Hey, Alarmy, we're taking a quick break here at The Alarmist, but we'll be back soon. In the meantime,

enjoy this classic episode from our vault. Each week, we decide who's to blame for historical

tragedy. And each week, you tell us if we got it right. My name is Rebecca Delgado-Smith,

and this is The Aftermath.

The Aftermath.

Hey, everyone. Thanks to tuning into this episode of The Aftermath.

Today we're speaking with guest expert, Professor Lynn Wood Molinar.

Professor Molinar is a cultural historian specializing in the history of France between the Renaissance and the Revolution.

She teaches at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and her book, Strange Revelations,

magic, poison, and the sacrilege in Louis XIV's France, explores a criminal magical underworld,

thriving in the heart of the affair of the poisons.

Let's hear what she has to say about la voise and the affair of the poisons.

Professor Molinar, thank you so much for joining us today.

You're so welcome. I'm delighted to be here.

So please set the scene for us.

What was life like for most people in the mid to late 17th century France?

And in contrast, what was life like for the aristocracy and King Louis the 14th court?

Well, I think then and now, there is a tremendous disparity between the haves and the have-nots.

And that is true, I think, truer in Paris than almost any place else.

Because Paris, it's the largest city in France.

It's one of the largest cities in Europe, if not the largest city at all. But Paris, although it has paved streets, it has, it's the first city in Europe to have streetlights that go in 1670. At the same time that it is a city of immense wealth and the center of noble life,

because still in 1670, 1675, the aristocracy are not living in Versailles.

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