Daughter of Catherine Deshayes, known as “La Voisin,” a poisoner and fortune-teller at the heart of the Affair of the Poisons under Louis XIV. Arrested after her mother's execution, she continued the revelations before the Chambre Ardente, implicating figures of the court.
Marie-Marguerite Deshayes
Marie-Marguerite Deshayes
6 min read
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Daughter of Catherine Monvoisin (“La Voisin”), a central figure in the Affair of the Poisons
- Her mother was burned alive on the Place de Grève on 22 February 1680
- Arrested after her mother's execution, she gave new revelations to the Chambre Ardente
- Her depositions fueled suspicions directed at people close to the king, including Madame de Montespan
- Case investigated by the Chambre Ardente, created in 1679 and dissolved in 1682
Works & Achievements
Detailed testimony given after her mother's execution, forming a major source for understanding the poison network.
Accusations targeting the king's favorite (black masses, poisoning attempts), which prompted Louis XIV to suspend the court.
Accounts of the sacrilegious rituals that fueled the investigation and the arrest of several priests and accomplices.
Explanations of how poisons and brews were made and sold, revealing the practices of the family household.
Identification of the great ladies and figures who came to consult La Voisin, broadening the inquiry into aristocratic circles.
Anecdotes
On 22 February 1680, her mother La Voisin was burned alive on the Place de Grève. The Marquise de Sévigné recounts in a letter that she cursed, pushed away the straw of the pyre, and died “impiously.” Marguerite, already imprisoned, then became the chief heir to her mother's secrets.
Before the Chambre Ardente, Marguerite recounted that black masses had allegedly been celebrated by the abbé Guibourg on the bare belly of a great lady to win the king's favor. Her testimony directly implicated Madame de Montespan, the favorite of Louis XIV, which terrified the court.
Marguerite described the trade in “inheritance powders” that her mother sold: poisons disguised as remedies or love potions, bought by ladies eager to inherit or to rid themselves of a husband. These revelations exposed an entire Parisian network of fortune-tellers and poisoners.
Because of her accusations against the royal favorite, Louis XIV himself suspended the hearings of the Chambre Ardente in the autumn of 1680. The king preferred to smother the scandal rather than allow those close to the throne to be tried publicly.
Many of those accused in the affair, including the holders of the most dangerous secrets, were never tried: they were locked away for life in fortresses by lettres de cachet, sometimes in chains, so that they could no longer speak. In 1709, the aged Louis XIV had the bundles of the case file burned to erase the compromised names.
Primary Sources
So this is the death of La Voisin, famous for her crimes and her impiety. […] she swore a great deal and pushed away the straw five or six times, and at last the fire took her.
Interrogations and depositions of the Monvoisin girl, in which she reports the names of the people who came to buy powders and seek conjurations at her mother's house.
A collection of documents from the Affair of the Poisons in which the magistrate records the confessions concerning the sacrifices, the masses, and the poisons prepared in the house on the rue Beauregard.
An ordinance of Louis XIV regulating the sale of poisonous substances by apothecaries and forbidding diviners and magicians from practising their false science.
Key Places
La Voisin's home in the Paris faubourg, where divination consultations, powder sales, and rituals took place. Marguerite grew up here, at the heart of the network of poisoners.
The square for public executions in front of the Hôtel de Ville, where La Voisin was burned alive on 22 February 1680. The execution marked the turning point of the affair for Marguerite.
Seat of the special tribunal created by Louis XIV to try the Affair of the Poisons. Marguerite was interrogated here and gave her testimony before La Reynie.
A royal fortress used as a prison for those accused in the Affair of the Poisons. Many keepers of secrets were locked up here without trial by lettre de cachet.
Residence of the court of Louis XIV and of the royal favorite Madame de Montespan, whose name was uttered in Marguerite's testimony. The scandal threatened the very heart of power.
Typical Objects
An arsenic-based poison sold under the guise of a remedy or potion, used to hasten an inheritance or eliminate a relative. Its discreet preparation made the fortunes of the Parisian fortune-tellers.
A small flask containing a brew meant to inspire love or favour, sometimes laced with dangerous substances. La Voisin's clients bought it to seduce or hold on to a protector.
A handwritten collection of formulas, twisted prayers and magical recipes used for casting spells. It served as a reference for the fortune-tellers who promised to read the future or cast spells.
Liturgical objects perverted from their use (black candles, chalice, altar cloth) employed in the sacrilegious rites described in the depositions. They symbolise the blend of superstition, crime and religious profanation at the heart of the affair.
A petition sheet addressed to the sovereign which, according to the confessions, was allegedly poisoned in an attempt to reach the king through contact. The placet is an ordinary object of court life turned into a weapon.
Instruments of cartomancy and clairvoyance through which the fortune-tellers claimed to read their clients' future. They drew court ladies and bourgeois women alike into La Voisin's workshop.
School Curriculum
Vocabulary & Tags
Key Vocabulary
Daily Life
Morning
Before the arrests, mornings in the house on Rue Beauregard were spent preparing her mother's workshop: tidying up vials, powders and cards, and welcoming the first clients who came to have their future foretold. After her imprisonment, her days began in a cell, paced by the jailer's roll calls.
Afternoon
In the afternoon, during her business years, she received court ladies and townswomen for divination consultations or the discreet sale of remedies. Once detained, Marguerite was brought before the judges of the Chambre ardente for long interrogations recorded in writing.
Evening
In the evening, the family home would sometimes come alive with visitors who came for more secretive matters, away from prying eyes. In prison, the evening was made of waiting, prayer and dread over the fate awaiting those accused in the affair.
Food
In the working-class Paris of the Grand Siècle, everyday fare relied on bread, soup, vegetables and a little meat on good days, washed down with water-diluted wine. In prison, the food was scantier and depended on the goodwill and means of the prisoner.
Clothing
She wore the dress of Parisian common women: long skirts, a laced bodice, an apron and a linen cap. The family, grown wealthy from its shady trade, could afford fabrics of better quality than its neighbours.
Housing
The house on Rue Beauregard was a suburban dwelling with a workshop, a consulting room and, according to the confessions, a hidden chamber for secret practices. The prison of the keep at Vincennes or the Bastille, by contrast, offered thick walls, damp and isolation.
Historical Timeline
Period Vocabulary
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
Dépositions devant la Chambre ardente
1680-1681
Mise en cause de Madame de Montespan
1680
Révélations sur l'abbé Guibourg et les messes noires
1680
Description du commerce des poudres et philtres
1680-1681
Témoignage sur la clientèle de cour
1681
