Isabella Mueller (crime writer)
As the “Witch of the Super-Rich,” Catherine Monvoisin—also known as “La Voisin”—made her mark on 17th-century French criminal history. She exploited the intrigues and desires that prevailed at the court of the Sun King, Louis XIV, in Paris. This allowed Catherine to rise into France’s highest social circles, though even they could not prevent her from being branded a witch and ending up at the stake. Catherine lived on the outskirts of Paris. She was married to the extremely unsuccessful jeweler Antoine Monvoisin, whom she allegedly had killed later on. To keep herself and her 16-year-old daughter from going hungry, Catherine tried her hand at midwifery. She soon realized she could earn much more money performing illegal abortions, which is why she began working as an “angel-maker”—the colloquial term for women who performed abortions. Since these were banned, Catherine soon turned to the lucrative field of fortune-telling. She not only predicted people’s futures but also sold them aphrodisiacs and poison. This allowed her clients not only to bind loved ones to themselves but also to eliminate those they disliked. She concocted her love potion from frog bones, mole teeth, and human blood—a potion that even Madame Montespan, the longtime mistress of King Louis XIV, swore by. Catherine also held black masses during which the blood of newborns flowed in streams. She and her high-ranking noble clients worshipped the devil. Catherine always wore a purple velvet robe adorned with two gold-embroidered eagles. Everything went perfectly until 1679, when further rumors of poisonings surfaced during the trial of the poisoner Marquise de Brinvillers. To get to the bottom of this, Louis XIV established a special commission headed by the ruthless Paris police commissioner, Nicolas de la Reynie. His favorite method was “la chambre ardente,” which means “the burning chamber” in English. The name derived from the fact that suspects were interrogated in a room draped in black and lit by candles, which not only illuminated the room but also thoroughly heated up those being questioned. During one such interrogation, two fortune-tellers accused Catherine of being their accomplice. She had performed abortions with them and concocted poisons and potions. Furthermore, Catherine had held occult masses in honor of the Hebrew demons Astaroth and Asmodaeus with Étienne Abbé Guiborg, a Catholic priest, in a chapel in her garden; these masses were attended exclusively by the high nobility. Following these grave accusations, Catherine was also interrogated in the “scorching chamber.” Despite torture, Catherine vehemently denied being a witch. She maintained her innocence until the very end. But this did not help Catherine. For on December 27, 1679, Louis XIV decreed that Catherine and the other accused must die by burning at the stake. On February 22, 1680, Catherine was brought to the Place de Créve along with other condemned prisoners. Catherine, who refused to recant, had to be literally dragged to the square, where she was led to the pyre. There, she was bound with iron chains before being covered with straw. Then the straw was set alight. Catherine burned fiercely until only ashes remained of her and the other condemned prisoners. Since Catherine’s death, her life has provided the subject matter for numerous films and books to this day.
