Magdelaine Chapelain (1651 – June 1724; also spelled Madeleine Chappelain) was a French

fortune teller Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical w ...

and poisoner. She was a defendant in the famous

Affair of the Poisons An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of i ...

. Chapelain was a very successful fortune teller who had secured a fortune at her work. She had acquired her spouse, a former usher with a position as bureaucrat, and she also owned several buildings. In connection to the Poison Affair, she was implicated because she had formerly employed

Françoise Filastre Françoise Filastre, also known as La Filastre (1645–1680), was a French poisoner and occultist, one of the many involved in '' l'affaire des Poisons''. In her testimony she named the king's mistress, Madame de Montespan as another participant in ...

as a maid. Filastre was arrested upon her return from a trip to

Auvergne (province) The history of the Auvergne dates back to the early Middle Ages, when it was a historic province in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the Counts of Auvergne. History Auvergne was a province of France deriving its name ...

which had been paid for by Chapelin in December 1679. Chapelain was also connected to Louis de Vanens, to whom she had rented a house. Adam Lesage claimed that Chapelain made her fortune by manufacturing poisons and performing black magic in collaboration with a man by the name of Boucher, and Filastre claimed that she had on occasion supplied Chapelain with poison so that she could sell it, that Chapelain had commissioned her to help her form a pact with Satan, and that Chapelain also performed curses and other magical services for her clients. Filastre claimed, that it was Chapelain who had been commissioned by

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'' ( ...

to place an assassin (Filastre) in the household of Angelique de Fontanges. Like many other involved with the Poison Affair, Magdelaine Chapelain never had a trial. She was imprisoned in perpetuity by a

Lettre de cachet ''Lettres de cachet'' (; ) were letters signed by the king of France, countersigned by one of his ministers, and closed with the royal seal. They contained orders directly from the king, often to enforce arbitrary actions and judgments that co ...

at Belle-Île-en-Mer. According to

Frantz Funck-Brentano Frantz Funck-Brentano (15 June 1862 – 13 June 1947) was a French historian and librarian. He was born in the castle of Munsbach (Luxembourg) and died at Montfermeil. He was a son of Théophile Funck-Brentano. Biography After graduating a ...

, she was imprisoned in

Villefranche-de-Conflent Villefranche-de-Conflent (; ca, Vilafranca de Conflent) is historically a town in the Conflent region of Catalonia, and now a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Villefranche-de-Conflent is located in ...

, in Fort Libéria. The exact date of death is not known for many of the accused, but of the prisoners whose year of death is known, Magdelaine Chapelain's death in June 1724 was the last recorded. Anne Somerset - The Affair of the Poisons: Murder, Infanticide, and Satanism at the Court of Louis XIV (St. Martin's Press (October 12, 2003) ISBN 0-312-33017-0)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapelain, Magdelaine 1651 births 1724 deaths 1679 crimes French occultists Poisoners French people who died in prison custody 17th-century occultists People imprisoned by lettre de cachet 17th-century French businesspeople 17th-century French businesswomen Affair of the Poisons