by Holly Tucker
As for Marie-Marguerite’s father, it is both interesting and odd that La Reynie never interrogated Antoine, given the information that the man could have provided the police chief about the activities that took place. For as much as every moment of La Reynie’s waking hours focused on rooting out the poisonous plots, this surprising show of restraint demonstrates that the rule of law tempered—in this moment, at least—his otherwise vigilant enthusiasm. In all of the interrogations he conducted, no one suggested that Voisin’s husband was a willing participant in his wife’s dark business. In the end, however, Antoine may actually have known too much. It is interesting to speculate that his death two months after his wife’s arrest was not due to natural circumstances.
It also seems more than a coincidence that the worst of the accusations were made after Louvois’s visit to Lesage in his prison cell and that, from this point forward, the stories of Lesage, Guibourg, Filastre, and Marie-Marguerite all align in remarkably similar ways. Nor does it seem just a coincidence that, around this time, Louvois and La Reynie began having great difficulties maintaining order in the prison.
To both La Reynie and Louvois’s frustration, the warden Ferronnaye had done an abysmal job keeping the prisoners from communicating among themselves and with the outside world. The minister of war even heard complaints of Ferronnaye’s children running unsupervised around the prison and spending time with the prisoners in their cells. “You must send your children back to school, or wherever you want, as long as they are out of Vincennes,” Louvois ordered Ferronnaye. To ensure that the warden followed the orders, Louvois moved his own guards into the prison and demanded that Ferronnaye surrender the keys to the cells to them. With his own guards in place at the prison, Louvois could have communicated surreptitiously with the prisoners. Moreoever, these ex parte communications could very well have taken place without La Reynie’s knowledge.
So much has been written about Louis XIV. Yet one question remains: Why would a monarch as unyielding in his personal and political life decide not to punish his mistresses for participating in the dark arts? To my mind the Affair of the Poisons demonstrates the extent to which the women in his life mattered to him, as well as the inconsistencies evident throughout his reign. If the king had truly considered Athénaïs guilty of the worst of the crimes, it is difficult to believe he would have let her remain at court for another ten years. For this reason I feel confident that the king’s decision to end the affair for good following Colbert’s refutation of the evidence against Montespan offers us as clear an explanation as we are going to find in regard to Louis’s thoughts on the matter: The king simply chose to believe she was not guilty.
Both principled hero and cruel enforcer, La Reynie was undoubtedly extremely loyal to his king. He tried to impose order on a world of desperate passion and greedy access to power, making difficult choices along the way. Far from perfect, he was a singular man of his time. Even after living with the police chief for so many years, I still find him fascinating. I hope my readers do too.
Illustrations
Louis XIV, king of France (1638–1715). Charles Le Brun.
(Château de Versailles, France/Bridgeman Images)
Nicolas de La Reynie (1625–1709), first lieutenant general of Paris, appointed by Louis XIV in 1667. Nicolas Mignard, 1665. (De Agostini Picture Library/Bridgeman Images)
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683), minister of finance under Louis XIV. Claude Lefebvre. (Château de Versailles, France/De Agostini Picture Library/G. Dagli Orti/Bridgeman Images)
François-Michel Le Tellier, marquis de Louvois (1641–1691), minister of war under Louis XIV. Pierre Mignard. (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rheims/De Agostini Picture Library/Bridgeman Images)
Marie-Thérèse (1638–1683), queen of France. Attributed to Charles Beaubrun, after 1660. (Château de Versailles, France/Bridgeman Images)
Henrietta Anne, duchess of Orléans (1644–1670), holding portrait of husband, Philippe (1640–1701), duke of Orléans and Louis XIV’s brother. Jean-Charles Nocret II (1670). (Dunham Massey, Cheshire, UK/National Trust Photographic Library/Bridgeman Images)
Louise de La Vallière (1644–1670), Louis XIV’s mistress from 1661 to 1667.
Jean Nocret. (Château de Versailles, France/Bridgeman Images)
Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart (1640–1707), marquise of Montespan, Louis XIV’s mistress beginning in 1667. Louis Ferdinand Elle. (Château de Versailles, France/Flammarion/Bridgeman Images)
Claude de Vin des Oeillets (1637–1687), attendant to the marquise of Montespan and sometimes mistress to Louis XIV until retiring from court in 1678. Pierre Mignard.
Marie Angelique d’Escorailles de Rousille, duchess of Fontanges (1661–1681), Louis XIV’s mistress from 1678 to her death at twenty in 1681. Nicolas de l’Armessin. (Tallandier/Bridgeman Images)
Françoise d’Aubigné, marquise of Maintenon (1635–1719), Louis XIV’s second wife after a secret marriage in 1683 or 1684. French School, seventeenth century. (Private Collection/Bridgeman Images)
Olympe Mancini, countess of Soissons (1639–1708), fled Paris after being accused of poisoning her husband. French School, seventeenth century. (Musée de la Ville de Paris, Musée du Petit-Palais, France/Bridgeman Images)
Marie-Anne Mancini, duchess of Bouillon (1646–1714), appeared under protest at the Arsenal tribunal. Pierre Mignard. (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Agen, France/Bridgeman Images)
François-Henri de Montmorency, duke of Luxembourg (1628–1695), rival of Louvois, accused of communicating with the devil with the help of the sorcerer Lesage. (Bibliotèque Nationale de France)
Entry of Louis XIV and Marie-Thérèse to Arras, July 30, 1667, accompanied by the king’s brother Philippe, Henrietta Anne, Louise de La Vallière, and Athénaïs de Montespan. Adam Frans van der Meulen. (Château de Versailles, France/Bridgeman Images)
Château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Louis XIV’s birthplace and main palace until 1682. Perelle, France, seventeenth century.
(Bibliothèque des Arts Décoratifs, France/De Agostini Picture Library/Bridgeman Images)
Construction of Versailles, which began in 1681 and continued well after the court officially moved to the palace in 1682. Adam Frans van der Meulen (ca. 1680).
(Royal Collection Trust, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2016/Bridgeman Images)
Château of Vincennes, where La Reynie questioned hundreds of prisoners accused of poison, witchcraft, and abortion. (De Agostini Pictures/Gabrielle/Bridgeman Images)
Catherine Monvoisin, La Voisin (ca. 1640–1680). French School, seventeenth century. (Bibliothèque Nationale, France/Bridgeman Images)
Strappado. Jean Milles de Souvigny, Praxis criminis persequendi (1541). (Hathitrust)
Question d’eau (water torture). Jean Milles de Souvigny, Praxis criminis persequendi (1541). (Hathitrust)
Brodequins. Jean Milles de Souvigny, Praxis criminis persequendi (1541). (Hathitrust)
Interrogation records, signed by La Reynie and Coeuret (Lesage).
(Bibliothèque Nationale de France)
La Reynie struggles to compose his summary of the Affair of the Poisons for Louvois and the king. (Bibliothèque Nationale de France)
Acknowledgments
This book could not have been written without the support and generosity of colleagues, friends, and family both in the US and abroad. I benefitted from the expertise of librarians at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal in Paris, the special collections of the Bibliothèque Méjanes in Aix-en-Provence, the Wellcome Library and British Library in London, the Huntington Library in San Marino, the Newberry Library in Chicago, and of course, our own Jean and Alexander Heard and Eskind Biomedical Libraries at Vanderbilt University. I am forever grateful to my daughter Audrey Hamilton for her understanding and encouragement during my many research trips away from home, as well as to Jon Hamilton for offering a loving hand during my absences. There is not a day that I look at my daughter, a talented ar
tist in her own right, without awe and admiration.
I would like to thank the entire team at W. W. Norton for all of their hard work on this book. Angela von der Lippe saw the story’s potential from the beginning. When Angela retired, Amy Cherry made her enthusiasm for this book and my work in general clear from the beginning and has been a steadfast partner throughout. Few editors have such an uncanny ability to know how to encourage without indulging and when to push without discouraging. I have become a better writer for it. Thank you, Amy.
Remy Cawley worked patiently with me as we navigated copyedits, page proofs, and permissions across time zones. I also have Sue Llewellyn to thank for her excellent copyediting work on this book, as well as on the last. Nancy Palmquist and Susan Sanfrey heroically made sure all the necessary corrections and edits found their way into the finished pages, and Beth Steidle and Anna Oler guided the bound galleys and final books, respectively, through production. And mille mercis go out to Erin Sinesky Lovett, Louise Brockett, Meredith McGinnis, Steve Colca, Golda Radmacher, Yurina Ko, and the whole macaron-loving marketing and publicity team at W. W. Norton for helping get this book into readers’ hands.
At Sanford J. Greenburger, there are also not enough ways to thank Faith Hamlin for her clear-eyed wisdom in all things publishing (and life) and also Ed Maxwell for all of his help.
Vanderbilt University provided much-appreciated resources in the form of a sabbatical and travel funding. From my earliest days at the university, Chancellor Nick Zeppos’s enthusiastic support of my work has also helped keep me going. I thank as well my colleagues in the Department of French & Italian, the Center for Biomedical Ethics & Society, and the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities. I am especially grateful to Joel Harrington and Dan Sharfstein for sharing their own writing journeys with me, as well as to Mona Frederick and the Warren Center Fellows Program on Public Scholarship in the Humanities (Marshall Eakin, Aimi Hamraie, Joel Harrington, Ifeoma Nwankwo, Laura Stein Pardo, Lynn Ramey, Dan Sharfstein, and Paul Stob). I am similarly fortunate to have been able to work with and learn from several fantastic undergraduate and graduate research assistants (Elizabeth D’Angelo, April Stevens, Jake Abell, Abby Broughton, Roxane Pajoul, Lindsey Kelt, and Raquelle Bostow).
Heartfelt gratitude goes out to Meredith Hindley, whose generosity and good sense mark every page of this book. The week we spent writing together on the Street at the End of the World (now the rue Léopold Bellan) and following Voisin’s footsteps through Paris will forever remain precious to me. My friend and colleague Lynn Ramey has also contributed so much to my writing, career, and sanity over these many years. Sincere thanks also to Karen Abbott, Vanessa Beasley, Christine Jones, Eric Larsen, Cheryl Kreuger, Pamela Toler, Margaret Littman, Chris Gunter, Kayt Sukel, Helen Glew, Hannah Lewis-Bill, Erin Blakemore, Holly Dugan, Cindy Horton Doran, Jennifer Howard, Rebecca Noel, Robin Flincham, Laura Laing, and Anne Boyd-Rioux—as well as the posse of wickedly smart and raucously boisterous science writers who adopted this history writer into their fold: Simon Frantz, Alok Jha, Maryn McKenna, David Dobbs, Jennifer Ouellette, Ed Yong, and Deborah Blum.
My apologies, and great thanks, go out to friends and colleagues who suffered through early versions of the manuscript: Steve Wylie, Joel Harrington, Meredith Hindley, Vanessa Beasley, Lynn Ramey, Faith Beasley, Joyce Wiggington, and my mother, Carolyn Tucker. Thanks again, Mom, for sending the lucky bamboo plant with the note from “Nick” telling me to get busy and finish his story. And Dad, you mean the world to me too. I feel indeed lucky to have both of you on my side.
Through it all, I’ve been supported and loved by dear friends both in Nashville and Aix-en-Provence: Martine Giumelli-Solet, Sandrine Philippon, Mike Rodgers, Harold Solet, Magali and Jean-Christophe Stratigéas, Colette and Gilbert Gailliègue, Todd Peterson, Roberta Bell, Lauren Schmitzer, Larry Taylor, Hunter Kay, and Karen Brown. You are more than friends, you are family. Je vous aime tous.
Finally, to Steve Wylie, my Southern Gentleman: you had me at waffles. There are no words to describe all that you, Audrey, Emma, and the whole Tucker-Wylie family mean to me. What a beautiful adventure this is.
Affair of the Poisons:
A Chronology
1665
August 24: Murder of Jacques Tardieu, criminal lieutenant of Paris.
1666
September 7: Death of Dreux d’Aubray, civil lieutenant of Paris.
1667
March 20: Nicolas de La Reynie appointed lieutenant general of Police.
June: Louis XIV visits the front with his wife, Marie-Thérèse; brother Philippe; sister-in-law. Henrietta Anne; Louise de La Vallière, and Athénaïs de Montespan.
1670
May 20: Nicolas de La Reynie witnesses and certifies production of theriac, an antidote against poison.
June 17: Antoine d’Aubray, civil lieutenant of Paris, dies of poison.
June 29: Henrietta Anne, Louis XIV’s sister-in-law, dies.
September: François d’Aubray dies of poison.
1672
January: Gaudin de Sainte-Croix found dead.
September 4: Jean Hamelin, dit La Chaussée, arrested.
1673
March 3: La Chaussée executed; Marie-Madeleine de Brinvilliers tried in absentia.
1676
March 26: Arrest and trial of Marie-Madeleine de Brinvilliers.
July 17: Marie-Madeleine de Brinvilliers executed.
1677
Mid- to-end January: Madeleine de La Grange arrested.
1678
End September: Anonymous letter found in a church.
Early December: Dinner party hosted by Marie Vigoureux.
1679
January 4: Marie Bosse and Marie Vigoureux arrested.
February 8: Madeleine de La Grange and the Abbé Nail, dit Launay, executed.
March 1: Madame Philbert arrested.
March 12: Catherine Voisin arrested.
March 22: Adam Coeuret, dit Lesage, arrested.
April 7: King creates secret tribunal (Chambre Ardente).
April 9: Marguerite Leféron arrested.
April 11: Françoise de Dreux arrested.
May 9: Marie Vigoureux dies during the Question.
May 10: Marie Bosse executed.
June: Marguerite de Poulaillon tried in Chambre Ardente.
June 17: Anne Chéron executed.
September 16: Dodée commits suicide.
September: Lesage implicates Athénaïs de Montespan.
November 19: La Devineresse (The Fortune-Teller) at the Hôtel Guégénaud Theater.
1680
January 20: Marie-Marguerite Voisin arrested.
February 22: Catherine Voisin executed.
March 28: Marie-Marguerite Voisin implicates Claude de Vin des Oeillets.
June 23: Etienne Guibourg arrested.
August 20: Marie-Marguerite implicates Montespan.
September 30: Chambre Ardente suspended.
November 22: Claude de Vin des Oeillets questioned by Louvois.
1681
May 19: Chambre Ardente reconvenes.
June 28: Angélique de Fontanges dies.
1682
May 1682: King dissolves Chambre Ardente, begins releasing prisoners, requests list of prisoners who are too dangerous to be released.
1709
June 14: La Reynie dies.
June 15: King receives letter from La Reynie.
Mid-July: King burns documents related to the Affair of the Poisons.
Notes
Unless otherwise indicated, La Reynie’s correspondence and interrogations are drawn from the Archives de la Bastille (Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, mss. 10338–10354) and his personal notes (BNF, mss. français 7608). Where there are substantial differences between the manuscript original and Ravaisson’s transcription (Archives de la Bastille, vols. 4–7), I cite both texts. Where there is no reference to Ravaisson, which occurs most often in the case of BNF, mss. français 7608, the text is not i
ncluded among the Archives de la Bastille transcription references.
Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.
xvii
A Note on Currency: For equivalences see A. N. Hamscher, The Royal Financial Administration and the Prosecution of Crime in France, 1670–1789 (Newark: University of Delaware Press, copublished with Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2012), xv; and George S. Cuhaj and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Gold Coins, 6th Ed. (Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 2009), 712. Period prices from Jacques Saint-Germain, La Reynie et la police au grand siècle d’après de nombreux doucuments inédits (Paris: Hachette, 1962), 49, 62, 127–128, 203, 207; and François Ravaisson-Mollien, Archives de la Bastille, Vols. 4–7 (Paris: A. Durand et Pedone-Lauriel, 1870), 5: 165, 217, 225, 241, 468 and 6: 194.
