The death of the king's sister-in-law, the…

The death of the king's sister-in-law, the Duchesse d'Orléans, had been falsely attributed to poison, and the crimes of Marie Madeleine de Brinvilliers and her accomplices are still fresh in the public mind.

A commission appointed to inquire into the subject and to prosecute the offenders meets in April 1679 for the first time.

Its proceedings, including some suppressed in the official records, are preserved in the notes of one of the official court reporters, Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie.