Was Agnès Sorel, the first official royal mistress of France, poisoned? Grenoble (France), 2 April 2005 - The ESRF has gone back in time to study the reason behind the sudden death of the beautiful mistress of French king Charles VII, in the XV century. Thanks to synchrotron light, pieces of Agnès Sorel's hair and skin have been studied. The evidence obtained makes it possible to suggest plausible causes of death. The way she died is not known yet, however, incredibly high levels of mercury have been found in her remains. This finding opens the door to numerous hypotheses. The...