Marie de Brinvilliers

On a hot humid Parisian July day, the aristocratic Marie, Marquise de Brinvilliers was carted out to the scaffold before a seething crowd. Marie was accused of poisoning over 50 people, including her own father and brothers. The massive crowd on July 17, 1676, had come to witness a common entertainment, an execution. Marie de Brinvilliers has run the gambit of public opinion, from femme fatale to hapless victim to hysterical woman to feminist icon. There may be partial truth in all these, but the real Marie never got to tell her own story, the legacy we have today has come to us through a tortured confession and journalistic flair. Featured Guest: Prof. Benedetta Duramy, a professor of law at California’s Golden Gate University and a participating scholar in the book Women Criminals: An Encyclopedia of People and Issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.