KING, COURT, AND CITY IN 1675
HISTORICAL FIGURES IN THE ORACLE GLASS
Louis XIV, King of France, the “Sun King”
Marie-Thérèse of Spain, Queen of France
Philippe d’Orléans, “Monsieur,” younger brother of Louis XIV
Elisabeth Charlotte of Bavaria, second wife of “Monsieur”
Official Mistresses of the King
The Duchesse de La Vallière, former mistress, retired to a Carmelite convent. Three children by the King, one dead in childhood.
The Marquise de Montespan, current mistress. Her children by the King:
Louise, dead at three
Louis Auguste, Duc du Maine
Louis César, Comte de Vexin, dead at eleven
Louise Françoise, Mademoiselle de Nantes
Louise Marie, Mademoiselle de Tours, dead at seven
Françoise Marie, Mademoiselle de Blois
Louis Alexandre, Comte de Toulouse
In her household:
Mademoiselle des Oeillets, confidential maid. Children by the King: possibly two, unacknowledged.
Other family members of Madame de Montespan:
The Duc de Vivonne, her brother
Madame de Thianges, her sister
The Abbess of Fontevrault, her sister
Mademoiselle de Fontanges, the soon-to-be favorite
The Marquise de Maintenon, at this time governess to the Marquise de Montespan’s children, later to become the last official mistress
The Mancinis, relatives of the Late Cardinal Mazarin
Philippe Julien Mancini, Duc de Nevers, patron of the arts and dabbler in the occult
Marie Mancini, Princess of Colonna
Olympe Mancini, Comtesse de Soissons
Marie Anne Mancini, Duchesse de Bouillon
Working Officials
Colbert, Jean-Baptiste, Secretary of Finance
Le Tellier, François Michel, Marquis de Louvois, Minister of War
La Reynie, Gabriel Nicolas de, Chief of the Paris Criminal Police, subordinate to Louvois
Desgrez, Lieutenant (later Captain) of the Watch, subordinate to La Reynie
Fortune-tellers, Witches, Magicians, and Poisoners
Primi Visconti, the King’s fortune-teller
Madame de Brinvilliers, a celebrated mass poisoner
Catherine Montvoisin (La Voisin), society sorceress
Antoine Montvoisin, her husband
Marie-Marguerite, her stepdaughter
Margot, her maid
Adam Lecouret (Le Sage), magician, her lover
Catherine Trianon (La Trianon), sorceress, compounder of substances magical and pharmaceutical, an old friend of La Voisin
La Dodée, La Trianon’s associate
La Lépère, abortionist and midwife, associate of La Voisin’s
Marie Bosse (La Bosse), sorceress, rival of La Voisin
Marie Vigoureux (La Vigoureux), wife of a ladies’ tailor, associate of La Bosse
The Abbé Guibourg, purveyor of Black Masses
FICTIONAL CHARACTERS
The Marquise de Morville, Geneviève Pasquier, society fortune-teller
Sylvie, her maid
Marie-Angélique Pasquier, her sister
Étienne Pasquier, her brother
The Chevalier de Saint-Laurent, her mother’s brother
Matthieu Pasquier, failed financier and philosopher, her father
Marie-Françoise Pasquier, her mother
Grandmother Pasquier
Lorito, Grandmother’s parrot
Mustapha and Gilles, the Marquise de Morville’s bodyguards
Astaroth, a demon
André Lamotte (later de La Motte), incompetent poet and competent social climber
Florent d’Urbec, amateur mathematician, builder of mechanisms, cardsharp, and sometime spy
The numerous and tumultuous d’Urbec family