Marie-Madeleine-Marguerite d'Aubray, Marquise de Brinvilliers
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Marie-Madeleine-Marguerite d'Aubray, Marquise de Brinvilliers (1630 – 1676) was a French poisoner.
Madame de Brinvilliers was notorious for her gallantries and for poisoning her father, brother, and two sisters in order to inherit their property, with the help of her lover army captain Godin de Sainte-Croix. There were also rumours that she had poisoned poor people during her visits to hospitals.
She fled but was arrested in Liège. She was forced to confess, sentenced to death and in July 17, 1676, was put to the "extraordinary question" (forced to drink sixteen pints of water—perhaps about 9 litres), then was beheaded and burned at a stake.
The poison she used appears to have been the Tofana poison, an art which one of her paramours taught her. She or at least Godin de Sainte-Croix were acquainted with Exili, another poisoner of the 17th century.
The trial of the Marquise de Brinvilliers led to the Poison affair.
Her case was reported in fiction by Arthur Conan Doyle in "The Leather Funnel" and by Alexandre Dumas, père in "The Marquise de Brinvilliers".
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
