Chasing poison in the air

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen

By

THE AFFAIR OF THE POISONS: MURDER, INFANTICIDE, AND SATANISM AT THE COURT OF LOUIS XIV

By Anne Somerset

St. Martin's, $27.95, 377 pages

During the reign of Louis XIV, scores of upstanding citizens of France -- and many not-so-upstanding ones

-- were overtaken by the fear of being poisoned. Spouses eyed spouses with suspicion, rivals in love or politics watched their goblets and plates for bitter tastes, unfamiliar powders. It was an episode in French history that became known as The Affair of the Poisons, a tense period beginning in 1679 that was marked by hysteria, unreason and grisly acts of violence made worse -- or so it would seem in hindsight -- by a zealous and no less violent police commission (Chambre Ardente) installed to protect the king.

In "The Affair of the Poisons: Murder, Infanticide, and Satanism at the Court of Louis XIV," British writer Anne Somerset diligently explores how the thick atmosphere of rumor and apprehension engulfed the upper echelons of French society, including Madame de Montespan. Louis' mistress and Francois-Henri, Marechal Duc de Luxembourg, one of the kings top generals, each of whom were found innocent of any crime. The author also offers new insights into the personality of the Sun King and the courtiers who inhabited -- and in some cases defiled -- the gracious halls of Versailles.

This is an absorbing book, filled with incidents that show the author's understanding of court politics within a historical context. (She is the author of the acclaimed biography "Elizabeth I"). Here, using original sources, letters and earlier accounts of the period, she clarifies and puts into perspective the mad goings-on of that distant time in France, beginning with the horrendous crime and punishment that set the paranoia and hysteria in motion -- the very public torture and execution of the Marquise de Brinvilliers who was convicted of poisoning her father and brothers in order to secure the family fortune.

The depiction of how the marquise was handled offers a startling view of the customs of the times and starts the book off on an extraordinarily sensational (sadistic?) note. Reading the early pages about how the marquise was stripped, horizontally stretched and forced to drink 20 gallons of water before being led to the gallows where she was beheaded and then burned is tough going, and one wonders if the author will sustain this level of prurience over 300 pages.

Fortunately she does not. Apart from these opening scenes the book reads like a vivid history of a chaotic time and the author raises a number of compelling questions about that period of French history and Louis XIV's role in it. Louis was particuarly concerned that the marquise be brought to justice. He was not disappointed.