Catherine Trianon (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Boule, called La Trianon 1627 – 6 May 1681), was a French fortune teller, widely known for her involvement in the famous

Poison Affair Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

. She along with other colleagues were responsible for the attempted assassination of the king

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

in 1679.

Background

Catherine Trianon, was a widow and a professional fortune teller. She was considered to be one of the most important associates of

La Voisin Catherine Monvoisin, or Montvoisin, née ''Deshayes'', known as "La Voisin" (c. 1640 – 22 February 1680), was a French fortune teller, commissioned poisoner, and professional provider of alleged sorcery. She was the head of a network of for ...

, but also a personal friend and confidante. La Trianon managed her business with her partner, La Doddée, who was also her lover in a homosexual relationship. Trianon was described by her colleagues as very well educated. She had a reception room that contained a human skeleton, which was said to be a pious reminder of mortality.

Poison Affair

In 1679,

Madame de Montespan Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

commissioned La Voisin to murder King Louis XIV of France. It was at the home of Trianon that La Voisin conspired with the help of her lovers, Bertrand and

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

. As a friend, Trianon tried to convince La Voisin to abandon the plan, even making up a horoscope to warn her that it would be a mistake, but did not succeed. The group decided that the King should be poisoned by a petition. On 5 March, La Voisin's first attempt at poisoning the King failed; she planned to meet with Trianon on 12 March to plan the next attempt but was arrested before anything conspired. Shortly after Voisons arrest in May, Trianon was arrested. Upon her arrest, authorities found 25 "manuscript volumes on the occult sciences" in her house.''Grimoires: A History of Magic Books''
by Owen Davies (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2010) In August 1680, after the execution of La Voisin in February, the connection between La Voisin, Montespan, and the plan to assassinate the King was revealed by her daughter,

Marguerite Monvoisin Marie Marguerite Mon(t)voisin (born c. 1658, died after 1682) was the daughter of La Voisin and a main witness in the famous Poison Affair. It was her statement, made after the execution of her mother, that implicated the royal mistress Madame de Mo ...

, who on 9 October also confirmed the statements made by Adam Lesage in August of child sacrifice at the black masses. After her statements about Montespan and child sacrifice were confirmed by Francoise Filastre on 1 October and Etienne Guibourg on 10 October, Trianon, who had been personally involved in the attempt, also confirmed the statement. Catherine Trianon committed suicide in

Château de Vincennes The Château de Vincennes () is a former fortress and royal residence next to the town of Vincennes, on the eastern edge of Paris, alongside the Bois de Vincennes. It was largely built between 1361 and 1369, and was a preferred residence, after ...

In fiction

Catherine Trianon is given a fairly large portrayal in a novel by

Judith Merkle Riley Judith Merkle Riley (January 14, 1942 – September 12, 2010) was an American writer, teacher and academic who wrote six historical romance novels. Biography Judith Astria Merkle was born in 1942 and grew up in Livermore, California. Her grea ...

: ''The Oracle Glass'' (1994)

References

''Princes and Poisoners Or Studies of the Court of Louis XIV''
by Frantz Funck-Brentano
''The Affair of the Poisons: Murder, Infanticide, and Satanism at the Court of Louis XIV''
by Anne Somerset (

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

, 2003)
''1679-1682, l'affaire des poisons''
by Arlette Lebigre {{DEFAULTSORT:Trianon, Catherine 1627 births 1681 deaths 1679 crimes 17th-century French women French occultists Poisoners Prisoners and detainees of France French people who died in prison custody 17th-century occultists 17th-century LGBT people 17th-century French businesspeople Affair of the Poisons