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SPEAKER_01: Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica. This month we're talking about folk heroes, women whose lives and stories took on mythic proportions. Today we're talking about a French fortune teller, midwife, and professional poisoner who found herself at the center of a witch hunt when her attempt to poison King Louis XIV went awry. Let's talk about Katerine Lavoisin-Monvazon. Katerine was born in France sometime around 1640. Very little is known about her early life other than the fact that Katerine began practicing witchcraft at the age of nine. When she was 20, she married a merchant named Antoine Monvazon. His business was far from successful, so Katerine worked as well. She was a skilled palm reader, midwife, and herbalist who provided fortunes and tinctures to ailing housewives. Aches and pains weren't the only thing Katerine's potions helped with. She also provided her clients with poison and abortive fashions. At the time, it was illegal for women to have affairs, divorce was not an option, and reproductive rights weren't exactly on the table. So to liberate themselves from marriages or unwanted pregnancies, some women turned to poison. Katerine became so well known that noble women called her Lavoisin, a play on her last name which meant the neighbor. One of King Louis XIV's mistresses, Madame de Montespa, personally sought out Lavoisin to purchase a love potion. She didn't want the king fawning over his other mistresses. Madame de Montespa was so pleased with the result that she became a loyal customer of Katerine's. Eventually, King Louis' eyes began to stray, and Madame de Montespa abandoned more of Katerine. It's believed that Katerine performed black mass rituals for the mistress, rituals that involve satanic invocations and infanticide. She may have also provided Madame de Montespa poisons intended for a rival mistress or potentially the king himself. Katerine wasn't the only one poisoning France's courts. Around 1675, the French nobility began to notice that many members were dying unexpectedly. French authorities began investigating the witchcraft in what's known as the Affair of the Poisons. Between 1677 and 1682, almost 200 women were arrested and 36 were executed. The investigation claimed nearly three times as many lives as the Salem witch trials in America. In 1679, one of Katerine's associates, another famed fortune teller and poisoner, Marie Bosse, was arrested. In her confession, she revealed a network of fortune tellers who sold poison and named Katerine as the central figure. Katerine was arrested shortly thereafter. She was interrogated over several days. When asked about the poisonings, she said, "'Paris is full of this kind of thing, "'and there is an infinite number of people "'engaged in this evil trade.'" Katerine Le Boisson stood trial and was burned at the stake on February 22nd, 1680. It wasn't until after her death that the true extent of her crimes was revealed. Katerine's daughter, Marie Marguerite, revealed her mother's connection to Madame de Montespa and confessed that her mother had been involved in a plot to poison King Louis XIV, but had failed to get close to him. Katerine's arrest had taken place just days after the attempt on the king. All month, we're talking about folk heroes. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow.
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SPEAKER_03: In 1995, Detective Tony Richardson was trying to figure out who killed a fellow officer. The case comes down to who is believed and who is ignored. Oh my goodness, we did convict an innocent man. I'm Beth Shelburne from Lava for Good podcasts. This is Ear Witness. Listen to Ear Witness on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
