Tradition, however, credits him with having been originally the salaried poisoner at Rome of Olympia Maidalchina, the sister-in-law of Pope Innocent X.
Subsequently, he became a gentleman in waiting to Queen Christina of Sweden, whose taste for chemistry may have influenced this appointment.
[1] In 1663 his presence in France aroused the suspicions of the French government, and he was imprisoned in the Bastille.
After three months of imprisonment, powerful influences secured Exili's release, and he left France for England.
In 1681 he was again in Italy, where he married the countess Fantaguzzi, second cousin of Duke Francesco II of Modena.