Catherine Trianon

Catherine Trianon, née Catherine Boule, called La Trianon (d. 1681), was a French fortune teller and poisoner, one of the accused in the famous Poison Affair. She was actively involved in the attempted assassination of king Louis XIV of France in 1679.

Catherine Trianon was one of the most important associates, and also a personal friend and confidante, of La Voisin. In 1679, Madame de Montespan commissioned La Voisin to murder the monarch. It was at the house of Trianon, and with the help of her, Bertrand and Romani, that La Voisin planned the conspiracy. Trianon tried to confince Voisin to give up the plans, and told her fortune by making 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. La Voisin failed with the first attempt in 5 March; the 12 March, she had planned a meeting with Trianon to plan the next attempt, when she was arrested. Voisins arrest was followed by that of Trianon.

After the execution of La Voisin in February 1680, the plan to assassinate the king was revealed by her daughter Marguerite Monvoisin. After her statements was confirmed by Etienne Guibourg, Adam Lesage and Francoise Filastre, Trianon, who had been personally involved in the attempt, also confirmed the statement. Catherine Trianon committed suicide in Château de Vincennes i early 1681.

In fiction

Catherine Trianon is given a fairly large portrayal in a novel by Judith Merkle Riley: The Oracle Glass (1994)

References

• Frantz Funck-Brentano: Princes and Poisoners Or Studies of the Court of Louis XIV
• H Noel Williams: Madame de Montespan and Louis XIV
• 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)