E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Poisoners (Secret).
(1) Locusta, a woman of ancient Rome, who was employed by the Empress Agrippi’na to poison her husband Claudius. Nero employed the same woman to poison Britannicus and others.
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(2) The Borgias (Pope Alexander VI. and his children, Cæsar and Lucrezia) were noted poisoners.
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(3) Hieronyma Spara and Toffania, of Italy. (See AQUA TOFANA.)
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(4) Marquise de Brinvilliers, a young profligate Frenchwoman, taught the art
by an officer named Sainte Croix, who learnt it in Italy. (See World of Wonders, part vii. p. 203.)
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(5) Lavoisin and Lavigoreux, French midwives and fortune-tellers.
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(6) Anna Maria Zweinziger, sentenced to death in 1811.
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In English history we have a few instances: e.g. Sir Thomas Overbury was so murdered by the Countess of Somerset. King James, it has been said, was a victim to similar poisoning, by Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.
