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The man in the iron mask is a centuries-old tale that has been passed down through stories, art, and even movies starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It all began in the 1680s, when a mysterious prisoner, locked up by order of King Louis XIV of France, was spotted wearing a mask made of iron. No one ever saw his face, and the age old question lingered for hundreds of years: who was the man in the iron mask?
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In the late 1690s, Francis King Louis XIV locked up a mysterious prisoner in his favorite new prison
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the Bastille. Famous stories by Voltaire and Alexandre Dumas, based on the man's identity
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are popular to this day. The story captured the public imagination, spawning countless stories
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animations, parodies, films, and other art for centuries following the real-life events
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But the real story historians recently uncovered is a strange story all on its own
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Today, we're exploring the real identity of the man in the iron mask
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Speculation regarding the prisoner's identity was always a hot topic among historians
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In 2016, however, historians made a breakthrough in the nearly 400-year-old mystery
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Drumroll, please. According to history professor Paul Cennino, not the actor who played Paulie in Goodfellas
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the mysterious man was probably a valet named Bustache Doge. After that, the story gets a
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little tricky. Historians tend to agree that while Doge was most likely a valet, it's unclear who he
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worked for and why the authorities guarded him so closely for the better part of three decades
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His arrest warrant from 1669 included specific instructions to limit his contact with other
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prisoners. It also threatened him with death if he spoke one word except about his actual needs
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Clearly, someone, Mazarin, had something to hide. Sanino concluded Daugé was probably a valet for
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Cardinal Mazarin's treasurer. Mazarin was a principal minister in France during the period
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and acquired a massive fortune. Sanino's theory suggests Daugé knew Mazarin ripped off the
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previous king and queen, stealing some of their vast fortunes. When Daugé spoke out against it
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he suffered severe punishment, most likely to protect Mazarin's identity. The story of the man in the iron mask began as a rumor. In 1687 and 1698, reports of the
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mysterious prisoner's transfer from various prisons circulated among the public. The reports
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were consistent in mentioning the prisoner wore an iron mask each time spectators saw him These accounts fit with first descriptions of the man from prison officials and guards from the period In his memoir one Bastille guard wrote the tale
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of a man who is always masked and whose name is never pronounced
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Because the mask obscured the prisoner's identity, it ultimately led to persistent rumors
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and wild speculation on who he was and why Louis XIV imprisoned him in the first place
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Further deepening the mystery, the prison supposedly incinerated everything he owned after his death in 1703
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Other reports and rumors say authorities also scrubbed the walls of his prison cell clean following his death
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Whether or not this is true, it still captured public attention. And the myth of the man in the iron mask was born
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In his book, The Search for the Man in the Iron Mask, a historical detective story, historian Paul Sonino
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makes a compelling point. The mask probably wasn't made of iron. Over the years, many historians believe the mask was velvet, not iron
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It's also just as likely the prisoner didn't wear the mask all the time
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It was probably only worn to obscure his identity as authorities transferred him from prison to prison
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While the man in the velvet mask doesn't have quite the same ring to it, the material does make more historical sense
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Velvet masks were popular at the time as accessories or to protect their skin from the sun
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People also used them to keep their identity secret while doing certain activities
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But that's a story for another time. The famous French writer and philosopher Voltaire spent much of his time researching
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writing, and corresponding with others. He also had plenty of run-ins with the authorities due to his heavy criticism of the government
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In 1717, Voltaire found himself incarcerated at the Bastille after writing a particularly
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cutting verse about a regent in one of his works. While there, he collected stories about the mysterious masked man from older prisoners
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who claimed they knew him. Voltaire took some creative liberties with the story
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His version was likely the first to add the bit about the mask being iron. His description made the mask sound like something from the movie Saw
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In one description, he wrote, The chin of the mask was composed of steel springs, which gave him liberty to eat with it on
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Voltaire story asserts the prisoner must have been important because he received good food had good manners received regular visits from the governor and even played guitar
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Alexandre Dumas began his career writing plays and magazine articles. Later, he penned several popular novels
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including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Corsican Brothers, and The Three Musketeers
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Captivated by the story of the mysterious prisoner, Dumas decided to base a character
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in one of his novels on Doge. Dumas wrote about the man in the iron mask
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in the third volume of The D'Artagnan Romances. In The Vicomte de Bragelon, Dumas' take
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on the mysterious prisoner eventually became one of the most popular. In the story, Dumas put forth the idea
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that the man in the iron mask was the twin brother of Louis XIV
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As such, he presented a threat to the king's legitimacy. The idea persisted and became the basis
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of the 1998 film adaptation of the tale, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. although it departed quite a bit from the source material
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Before Cennino came along, there was no shortage of theories about the prisoner's identity
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Many of these theories pointed to members of the royal family. Some thought the man might have been Louis de Bourbon, the banished son of Louis XIV
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Others surmised the prisoner to be the king's cousin, François de Bourbon
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Maybe the masked man was an Italian count named Ercole Matteole, imprisoned for double-crossing the king
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However, these were unlikely as Matteoli died in 1694, and François de Bourbon fell in battle while the prisoner served his time
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From there, things get weirder. Theories claiming Louis XIV used the mask on multiple men as a means to punish his wife's lovers were popular
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But there was another theory that trumped them all. For a long time, everyone thought the identity behind the mask was probably
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Louis XIV's disgraced financier, Nicolas Fouquet. Following Cardinal Mazarin's death, Fouquet eagerly stepped into his role
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Eventually, Fouquet gained power and status by handling funds for both the state and various nobility
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But he was probably a bit too good at the job. His enormous fortune ignited suspicion from others
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and it wasn't long before his rivals began to keep a close eye on his activities
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He had a good reason as Fouquet made no effort to hide his ambition from others What else would you expect from a guy whose family motto in Latin was Quo non ascendit which translates to
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What heights will he not scale? His family emblem depicting a squirrel collecting acorns at the foot of a tree
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probably didn't help matters much either. Fouquet had no idea he was under a secret investigation by Louis XIV's advisor, Colbert
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With ambitions to become finance minister himself, Colbert suggested to Louis XIV that
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Fouquet built his wealth by skimming funds from the state's coffers. By the time Fouquet threw an honorary celebration for the king at his opulent Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte
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his days as finance minister were numbered. Intending to impress the king with his fabulous chateau, the party had the opposite effect
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As Louis XIV looked around at the grand architecture, glorious gardens, and a brand new play from
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Moliere, he seethed on the inside. Fouquet's faux pas, outshining the king with the design of his
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home and the magnificent party, ultimately sealed his fate. It didn't take long for the king's
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musketeers to arrest Fouquet after meeting with the royal advisors. He faced a three-year trial
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on trumped-up charges of treason against the state. Although public opinion eventually sided
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with him, the king felt differently. Fearing private citizens having any real power or influence
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he commuted Fouquet's sentence from exile to life imprisonment. Fouquet lived the rest of his days
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behind the walls of the fortress of Pignarol. Barely anyone saw him during this time, leading
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some to believe Fouquet to be the mysterious masked prisoner at the time, despite some
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inconsistencies with the story. Though Dozier is still the most likely identity of the prisoner
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these stories served a larger purpose than being a mere legend. The reports fueled people who saw
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Louis XIV as a tyrant and wanted to take him down. As the stories of the masked prisoner spread further after Doge's death, the king's enemies
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used them to paint the king in a negative light. The Dutch even spread rumors that the man in the iron mask was Louis XIV's real father
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ultimately attempting to challenge the king's legitimacy. Though the tale of the man in the iron mask isn't much of a mystery anymore, it continues
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to capture the public imagination and remains an essential part of French history
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