Random Man In The Iron Mask Really Was According To Historians (14 items)

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  (#8) Over The Centuries, The Man In The Iron Mask Has Had A Number Of Identities

  One of the more fascinating aspects of the tale is that, before Sonnino, there were plenty of other theories as to who he might have been. Many of the theories pointed to members of the royal family . It could have been Louis de Bourbon, bastard son of the king, banished for his homosexuality: the theory went that he was imprisoned instead of being banished. Others thought he could have been the king's cousin, Francois de Bourbon, for conspiring against the king, which would have been highly unlikely, since Francois de Bourbon fell in battle.

  Some theories claimed that the masked man was not one man, but that Louis XIV used the mask to punish his wife's lovers. Another more plausible candidate was Ercole Matthiole, an Italian count who was imprisoned for double-crossing the king during political discussions. However, Matthiole passed in 1694, conflicting with the documented timeline of the masked prisoner.
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  (#2) Rumors About The Mysterious Prisoner Started To Circulate In The 1680s

  The tale began as a rumor spread throughout France about a strange prisoner made to wear an iron mask. In 1687, a gazette reported the prisoner's transfer from the harsh fortress of Pignerol. In 1698, the prisoner moved again, this time to the Bastille in Paris. In reports from guards at the Bastille, he still wore the iron mask.

  Although reports of the man in the iron mask began as early as his incarceration, his story really took off after his passing in 1703. Even the circumstances surrounding his demise were mysterious; it was said that everything he owned was burned, and the walls of his prison cell were scrubbed clean. Thus began the myth of the man in the iron mask.
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  (#1) Historians Discovered The True Identity Behind The Mask: A Valet Named Eustache Dauger

  Along with speculation from other historians, history professor Paul Sonnino claimed in 2016 that he finally found an answer to a nearly 400-year-old question: who was the man in the iron mask? His name was Eustache Dauger, and he was probably a valet. It gets a bit tricky from there.

  Although the consensus is that Dauger was a valet, no one knew who he worked for, nor why he was put under such close guard for 30 years. An arrest warrant for Dauger, dating back to 1669, included instructions on limiting Dauger's contact with other prisoners, and "[threatening] him with death if he [spoke] one word except about his actual needs."

  Sonnino concluded that Dauger was a valet for the treasurer working for Cardinal Mazarin, an extremely wealthy minister of France who effectively served as president of the state before the role had actually been created. The theory is that Dauger knew Mazarin was stealing, spoke out about it, and was punished severely for it. That would explain the pains taken to seclude Dauger and keep his identity a secret—all to protect Mazarin.
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  (#5) Enlightenment Thinker Voltaire Gave A Detailed Description Of The Prisoner

  Voltaire, the French Enlightenment philosopher and writer, was imprisoned within the Bastille in 1717. During his internment, he collected stories about the masked man from older prisoners who claimed they knew Dauger (not by name, of course). Voltaire took liberties with the descriptions; his version was the first to spread the detail that the mask was made of iron. He even went into detail about the horrific contraption, writing, "the chin of [the mask] was composed of steel springs, which gave him liberty to eat with it on."

  Voltaire's version claimed the prisoner was clearly important since he received fine food and visits from the Governor, had refined manners, and even played guitar.
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  (#11) One Of Nicolas Fouquet's Rivals Turned King Louis XIV Against Him

  Fouquet had actually been under secret investigation for some months now by one of King Louis XIV's most trusted advisors, Colbert, who was eager to replace Fouquet as finance minister. Colbert suggested to the Louis XIV that something was up with Fouquet's impossibly fast-growing wealth and that the only plausible explanation was that he had been taking funds from the state. By the time the fabulous party at Vaux-le-Vicomte occurred, Fouquet's fate was already sealed.

  The party did just the reverse of its original intent of gaining royal favor and patronage for Fouquet. Instead, Louis XIV looked around at the grand architecture, beautiful gardens, even the play debuted by Moliere himself, and though he smiled outwardly, inwardly he was seething that a subject would go so far as to dare outshine the Sun King.
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  (#13) After His Passing, The Stories Of The Masked Prisoner Fueled Anti-Louis XIV Sentiment

  The man in the iron mask was more than just a legend: he was fuel for those who wanted to bring down Louis XIV. Those who supported the king loved him; they called him the "Sun King." Those who hated him, however, saw him as a tyrant. As gossip circulated more frequently after Dauger's passing, the stories played right into the hands of anti-Louis XIV propagandists. They used the story of the poor, tormented, mysterious prisoner to try to bring the king down. During the Nine Year's War, the Dutch used the tale to their advantage, spreading damaging rumors that the man in the iron mask was Louis XVI's "real" father, a claim which directly challenged the king's legitimacy.

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