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Episode 212: Witchcraft in Royalty
515 Plays9 days ago
Welcome back, Witches! This week we're kicking off our new Witchcraft in Royalty series with a look at Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and the Marquise de Montespan. We'll explore the history, legends, and occult connections surrounding these two fascinating royal figures. So get in, Loser, because this week we're stepping into the royal courts where power and the occult collide.
If you really loved the show and want more Get in Loser content, check out our Patreon & Buy Me a Coffee links below. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GetinWitches, on TikTok @weredoingwitchcraft, or email us at weredoingwitchcraft@gmail.com.
Patreon: patreon.com/GetinWitches Supercast: https://getinloserweredoingwitchcraft.supercast.com Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/getinwitches
Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
Resources
Due to word count constrictions, not all of our resources are listed here. Should you want the full list of resources, feel free to reach out to us at weredoingwitchcraft@gmail.com and we can email them.
- Britannica Editors. Alexandra: Empress Consort of Russia. (2026) https://www.britannica.com/event/Russian-Revolution/The-February-Revolution
- Gilliard, Pierre. Thirteen Years at the Russian Court. https://www.alexanderpalace.org/gilliard/IV.html
- Clegg, Melanie . When Queen Victoria was Empress Alexandra’s Interfering Granny. (2020). https://historiamag.com/queen-victoria-empress-alexandras-interfering-granny/
- Strong, Johanna. Alexandra Fyodorovna. (2021). https://teamqueens.org/alexandra-fyodorovna/
- Gaida, Fedor Aleksandrovich. Alexandra, Empress, Consort of Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia. (2014) https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/alexandra-empress-consort-of-nicholas-ii-emperor-of-russia/
- Chateau de Versailles (n.d.). Madame de Montespan. https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history/great-characters/madame-montespan
- Marquise de Montespan (). Memoirs of Madame La Marquise de Montespan. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3854/3854-h/3854-h.htm
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Witchcraft Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft and the occult, but feel lost on where to start? Then welcome to Get In Loser, Where You're Doing Witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey.
00:00:11
Speaker
Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we've learned about the craft. So get in witches for part one of our series, Witchcraft in Royal History.
Exploring Forks: Twilight Adventures
00:00:46
Speaker
Yeah, so and went to Forks last weekend and it was so amazing. I just love that you did that. Yeah. Anthony was like wife like, Well, at first I was like, Sam's, I think I said like, Sam's going to Forks or Sam's visiting Forks or something like that. And he was like,
00:01:06
Speaker
Like his brain was like a fork. Like he's like, yeah what do you mean? was like the location where they filmed Twilight. And he was like, oh, like rolled his arms so hard. Yeah. Well, he just be jealous because it was the best time. it was so much fun. It looked amazing.
00:01:28
Speaker
it It was so much fun. And we had to do, we filmed, i um we had to film a little TikTok um of us running through the whole rainforest.
00:01:44
Speaker
Sped up and slow mode. and when I was doing it, so I explained it to Liz and I like, she was obviously down for it. Right. And then she did, like, I had watched a shit ton of videos of different people doing it and like figuring out like exactly how to edit it and everything. She did one take and it was fabulous. I did probably like seven and that was the best take out of the seven because I couldn't stop laughing whenever I would like As soon as I would see the phone, I would just start laughing and it was just the goofiest thing ever. And so I really need to practice like being like no laughing at everything.
00:02:25
Speaker
Yeah. So it was hard. I loved it. It was a great little video. Thank you. Yeah. And I, whenever we came back, like I told Mike, I said, taking Twilight even out of the mix, like, cause the way we drove up, we, we hit the tree of life, Ruby beach. And then we went to Forks, checked into our Airbnb and then went into a, like a little restaurant that they had, like a little hole in the wall type restaurant, ate dinner.
00:02:54
Speaker
and then we came back and essentially went to bed because we're both grandmas. And then the next day We woke up, we explored Forks, we went to all of the places. And then ah one of our last stops while we were exploring Forks was stopping at the visitor center at the edge of town. And the lady that worked there was like, hey, ah do you have any questions? And I was like, I don't know.
00:03:19
Speaker
don't think so. Do I? Yeah, so I asked her, I said, what kind of questions do people usually ask you? Like, I don't know. Maybe don't know. And she was like, well, cause she asked me what we had done and I had told her and um I was like, yeah, today we're trying to go to La Push. And then we wanted to go to the whole rainforest. And she said, well, La Push is on Indian reservation. and um she like pulled me off to the side and she was like, there's a gas station there.
00:03:51
Speaker
You should go to that gas station. And that's all she said. I'm like, okay, but I needed gas anyway. So I was like, sure. So you're like, yeah, I mean, I need to. Yeah. So we go to the reservation and we had to stop at that gas station anyway to buy parking for the beach. And so FYI, if anybody's going to La Push, you have to pay for like beach parking and it's like $10.
00:04:14
Speaker
But while we were there, i was like, oh, let's get gas. I drove around the side of the building. And as we're recording this right now, The gas prices in Washington, it's like it's very expensive. It's like $6 a gallon.
00:04:29
Speaker
And the gas prices at this reservation, $4.81. We were like, fuck yeah. And I filled up my gas tank for like 40 bucks. It was amazing. And- Liz was like, it's sad that we're excited about $4.81 for gas. That's still outrageous. Yeah.
00:04:53
Speaker
Yeah. So we did that and it was amazing. And then um we went to the whole rainforest and it rained the entire time.
Nature Encounters in the Rainforest
00:05:01
Speaker
We also saw a bear and we saw elk.
00:05:05
Speaker
I'm a little bit jealous. Every time I'm somewhere where I should see an animal, I don't. I didn't want to see a bear. i ah But it was a baby. And so we were like, oh my God, the mom's nearby. The mom's nearby.
00:05:18
Speaker
Thankfully, we were in the car when we saw a bear. like It crossed the street in front of us, and I was just like, lock the doors. Lock the doors. I hate bears. Oh, my gosh. But we did see the elk were really close. but But it was I told Mike, I said, even taking forks out of the equation, like I love that area so much. I to move to that area. The drive up is beautiful. Being there is spectacular. Yeah.
00:05:46
Speaker
It just feels like you're in a completely different world. It is so beautiful. Yeah. And I would live there. i would i would deal with a simple life to live there. I've never been, but from your pictures and just from what I've seen of it before, it's absolutely beautiful.
00:06:03
Speaker
Yeah. It's definitely a place I want to go. It is crazy. We did see Chuck Esme, the doll, that the cursed Renesmee that they didn't use in the movie, but it was like...
00:06:14
Speaker
this animatronic doll that they were going to use in the movie until yeah it was like way too creepy. um There's like a twilight museum there. Oh gosh. and And mainly it's just clothing. Like, yeah. And I guess like somebody who like really loves twilight and,
00:06:33
Speaker
i don't know. I think their husband or partner worked on Twilight. can't remember the story, but like he loved Twilight so much that he would go to auctions and pay out of his own pocket for all this stuff. Yeah. And so it's just like all of the outfits they wore then donated them to this museum.
00:06:51
Speaker
And I never realized, like I knew Kristen Stewart was like as big as my pinky, but I- She's even skinnier than I thought she was. like She is tiny. She is so tiny. Like she's so tiny that the clothes, whenever they were trying to display her the outfits that she wore in Twilight on mannequins, they had to get the mannequins specially made because no mannequin was small enough.
00:07:15
Speaker
That is wild. Can you imagine? Her leg is like this big around. Jesus. It would snap if you just moved it wrong. Yeah. Wild. It is. It is wild. I'm just like, Jesus, so that whole myth of like the camera adds 10 pounds, apparently it's true. Apparently it happens. Yeah.
00:07:33
Speaker
Seeing her outfit, like I'm just like, what size is that? like It's so tiny. Well, anyway we are not talking about forks or Twilight or we cut tiny Christmas tree. We could. Just a little bit. No, just joking.
00:07:50
Speaker
This could be a Twilight podcast. What are we talking about today?
Empress Alexandra and Rasputin
00:07:56
Speaker
we are talking about witchcraft and royal history. um Side note, we also have a couple of shout outs that we just completely over. Oh, yeah. And it's like right there. Yeah, right there. it' Big and bold. Big and bold. So just a shout out Kember, Charlotte and Jade for joining us over on Patreon. Yay. Thank you. We love you so much. And we really appreciate all the support.
00:08:23
Speaker
So to kick us off. who I am going to be talking about Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. So she was born Alexandra Victoria Helene Louise Beatrix. Because, you know, a first and middle name was just not enough for her. No, you have to have multiple. Yeah.
00:08:47
Speaker
And she was known as Princess Alice, but it's spelled like Alex, which was really throwing me off because a lot of the web websites would go back and forth on the spelling. And I'm like, is this the same person? So I had to look it up. And apparently so she was born in Germany. And her spelling of her name is German, but it is the German equivalent of Alice.
00:09:10
Speaker
So she's Princess Alice of Hesse in Germany. She was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and her mother died while Alice was very young. This left her to be raised by Queen Victoria, who was said to have favored Alice over all of her grandchildren.
00:09:27
Speaker
Alexandra entered Russian society as a young princess visiting her sister, Grand Duchess Elizabeth. She was beautiful and well-liked, and she attracted enormous attention at court.
00:09:39
Speaker
She met Grand Prince Nicholas Alexandrovich, the future Tsar Nicholas II, during visits to Russia as a teenager, and the two began long-distance courtship before becoming engaged in 1894.
00:09:55
Speaker
Before their marriage, she converted from Lutheranism to Russian Orthodoxy, adopting the name Alexandra Fyodorovna. Alexandra and Nicholas had five children, four daughters named Fyodorovna.
00:10:09
Speaker
Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia, and a son named Alexei, who was the long-awaited heir to the throne. Shortly after his birth, the family discovered that Alexei had hemophilia, which, if you don't know, is an inherited blood disorder that impairs the body's ability to clot blood, and it would profoundly shape Alexandra's life and later influence some of the most significant events of the Romanov dynasty. And so, if you haven't figured out by now, She is part of the whole Romanovs versus the Bolsheviks. So she was shy, reserved, and often unpopular at court.
00:10:48
Speaker
Alexandra struggled to connect with the Russian aristocracy, and instead she became increasingly devoted to her faith and to the belief that the Tsar's authority came directly from God.
00:11:00
Speaker
During World War one when Nicholas left to command Russian troops, Alexandra took a larger role in government affairs. Her political decisions and growing dependence on Rasputin damaged public confidence in the monarchy and helped fuel unrest before the 1917 revolution.
00:11:20
Speaker
And Gregory Rasputin was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who gained significant influence over the family of Tsar Nicholas II in the years leading up to the Russian revolution. Misfortune seemed to follow Alexandra from the beginning of her life in Russia.
00:11:37
Speaker
Some Russians viewed her arrival alongside the funeral of Tsar Alexander III as a bad omen. And after the tragic crowd crushing during Nicholas and Alexandra's coronation celebration, when more than 1,300 people were killed in a stampede,
00:11:54
Speaker
Caused by rumors of gift shortages, rumors began to grow that the new empress brought ill luck to the dynasty. So let's talk about the Romanovs a little bit here.
00:12:04
Speaker
The Romanovs were Russia's last imperial dynasty, ruling the country from 1613 until the Revolution During their three centuries in power, they transformed Russia into one of Europe's largest and most influential empires, overseeing periods of territorial expansion, cultural development, and modernization.
00:12:26
Speaker
By the time Alexandra married into the family in 1894, the Romanovs were one of the most powerful royal houses in the world, connected through marriage to many of Europe's ruling families. Alexandra herself brought ties to both the British and German royal lines, making her children descendants of several major European dynasties. The Romanovs promoted the idea that the Tsar ruled by divine right, with the monarchy serving as both a political and spiritual institution.
00:12:55
Speaker
As Empress Alexandra embraced this belief wholeheartedly, seeing her role not simply as a royal duty, but as part of the sacred responsibility to protect the dynasty and Russia itself.
00:13:08
Speaker
Today, the Romanovs remain one of history's most fascinating royal families, remembered not only for the dramatic end of their reign, but also for the myths, mysteries, and legends that continue to surround them more than a century after their deaths.
00:13:23
Speaker
So there's a lot of lore and public perception that follows Alexandra. Alexandra's public image was shaped as much by misunderstanding as by reality. Naturally shy and uncomfortable with court rituals, she often appeared distant in public. What she saw as reserved and sincere, many members of the Russian aristocracy interpreted as arrogance.
00:13:46
Speaker
While critics portrayed her as cold and aloof, those who worked closely with her described a woman deeply invested in charitable causes, and she supported hospitals, maternity care, and educational programs, but these efforts were often overshadowed by political controversy and court gossip.
00:14:04
Speaker
Over time, Alexandra's withdrawal from public life helped create an aura of mystery around her. As she appeared less frequently at social functions and became increasingly devoted to her family, speculation filled the gaps, transforming her into a figure people talked about far more than they actually knew.
00:14:25
Speaker
To many Russians, Alexandra became an isolated and mysterious figure. Her German birth during a war against Germany fueled rumors that she was secretly working against Russia, though historians generally consider those accusations unfounded.
00:14:41
Speaker
The public was fascinated by the influence that she appeared to give Rasputin, who again was a wandering mystic and self-proclaimed holy man. Stories of secret meetings, prophecies, and political manipulation turned Alexandra and Rasputin into the subject of endless gossip and conspiracy theories.
00:15:01
Speaker
Even after Gregory Rasputin was assassinated in 1916 by nobles who feared that his influence over the imperial family was damaging the monarchy's reputation, Alexandra refused to believe many of the warnings about the monarchy's declining support, reinforcing her reputation as a ruler detached from reality.
00:15:22
Speaker
And so her ties to witchcraft, mysticism, and the occult are mostly just rumors, which is something Sam and I kind of talked about behind the scenes with both of our people.
00:15:36
Speaker
So she wasn't associated with witchcraft in the literal sense, but she was deeply drawn to mysticism. Facing intense anxiety over her son's hemophilia and the pressures of court life, she sought comfort in religious visionaries and spiritual advisors. Her fascination with spiritual figures wasn't unusual in the context of Russian Orthodox culture.
00:16:00
Speaker
The tradition of seeking guidance from wandering holy men, pilgrims, and mystics was deeply rooted in Russian religious life, and many believers saw such figures as channels for divine wisdom.
00:16:12
Speaker
What made Alexandra different was the intensity of her faith. She embraced Russian Orthodoxy not simply as a political necessity, but as a personal calling, throwing herself into religious devotion with extraordinary con conviction.
00:16:27
Speaker
To her, spiritual guidance was not superstition, rather it was a legitimate path to understanding God's will. She believed God had chosen Nicholas to rule Russia,
00:16:38
Speaker
and saw it as her sacred responsibility to protect both the throne and her family. Alexandra became convinced that Rasputin possessed extraordinary spiritual gifts because he seemed able to ease or stop her son Alexei's bleeding episodes.
00:16:54
Speaker
She viewed him as a holy man sent by God, while critics saw him as a dangerous mystic whose influence over the royal family bordered on the supernatural.
00:17:05
Speaker
Alexandra wasn't a witch. She wasn't an occult practitioner or a spiritual medium. But her story became entwined with themes that appear again and again in witchcraft folklore. Secret knowledge, divine visions, miraculous healing, and the fear that unseen forces were influencing those in power.
00:17:23
Speaker
What makes Alexandra's story so enduring is that it sits at the crossroads of faith and superstition. Supporters viewed the people she trusted as holy figures with a special connection to God, while critics saw the same figures as dangerous mystics manipulating the throne through hidden powers. The difference often depended on who was telling a story.
00:17:47
Speaker
In many ways, Alexander became a symbol of a much older fear. The rulers might turn away from the trusted advisor and place their faith in the mysterious outsiders. Whether in tales of court magicians, cunning folk, witches, or prophets, history is full of stories where spiritual influence becomes political influence, and Alexander's relationship with the mystical world helped create an example of that pattern in modern history.
00:18:13
Speaker
The elements that make Alexandra's story feel connected to witchcraft lore today are less about magic and more about narrative archetypes. A grieving mother searches for miraculous answers, places her trust in a mysterious holy man, and becomes increasingly isolated from the world around her.
00:18:34
Speaker
It's the same structure found in countless legends about prophets, seers, wise women, saints, and witches. Alexandra wasn't practicing the occult, but her story became one of the last great examples of how faith, desperation, and public suspicion can combine to create a legend that feels almost supernatural.
00:18:54
Speaker
And of course, her story doesn't just like end there. It does go on and then it ends abruptly. So let's talk about the downfall, the revolution, and death very briefly. So by the time World War I was underway, Alexandra had become one of the most controversial figures in Russia. As military defeats mounted and living conditions worsened, many people blamed the imperial family for the country's struggles.
00:19:20
Speaker
Alexandra's isolation from the public combined with her a reliance on trusted spiritual advisors and her influence over government appointments only deepened public distress.
00:19:30
Speaker
The murder of Rasputin in 1916 did little to restore confidence in the monarchy. Many hoped his death would save the Romanov dynasty, but the damage had already been done.
00:19:42
Speaker
So just months later, in March of 1917, growing unrest, food shortages, strikes, and military mutinies forced Nicholas II to abdicate the throne, ending more than three centuries of Romanov rule.
00:19:57
Speaker
Following the Russian Revolution, Alexandra and her family were placed under arrest, and they were moved first to Tobolsk and then later to Yakuterenburg.
00:20:08
Speaker
After Bolsheviks seized power, the former imperial family became a political liability. In the early hours of July 17, 1918, she was executed alongside Nicholas the second their five children, and four loyal families of their household, bringing an end to the Romanov dynasty due to fears that advancing anti-Bolshevik forces might rescue them and restore the monarchy. They were shot in the basement of a house in Yekaterinburg.
00:20:36
Speaker
For believers in fate and symbolism, Alexandra's life seemed to come full circle. The young princess was once nicknamed Sunshine and had entered Russia under the shadow of a funeral and spent much of her life trying to protect a dynasty she believed was divinely ordained. In the end, neither political power, religious devotion, nor the promises of mystics could prevent the collapse of the empire that she had dedicated herself to preserving. So that is the story of Alexandra. Yes. And how like as a mom, you could 1000% be swayed by anything.
00:21:14
Speaker
yeah The promise was, ah this could be the only way to save my child. ah Yes. And during that time, with him having hemophilia and Rasputin having been the only one that just happened to be able to kind of help any of his bleeding spells. You could see how easily she could be swayed to be like, this is a magic man. Yeah. This man is sent by God. hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
00:21:41
Speaker
So, yeah. 1,000%. So sad. but you know, RIP, Romanov family, taking a ah sharp left-hand turn back through history ah to France prior to the revolution.
The Influence of Marquise de Montespan
00:21:57
Speaker
We are going to be talking, well, I am going to be talking bit about the Marquise de Montespan. There's a lot of French words in here. I did take French all throughout junior high, high school, and I minored in it in college. college. However, it has been a very long time. And so if I fuck up any pronunciations, I'm sorry. I just did a couple of Russian and know they were bad. No, it sounded really good. sounded very good. Thanks.
00:22:23
Speaker
So her full name is Françoise Athenay de Rochois de Montemar or Athenay de Montespan. She was born in 1640 or 1641, depending on the source, into the prestigious house of Montmartre.
00:22:40
Speaker
She was the official mistress of Louis XIV, or the Sun King, as some people know him by. In her memoir, she describes herself as possessing both beauty and wit, which were traits that the house of Montmartre was famous for.
00:22:53
Speaker
Also, it's important to note that while I did cite her memoirs for this episode, historians do not consider these memoirs to be genuine memoirs that she herself wrote. The memoirs were published during the 19th century, so a long time after she fucking died, and are heavily ghostwritten, most likely by Abbe Lafond Dossant.
00:23:14
Speaker
So it's not a full-blown autobiography. Looking at some history and lore, her family arranged a marriage for her and Louis-Henri de Padayon de Gondron, who after marrying Athenay became the Marquis de Montespan in 1663.
00:23:33
Speaker
Because of her family, she always had connections to the French court, especially due to her mother's relationship with the queen mother at the time, Queen Anne of Austria. And there are rumors that her sister Gabrielle had also been a mistress in the French court, but depending on the sources, some say she was a mistress of King Louis the fourteenth or King Henry V. I'm not sure how true this information is as I couldn't really find a definitive source on it but I wanted to include it to show how common this was for members of society to become mistresses of elite members of the court. And it was common for a king to have two wives, one for the politics, aka the queen, and another as a social companion, the maîtresse antique.
00:24:14
Speaker
She first served as a maid of honor to the king's sister-in-law, Henrietta of England, when she was 20 years old, and through her connections with the Duke and Duchess of de Navayer, she was able to secure a position in the household of Queen Marie Therese of Spain, who was the wife of Louis XIV.
00:24:32
Speaker
She became one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, and because of her beauty, charm, and intelligence, she stood out in court. Outside of her memoir, other accounts frequently describe her as one of the most dazzling women in Louis XIV's court.
00:24:44
Speaker
So while she was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie-Thérèse, she would have seen the king a lot at work. However, when she first became el lady and a lady-in-waiting, the king's attention was preoccupied with his chief mistress, Louise de la Valier, who was another lady-in-waiting to the queen.
00:25:02
Speaker
Over time, Louis XIV was very intrigued by Athenay's personality. He loved how confident and witty she was and how very different she was from Louis de Valier, who was more shy and very religious, which feels counterintuitive if you are the chief mistress of the King of France. But from what we know about history, when a king asks you to be his mistress, it's either do it or become a pariah.
00:25:27
Speaker
By 1667, Athenay officially replaced La Valier as the king's principal mistress. I was also reading that even after La Vallée was replaced as the king's mistress, there was a time where she would still appear as his mistress. So the king would go into her chambers, then pass through an adjoining chamber to be with Atene, which I thought was so weird because it's like, if you already have a mistress, why does it matter? like One, also like, how shitty is that? I know. um Sorry, just passing through.
00:26:01
Speaker
Hope you're doing good. What are you still doing in my house? But remember, Atene was still married. And by this time, she also had children with her husband, the Marquis de Montespan.
00:26:12
Speaker
And he was absolutely not okay with his wife becoming the official the official mistress of the king. And he openly challenged the king. He decorated his carriage with antlers, which were the traditional symbol of a cuckolded husband. supposedly stated that he was going to do whatever he could to contract syphilis, rape Atomay, so that he she could then pass the disease on to the king, which is super fucked up And he even held a symbolic funeral for Atene in front of his children, which I can only imagine deeply traumatizing for life. And he was briefly imprisoned for his behavior and eventually exiled to his home. This didn't stop him though. And he came to Paris nearly every year between 1670 and 1686 and also demanded an annual Requiem Mass be sung for his wife during her lifetime.
00:27:04
Speaker
Like, this guy did not know how to give it up. yeah you imagine? must have had him wrapped around her finger. Seriously. said You are not leaving me. Yeah. 16 years. 16 years he was doing this shit. That's crazy. They're poor children. i know. so looking at their her impact on history, King Louis the fourteenth and Atene were together for more than a decade. And during this time, Versailles was in development to be the center of his court. So because of this, Atene was involved in the design of many of the buildings, the fountains, and the gardens at Versailles. She also had a hand in the decorations within Versailles, filling the halls with Baroque paintings and sculptures, which is part of what
00:27:49
Speaker
it is famous for today let's be honest and during the height of her reign as principal mistress she was given 20 rooms right next to the king and unfortunately the queen only had 11 rooms between the years of 1669 through 1678 atene gave birth to seven children that were followed to louis the 14th and she had how many with her original husband I don't know. a few.
00:28:17
Speaker
a couple. I think like three. have like nine to ten children. Can you imagine? And them must be a magical vagina. Like that's the only thing I can think of. like Like how? Why? So many children. No, thank you. In 1669, a little side note here. A pious governess was appointed to take care of the children and her name was also Francoise, but um her her name is Francoise Dobigny and she will come up later. So just FYI, they had a governess and her name was also Francoise. While Athenay was in and out of pregnancy over the years, the king also had many other mistresses. But Athenay didn't face any real competition until a beautiful young woman named Angelique de Fontagne arrived at court.
00:29:04
Speaker
And by this time, Louis the fourteenth was 40 years old, but completely smitten with Angelique. She ended up becoming the king's official mistress in 1678. However, by 1680, their affair was over and Angelique ended up dying shortly after pleurisy, which what a terrible way to end your life. yeah And over the years, Francoise d'Aubigny became very close with Louis the fourteenth and he respected her because of her piety. And she was even awarded a title Madame de Montenon and was elevated to Marquis.
00:29:37
Speaker
As time went on Louis XIV began losing interest in Atene, and it's rumored that somewhere between 1674 1681, King and madame mantenel began at having an affair So let's talk about the witchcraft tie-in.
Affair of the Poisons Allegations
00:29:55
Speaker
There is no definite proof that Atene ever practiced magic. What we do know is that there are accusations that occurred during the affair of the poisons, which occurred from 1677 to 1682.
00:30:06
Speaker
During this period, nobles and many rich people in Paris were spending money on fortune tellers and buying drugs and poisons and participating in quote-unquote black masses. The investigation revealed the name of a poisoner who went by La Voison,
00:30:21
Speaker
who was burned at the stake in February 1680, and additionally 319 people were arrested and 35 additional people were put to death as well. more that's a i know, right? There's a lot of people.
00:30:33
Speaker
Atene was alleged by La Voisin's daughter to have been a customer of her mother. And it was alleged that Atene bought love powders, aphrodisiacs, and magical charms to maintain Louis XIV's attention for as long as she held it. And it was also alleged that Atene participated in Black Masses involved involving defraud priest named Etienne Chouinard.
00:30:56
Speaker
gborg It was said that an altar was formed using the naked body of a woman, prayers were recited in reverse, and animal sacrifices were performed in order to continue to receive the king's love and attention. And there was even some claims that involved infant sacrifice during Black Mass rituals, but again, none of this has been proven.
00:31:15
Speaker
And another allegation was that she bought poisons from voisin to kill Angélie. But we know Angelique didn't die from poison. She died from pleurisy. Anyway, what's important to note here is that she was never arrested. And many historians believe that the evidence was too unreliable to link Atene to the alleged crime. Even still, this whole thing damaged her reputation and she eventually left Versailles. But then also I was reading as well that like, even if there was a lot of evidence related to Atene and her buying poisons or participating black masses or doing anything that was tied to the occult,
00:31:50
Speaker
Even if it was true, it's not like King king Louis XIV was in such a precarious situation. If he was like, oh yeah, I'm going to arrest her for that. Like, She's so close to the king and he didn't know about it. Like it would have been terrible for the monarchy. But I think it's also important to note here in closing that King Louis XIV was raised Catholic and he firmly believed in the end the divine right of kings. And he believed he was God's representative on earth. When he was younger, it appeared as though he wasn't as devout and he had mistresses, attend lavish entertainments, indulge himself, et cetera. However, by the late 1670s, he was heavily influenced by his religious advisors.
00:32:29
Speaker
and by his new mistress, ah Madame de Montenol, who was their kid's governess and who he eventually married in secret after the queen died. And over time, Louis XIV became more and more obsessed with morality, sin, and religious devotion. And I think a lot of it was heavily influenced, not just by the people he surrounded himself with, but because of the whole affair of the poison. I also think it's really interesting that this is something that we see across history, period. But a lot of these people in these positions like kings or czars, It's like their divine right, their God-given right to be the ruler, and everything that they do is like because God told them that they yeah were supposed to be that person. so i find that really interesting. Also, i also love how anytime it's a cult surrounding something, they're like infant sacrifice.
00:33:33
Speaker
They ate babies. They killed babies. And it's like, okay, I wonder if a lot of that was linked to the fact that like during that time period, like infants did not live, like not every infant lived past this age, right? And so it's like,
00:33:49
Speaker
killing an infant is, was probably like the worst possible. I mean, it still is now too. Let's, but what I'm not saying like, but like, I feel like it held more weight just because so many people struggled to keep their infants alive to adulthood. Well, I mean, even birth in general was so much harder back then that, you know, mother and baby often died. Yeah.
00:34:13
Speaker
so Yeah, and so can you imagine her having like least – That was why my brain was like, how many children did she have? Because I was thinking like they didn't have things like an epidural or like modern medicine type things to help with birth. It was just them and a fucking midwife and maybe one other set of hands. Right. And like a baby what if you needed an a episiotomy? Are you just expected to tear from end? Basically. You stitch it up? Ugh. Ugh.
00:34:41
Speaker
Was there any pelvic floor therapy being done? Like I need to know. Like was it literally just by the 10th kid, by the 9th or 10th kid? It was just like the baby just fell out because there's like her muscles are just shot downstairs. I need to know.
00:34:55
Speaker
I don't know that I want to know. Like that was enough knowledge for my little brain.
00:35:04
Speaker
But anyways, that was... Hot dog down the hallway. my god. Anyway, that's enough for the peanut gallery. That was your first episode of Witchcraft and Royalty. So hopefully you enjoyed it.
Conclusion and Teasers
00:35:31
Speaker
That's a wrap on this episode of Get In Loser We're Doing Witchcraft. We hope you had as much fun as we did. If you loved this episode, we'd be eternally grateful if you left us a five-star review wherever you listen to your podcasts.
00:35:42
Speaker
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00:36:05
Speaker
You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at GetInWitches or email us at We'reDoingWitchcraft at gmail.com. Join us next week for part five of our altar series, this time covering Lunasap. Until then, stay magical, stay curious, and as always, blessed be witches.