425–6.

  46. Ibid., pp. 263–8.

  47. Colbert VI, p. 419.

  48. Rav. VI, pp. 288–91.

  49. Ibid., pp. 294–8.

  50. Ibid., p. 262.

  51. Ibid., p. 276.

  52. Ibid., pp. 306, 319.

  53. Ibid., pp. 319–22.

  54. Ibid., p. 321.

  55. Ibid., pp. 312–13; Colbert VI, p. 412.

  56. Ibid., p. 413.

  57. Ibid., p. 410; BN Mss Français 7608, fo. 299.

  58. Colbert VI, p. 410.

  59. Rav. VI, p. 315.

  60. BN Mss Français 7608, fos. 278–9; BN Mss Clairambault 986, fo. 331.

  61. Rav. VI, pp. 326–7.

  62. Colbert VI, p. 411.

  63. Rav. VI, pp. 368–9.

  64. BN Mss Français 7608, fos. 284–5.

  65. Rav. VI, pp. 183, 369.

  9: The Chamber is Suspended

  1. Rav. VI, pp. 330–1.

  2. Ibid., pp. 327–9.

  3. Ibid., p. 334.

  4. Ibid., pp. 335–6.

  5. Ibid., p. 335.

  6. Ibid., pp. 420–1.

  7. Ibid., p. 337.

  8. Ibid., p. 429.

  9. Ibid., p. 456.

  10. Ibid., pp. 337–40.

  11. BN Mss Français 7608, fo. 237.

  12. Rav. VI, pp. 372–4.

  13. Ibid., p. 436.

  14. Ibid.

  15. Ibid., p. 381.

  16. Brunet I, p. 443; Primi Visconti, p. 304; see Maintenon, Lettres II, pp. 292–3.

  17. Rav. VI, pp. 421, 393.

  18. Ibid., pp. 393–4.

  19. Ibid., p. 395.

  20. Ibid., p. 393.

  21. Ibid., pp. 349–52.

  22. Ibid., pp. 375–6.

  23. Ibid., p. 376.

  24. Colbert VI, pp. 419–20.

  25. Ibid.

  26. Rav. VI, p. 384.

  27. Ibid., pp. 395–6.

  28. Ibid., pp. 419–36.

  29. See Fouquier, Causes Célèbres IV, Les Assassins de Henri IV: Ravaillac.

  30. Rav. VI, pp. 426–7.

  31. Ibid., pp. 428–9.

  32. Ibid., p. 421.

  33. Ibid., p. 434.

  34. Ibid., pp. 398–9.

  35. Ibid., p. 402.

  36. Ibid.

  37. Bussy V, pp. 211, 176–7.

  38. Decker, p. 177.

  39. Montpensier IV, pp. 424, 439; Bussy V, p. 229.

  40. Rav. VI, p. 346.

  41. Ibid., pp. 419, 459.

  42. Primi Visconti, p. 278.

  43. Colbert VI, pp. 67–8, 422–3.

  44. Clement, Mme de Montespan, p. 233; Rousset, part one, II, pp. 437–64; Primi Visconti, p. 213; Bussy IV, p. 386.

  45. Primi Visconti, p. 210; Montpensier IV, p. 515.

  46. Colbert VI, p. 415; for Colbert’s memo, see Colbert VI, pp. 414–22; for Duplessis’s memo see Colbert VI, pp. 407–14.

  47. Colbert VI, pp. 67, 423.

  48. See e.g. Rav VI, pp. 356, 191, 254–5, 311.

  49. Ibid., p. 384.

  50. Colbert VI, p. 418.

  51. Ibid., pp. 417–18.

  52. Choisy I, pp. 90–1.

  53. Colbert VI, pp. 423, 68.

  54. Ibid., p. 424.

  55. Rav. VI, p. 347.

  56. Ibid., p. 458.

  57. Ibid., pp. 454–9; also BN Mss Français 7608, fo. 364.

  10: The End of the Affair

  1. PRO SP 78/143, fos. 82v–83v.

  2. Clement, Mme de Montespan, pp. 402–4.

  3. Rav. VI, pp. 486–7; Laulan, p. 840; Petitfils, Mme de Montespan, p. 217; Laulan, p. 840.

  4. Primi Visconti, p. 210; Bussy V, p. 259.

  5. Brunet I, p. 199; Caylus, p. 32; Spanheim, p. 82.

  6. Rav. VI, p. 496.

  7. Ibid., V, p. 469; Colbert VI, p. 429.

  8. BN Mss Français 7608, fos. 392–3.

  9. Rav. VI, pp. 462, 481.

  10. Ibid., p. 246; ibid., VII, p. 64.

  11. Ibid.; ibid., VI, pp. 465–7, 460–1.

  12. BN Mss Clairambault 986, fos. 457, 461; Rav. VII, pp. 80, 238–9, 168.

  13. Ibid., pp. 64–70.

  14. BN Mss Clairambault 986, fos. 262, 267; Rav. VI, p. 496; AN 1127, fos. 147, 149.

  15. Rav. VI, pp. 413, 403.

  16. Ibid., pp. 406, 482.

  17. Ibid., pp. 467–9, 485.

  18. Ibid., pp. 471–9.

  19. Ibid., p. 495.

  20. SS (Truc) II, p. 294; Sourches I, p. 88.

  21. Rav. VII, p. 17.

  22. Ibid., pp. 17–18.

  23. Ibid., p. 83.

  24. Ibid., pp. 51–4, 62.

  25. Ibid., pp. 44–5.

  26. Ibid., p. 12.

  27. BN Mss Clairambault 986, fo. 179; Rav VII, pp. 23–7.

  28. Ibid., pp. 28–9.

  29. Ibid., p. 32.

  30. Ibid., pp. 34�
�41.

  31. Ibid., p. 80.

  32. Ibid., pp. 83–8.

  33. Ibid., p. 88.

  34. Ibid., p. 92; Sourches I, p. 88.

  35. Rav. VII, pp. 20, 7–8, 34.

  36. Sourches I, p. 88.

  37. SS (Truc) II, p. 294.

  38. Rav. VII, pp. 98–100.

  39. Ibid., pp. 102, 105.

  40. Ibid., pp. 109–10.

  41. Ibid., pp. 106–8.

  42. Sourches I, p. 125.

  43. BN Mss Français 7608, fos. 392–4, 376.

  44. Rav. VII, pp. 113, 116.

  45. Ibid., p. 388.

  46. BN Mss Clairambault 986, fo. 257; Rav. VII, pp. 7–8.

  47. Ibid., p. 134; Lemoine, Les des Oeillets, p. 42; Petrtfils, L’Affaire des Poisons, p. 177.

  48. Rav. VI, p. 436.

  49. Lemoine, op. cit., pp. 42–3.

  50. Rav. VII, pp. 111, 96, 149.

  51. BN Mss Clairambault 1192, fo. 22; Rav. VI, p. 389; AN 1127, fo. 107.

  52. Rav. VII, pp. 150, 164, 169.

  53. AN 1127, fo. 31; Rav. VII, p. 126.

  54. See Rav. VI, pp. 465, 470.

  55. BN Mss Français 7608, fo. 384; Rav. VII, p. 97.

  56. BN Mss Français 7608, fo. 378.

  57. Rav. VII, pp. 112, 115, 115–16.

  58. BN Mss Français 7608, fos. 402–9; Rav VII, pp. 118–19.

  59. Ibid., pp. 112–13.

  60. Ibid., pp. 122, 120, 186.

  61. Ibid., pp. 136, 116, 149.

  62. Ibid., p. 119.

  63. Ibid., pp. 122–3.

  64. Ibid., p. 124.

  65. Ibid., p. 127.

  66. Ibid., p. 138.

  67. Ibid., pp. 128, 131, 136, 149.

  68. Ibid., p. 187.

  11: Conclusion

  1. Clement, Mme de Montespan, p. 413; Rav. VI, p. 457.

  2. Maintenon, Lettres II, p. 389.

  3. Spanheim, p. 87; Maintenon, Lettres II, p. 395.

  4. Clement, Mme de Montespan, pp. 264–5.

  5. Dangeau I, p. 88; Spanheim, p. 80; Choisy I, p. 208.

  6. Maintenon, Lettres II, pp. 401, 380.

  7. Forster, pp. 40–41; Montpensier IV, pp. 498–9; Caylus, p. 141.

  8. Cordelier, p. 146.

  9. Spanheim, p. 88; Lavallée II, p. 486; Maintenon, Lettres V, p. 377.

  10. Dangeau I, p. 265; Maintenon, Lettres III, p. 102; Scott-Stevenson II, p. 19.

  11. Spanheim, p. 87; Caylus, p. 176.

  12. Dangeau I, p. 77; Sourches I, pp. 385–7.

  13. Ibid.; Dangeau I, pp. 337–40.

  14. Sourches II, p. 91; Dangeau III, p. 276.

  15. Sourches III, pp. 365–6.

  16. Dangeau III, p. 325.

  17. Ibid., p. 483; Caylus, p. 176.

  18. Clement, Mme de Montespan, pp. 331, 286; Sév. X, p. 384.

  19. Dangeau XI, p. 284; SS (Norton) I, p. 321.

  20. SS (Truc) II, pp. 862–4; Clement, Mme de Montespan, p. 348.

  21. Ibid., pp. 344–5.

  22. SS (Truc) II, p. 863; Clement, Mme de Montespan, pp. 226–7.

  23. SS (Truc) II, p. 866.