![]() Under the reign of Louis XIV the scandalous l'affaire des poisons occurred where 367 orders of arrests were issued, of which 218 were carried out. In fact arsenic was so popular and easy to come by that it was nicknamed “the widow’s divorce." So powerful is the tradition that to this day in Italy pouring someone a drink while holding the bottle with the back of the hand facing downward, so as to let something drop from a ring bezel, is called versare alla traditora (“traitor’s way of pouring”) and still considered offensiveĭuring the Sixteenth Century in Europe poison jewelry became wildly popular, Verdi used a poison ring as the vehicle for Lady Lenora to commit suicide in the opera Il trovatore, all so she could stay faithful to her lover. The beautiful Lucrezia Borgia whose name is synonymous with all manner of poisons, was said to be particularly adept at using poison rings to dispose of rivals and political enemies. The practice began in ancient India and the Far East and moved on to Ancient Rome, where poison rings were often used to commit suicide when a painful death was unavoidable. The legendary Cleopatra relied heavily on a variety of different poisons which she tested on condemned prisoners to see which was fastest and most reliable. Murder by Poison, sounds like an Agatha Christie thriller but in fact this method of dispatching people has been with us from ancient times right up to today.Ī favorite decoration of both assassins and generals, 'poison rings' could conceal perfume, tiny mementos-or something far more deadly. ![]()
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