Un crime obscur, une mort atroce Répression, investigations judiciaires et médico-légales de l’empoisonnement (xviii^e siècle)

Under the Ancien Régime, with the development of autopsies for corpses and clinical visits for those still living, experts could use the body to determine whether poisoning was criminal or accidental. The expert played an essential role in deciding cases by reconstructing the mode of operation. Joining forces with the judge, the expert increased the sense of legal certainty by naturalising and objectifying the pathology of poisoning in order to diagnose the consequences of morbidity and also identify exacerbating circumstances.