Elizabeth Cellier Elizabeth Cellier Elizabeth Cellier (commonly known as Mrs. Cellier and dubbed the "Popish Midwife"), flourished 1668–1688, London, England, was a notable Catholic midwife in seventeenth-century England. She stood trial for treason in 1679 for her alleged part in the "Meal-Tub Plot" against the future James II but was acquitted. She later became a pamphleteer and made attempts to advance the field of midwifery. Elizabeth Cellier was a noted London midwife, who came into prominence through the pretended "Meal-Tub Plot" of 1680. Nothing seems known of her life until her marriage with Peter Cellier, a Frenchman, and her conversion from Anglicanism.
Paris in the 17th century of triumph, Porte Saint-Denis (1672) and Porte Saint-Martin (1676). The last years of the century brought more unhappiness for the Parisians. In 1688, the King's grand design to dominate Europe was challenged by the new Protestant King of England, William of Orange, King of England, and by a new coalition of European countries. The war brought more taxation for the Parisians. In 1692-93, the countryside was hit with poor harvests, causing widespread hunger in the city. In October 1693 the Lieutenant General of Police, La Reynie, built thirty ovens to bake bread for the poor of Paris. The bread was