Antoine Gobelin

(1630–1676)

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Antoine Gobelin, fourth great-grandson of Jehan Gobelin, belonged to the distinguished Gobelin family of royal tapestry manufacturers. He was the son of Balthazar Gobelin, Lord of Quesnoy, and Madeleine de L’Aubespine, Lady of Verderonne. Through inheritance and enterprise, the Gobelins had become prosperous suppliers of tapestries to the French crown.

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In 1651, he married Marie Madeleine Anne Dreux d’Aubray (1630–1676), daughter of Antoine Dreux d’Aubray, Civil Lieutenant of Paris, one of the most powerful judicial offices in France. By this marriage, Antoine became Marquis de Brinvilliers. The couple lived in Paris and had several children.

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Antoine served as a colonel in the French army in Normandy and earned approximately 30,000 livres annually. By rank, wealth, and family connection, the Brinvilliers household stood firmly within the upper ranks of French society under Louis XIV.

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Their history, however, became tragically entwined with one of the most notorious criminal cases of seventeenth-century France. Marie Madeleine de Brinvilliers became implicated in a series of poisonings that later formed part of what historians call the “Affair of the Poisons” during the reign of Louis XIV. Following investigation and trial, she was convicted of poisoning members of her own family. She was executed in Paris in July 1676.

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The case attracted enormous public attention and marked an early chapter in a wider scandal involving accusations of poison, sorcery, and conspiracy within French aristocratic circles. Though Antoine Gobelin himself was not implicated in the crimes, his title and family name became permanently associated with the affair through his wife.

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Antoine Gobelin died in 1676, the same year as his wife’s execution.

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Sources and Further Reading

• Wikipédia, “Marie-Madeleine d’Aubray, Marquise de Brinvilliers.”

• Historical studies of the “Affair of the Poisons” under Louis XIV.

• Records relating to the Gobelin family and the Manufacture des Gobelins.

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