00:00a saga of high society paranoia, black velvet altars, covert alchemy, and aristocratic obsession.
00:12We're talking about the affair of the poisons,
00:17and the woman who brought the grandest court in Europe to its knees,
00:22Catherine Montvoisin, better known simply as La Voicine.
00:31So, to understand La Voicine, you have to understand Paris in the 1670s.
00:38Beneath the public glamour, the aristocracy was rotting with anxiety.
00:45Wealthy women had no legal autonomy,
00:48inheritances were trapped behind marriage vows,
00:50and court favorites were constantly terrified of losing the king's favor.
00:57Enter Catherine Montvoisin.
01:00On paper, she was a midwife and a fortune teller,
01:03but in reality, she was a brilliant, ruthless entrepreneur of the underworld.
01:10Operating out of a discreet house on the outskirts of Paris,
01:14she built an empire catering exclusively to the top tier of French nobility.
01:20She wasn't just selling palm readings.
01:23If a young noblewoman wanted her husband out of the picture,
01:27she could claim her state.
01:30La Voicine provided
01:32Podré la secession.
01:34Podré la Se SALVRE
01:34Podré la Se Luo
01:34Podré la Se Hil يved
01:36Podré la Seotive
01:37Podré la Se83
01:37Podré la Seerness
01:38Podré la Se sweeter
01:38Podré la Sejuk
01:38Podré la Segiggling
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