The legend of the Iron Mask, the most mysterious of all prisoners, has been around for more than two centuries. For the first time, Voltaire told the world about him, and his research formed the basis of stories about the Iron Mask.
“A few months after the death of Mazarin,” writes Voltaire, “an unprecedented event occurred ... An unknown prisoner, young, with the noblest posture, was sent to the castle on the island of St. Margaret (near Provence). On the way, he wore a mask with steel latches on the lower part of it, which allowed him to eat without removing his mask.An order was given to kill him if he removed his mask.He remained on the island until the trusted officer of Saint-Mar, governor of Pinerol, took command of the Bastille, in 1690 d. did not go to the island of St. Margaret and take the prisoner to the Bastille, where he was as well settled as could be possible in such a place.
The prisoner was addicted to extremely thin linen and lace - and received them. Played guitar for hours. The most exquisite dishes were prepared for him, and the old doctor of the Bastille, who treated this man who had peculiar illnesses, said that he had never seen his face, although he often examined his body and tongue. According to the doctor, the prisoner was remarkably built, his skin was a little dark; his voice was already striking only with its intonations alone. This man never complained about his condition, never gave out his origin in any way. The unknown person died in 1703. What is doubly surprising is that when he was brought to the island of St. Margaret, not a single disappearance of famous people was recorded in Europe.
The prisoner was, no doubt, a noble man. The governor himself set the table for him and then left, having previously locked the cell. Once a prisoner scratched something with a knife on a silver plate and threw it out the window to the boat, which was near the shore, right at the foot of the tower. The fisherman in the boat picked up the plate and brought it to the governor. The latter, extremely anxious, asked the fisherman if he had read what was scrawled here, and had anyone seen it in his hands? The fisherman replied that he could not read and no one had seen the plate.
Voltaire caught alive the last person who knew the secret of the Iron Mask - former minister de Chamiyar. His son-in-law, Marshal de La Feuillade, begged his dying father-in-law on his knees to reveal to him who the man in the iron mask really was. Shamiyar replied that it was a state secret and he swore an oath never to disclose it.
Naturally, Voltaire did not fail to express a number of hypotheses about the mysterious prisoner. Going through the names of the nobles who died or disappeared under mysterious circumstances, he concluded that it was certainly neither the Comte de Vermandois nor the Duke de Beaufort, who only disappeared during the siege of Kandy and who could not be identified in the body decapitated by the Turks.
"The Iron Mask was no doubt the elder brother of Louis XIV, whose mother had that special taste for fine linen. After reading about it in the memoirs of that era, the queen's addiction reminded me of the same tendency in the Iron Mask, after which I finally ceased to doubt that it was her son, which all other circumstances had long convinced me of ... It seems to me that the more you study the history of that time, the more you are amazed at the coincidence of circumstances that testify in favor of this assumption, " Voltaire wrote.
But this is a legend. The only thing that can be stated with certainty is that after 1665 a prisoner came to the Pinerol castle under the jurisdiction of the governor of Saint-Mars, and this prisoner was the Man in the Iron Mask. The date of his arrival in Pinerol is unknown. Otherwise, it would be possible to immediately establish who was hiding under the mask. The fact is that the documents of the archives concerning the prison, of which Saint-Mar was the head, have been preserved, and they are very accurate: they inform us in detail about the events that took place in Pinerol - the arrival of the prisoners, their names, the reasons for their imprisonment, diseases, deaths, liberation, if such happened occasionally.
It has been undeniably established that the masked man followed Saint-Mar all the way to the Bastille. However, the mask appeared on his face only many years later, when he moved to the Bastille. In 1687 Saint-Mars became governor of the island of St. Margaret; the prisoner was also transferred there. 11 years have passed. Jailer and prisoner grew old together. Finally, at the age of 72, Saint-Mar was appointed warden of the Bastille. The long-standing prescription nevertheless retained its force: no one should either see the prisoner or speak with him.
Minister Barbesio wrote to Saint-Mar: "The King finds it possible that you leave the island of St. Margaret and go to the Bastille with your old prisoner, taking every precaution to ensure that no one sees or knows about him."
But how do you keep the secret? Saint-Mars had an idea: why not just hide his face instead of hiding his prisoner? It was thanks to this "find" that the Man in the Iron Mask was born. We note again - never before this moment the mysterious prisoner wore a mask. Saint-Mar managed to keep his secret for a long time. The first time a prisoner put on a mask was during a trip to Paris. In this guise, he went down in history ...
Actually, the mask was black velvet. Voltaire supplied it with steel latches. Authors who took up this topic after him wrote about it as being made "entirely of steel." It got to the point that historians discussed the question of whether the unfortunate prisoner could shave; small tweezers, "also made of steel", were mentioned for removing hair. (Moreover: in 1885 in Langres, among the old iron scrap, they found a mask that perfectly matched the description of Voltaire. There is no doubt: the inscription in Latin confirmed its authenticity ...)
In August 1698, Saint-Mar and his prisoner set off. In the register for the registration of the prisoners of the Bastille, Monsieur du Junca, the royal lieutenant, made the following entry: "On September 18, on Thursday, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Monsieur de Saint-Mar, commandant of the fortress of the Bastille, arrived to take office from the island of St. Margherita, bringing with him his old prisoner, kept under his supervision back in Pinerola, who must wear a mask all the time, and his name should not be called; In the evening, I myself ... transferred the prisoner to the third cell of the Bertoller Tower.
Four years later Monsieur du Junc was forced to open the Bastille registry again. A sad event happened: Monsieur Saint-Mar lost his oldest prisoner. Du Junc wrote the following: "On the same day, 1703, November 19, this unknown prisoner in a mask of black velvet, brought by M. de Saint-Mar from the island of St. Marguerite and guarded by him for a long time, died about ten o'clock in the evening after the day before after Mass he felt a little unwell, but at the same time he was not seriously ill. Monsieur Giraud, our priest, confessed him. Due to the suddenness of death, our confessor performed the sacrament of confession literally at the last moment of his life; this prisoner, so long guarded, was buried in the parish cemetery of Saint-Paul; at the registration of the death, M. Rosarge, a physician, and M. Rey, a surgeon, designated him by a certain name, also unknown.
After some time, du Junc managed to find out under what name the prisoner was declared. Then he entered this name in a journal, and here we give the uncorrected text: "I learned that since M. de Marchiel was registered, 40 liters have been paid for the burial."
Monsieur de Marchiel... Isn't that the name of the mysterious prisoner? The fact is that among the prisoners in Pinerola was Count Mattioli, minister and envoy of the Duke of Mantua, who was arrested on May 2, 1679. Mattioli's candidacy has ardent and zealous supporters. What are the arguments of the "Matthiolists"?
When the Man in the Iron Mask died, the deceased was recorded under the name of Marchiali or Marchioli. Here you can see a hint of a distorted Mattioli. Marie Antoinette's maid reported that Louis XVI once told Marie Antoinette that the Man in the Mask was "just a prisoner with a character that inspires fear in his penchant for intrigue; a subject of the Duke of Mantua." It is also known from the intercepted correspondence that Louis XVI said the same thing to Madame Pompadour: "It was one of the ministers of the Italian prince."
But the story of Mattioli was not at all a secret to anyone. His betrayal, arrest, imprisonment - newspapers carried this story throughout Europe. Moreover, the enemies of France - the Spaniards and the Savoyards - published a story about his activities and arrest in order to shake public opinion in favor of Mattioli. In addition, Mattioli died in April 1694, and the Iron Mask died in 1703.
Who was he? It is very likely that the Iron Mask was a certain Eustache Dauger. In 1703 he died in the Bastille after spending 34 years in prison. What crime the Doge committed is unknown. But it had to be serious in order to entail harsh treatment and painful isolation for so many years.
On July 19, 1669, Saint-Mar from Paris received an order for the arrival of a prisoner in Pinerol: “Mr. Saint-Mar! The sovereign ordered a certain Eustache Dauger to be sent to Pinerol; with his maintenance, it seems extremely important to ensure careful protection and, in addition, to ensure the impossibility of transfer I will notify you about this prisoner so that you prepare for him a securely guarded solitary cell in such a way that no one can penetrate the place where he will be located, and that the doors of this cell securely closed so that your sentries could not hear anything.It is necessary that you yourself bring everything the prisoner needs once a day and under no circumstances listen to him if he wants to say anything, threatening him with death in the event that he will open his mouth in order to say something, unless it is related to the expression of his requests.You will furnish the camera for the one who is brought to you with everything thinking that this is just a servant and does not need any significant benefits ... "
What crime would result in such a punishment? This man was "only a servant", but no doubt he was involved in some serious business. He had to know certain secrets that were so important that no one, not even Saint-Mar, knew the true guilt of this man.
Doge was constantly in complete silence and absolute solitude. The fear that the Doge would speak became an obsession with the jailers and ministers. Saint-Mares was repeatedly asked from Paris in fear: had the Doge betrayed his secret?
Researcher Maurice Duvivier identifies Eustache Dauger with a certain Eustache d\"Auger de Cavoie, who, as a child, played with Louis XIV. It was the latter circumstance that caused the king not to hand him over to justice and personally sentenced him to life imprisonment. The reason for his imprisonment still remains a mystery. Was there another person hiding under this name? This we do not know. In any case, he was not the brother of Louis XIV.
Iron Mask - under this name, the most mysterious prisoner of the era of Louis XIV remained in history. All that is reliably known about this man is the number under which he was listed in the Bastille (64489001). Presumably, he was born in the 40s of the XVII century. He was held in various prisons. In 1698 he was finally placed in the Bastille, where he died.
Historical information
In fact, prisoner No. 64489001 wore not an iron mask, but only a velvet mask. She was supposed to hide his identity from outsiders, but not serve as a means of torture (like iron). Even the guards themselves did not know what kind of criminal was wearing this mask. Its mystery gradually became the reason for the emergence of numerous legends and conjectures.
For the first time, a prisoner in an iron mask is mentioned in the Secret Notes of the Persian Court, published in Amsterdam in 1745. The author of the notes indicates that under the number 64489001, the illegitimate son of the royal Louis XIV and his beloved, the Duchess de La Vallière, was kept in the casemate. He bore the title of Count of Vermandois. In conclusion, he fell for a slap in the face, which he gave to his brother, the Great Dauphin.
This version is absolutely untenable, since the real Count of Vermandois died at the age of 16 in 1683. Before that, he managed to take part in the war with Spain, so he simply did not have time for such a long imprisonment. The Jesuit Griffe, who served as confessor at the Bastille, recorded that the first mysterious prisoner was brought to the Bastille in 1698, and he died in 1703.
Elder brother or twin of Louis XIV
Later, Francois Voltaire suggested that the half-brother of Louis XIV himself could be the gentleman in the iron mask. The king did not need rivals, so he imprisoned his brother in the Bastille, after obliging him to wear a mask on his face. Obviously, all that mystery with which this prisoner was surrounded could be connected with this. Voltaire expressed this conjecture in his 1751 work The Century of Louis XIV.
Anna of Austria for a long time considered infertile. Then she gave birth to an illegitimate son, after which the legitimate heir to the throne, Louis XIV, was born. The latter, having learned about the presence of an older brother, decided to end him. In addition, there were rumors that Louis himself was not the king's own son. This called into question his right to the crown.
Execute the son of the French queen and sibling Louis XIV could not, so he preferred to imprison the unfortunate young man forever. Wearing a mask is a way to hide a secret that could cause a coup d'état. History has not preserved the name of this supposed older brother.
There have also been speculations that the Iron Mask is actually the twin brother of Louis XIV. The appearance of male twins in the royal couple spontaneously gave rise to a lot of problems with the succession to the throne. One of the queen's sons had to be sacrificed in order to maintain stability in the country. The boy was brought up in secret. Growing up, Louis XIV learned about his twin brother, who looked like him like a reflection in a mirror. Fearing for his crown, Louis ordered the elimination of his opponent.
Ercol Mattioli
The fourth version was the assumption that the famous Italian adventurer Ercol Antonio Mattioli was hiding under the mask. In 1678, an agreement was concluded between him and Louis XIV: Mattioli undertook to persuade his overlord to give the king the fortress of Casale. The Italian successfully sold this state secret to several countries for a handsome reward. For this, he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the French government.
General Bulond
The reason for the emergence of another version was the secret notes of Louis XIV. The French king kept encrypted diaries, which, several centuries later, were deciphered by the famous cryptographer Etienne Bazeri. It turned out that the masked prisoner could also be the French General Vivien de Boulogne, who covered himself and France with indelible shame in one of the battles of the Nine Years' War. This version, like all others, has not been proven 100%.
The real Peter I
Various historians and researchers, intrigued by the great mystery, continued to put forward all sorts of versions regarding the identity of the prisoner in the iron mask. Most historians came to the conclusion that he could be one of the conspirators who dared to threaten royal power. Among them: the Lorraine Armois, the royal minister Fouquet, Cardinal Mazarin, etc.
Another version even concerned Russia. According to her, Peter I himself was imprisoned in the Bastille, moreover, the true king. In 1698, exactly when prisoner No. 64489001 appeared in the Bastille, the Russian tsar was supposedly replaced. Peter I then carried out a diplomatic mission ("Great Embassy") in Europe.
The true, Orthodox went abroad Russian tsar, sacredly revered traditions. The European returned back, dressed in a “basurman dress” and with a whole heap of innovations wild for patriarchal Rus'. After that, they began to say that Peter the Great was replaced abroad with an impostor. This substitution was later associated with the Iron Mask. It is still not known who actually wore it.
The date of birth of the mysterious character in the iron mask is unknown. But the date of death is fixed exactly: he died on November 19, 1703. In general, the history of the Iron Mask begins in July 1669, when the minister of Louis XIV sends a letter to the head of the prison in the city of Pinerolo with a request to accept and provide Special attention a mysterious masked prisoner.
Since then, evidence of the Man in the Iron Mask has been surfacing in personal letters, then in philosophical treatises. Even Voltaire did not ignore the existence of the Iron Mask and hinted that he knew much more about him than many, but, like a true Frenchman, he would remain silent. From these words of the philosopher it somehow followed by itself that the imprisonment of the enigmatic prisoner is connected with state secrets.
And really, why bother with ordinary person? It's easier to kill, especially since it's in the 17th century. But the prisoner was not only not killed: in all places of his stay, including in the Bastille, he was created as much as possible comfortable conditions existence. The main inconvenience of his life was (besides, of course, the fact of confinement) wearing a mask around the clock. Although here the story slightly thickened the colors: the mask was not made of iron, but of black velvet. Agree, the material is qualitatively different.
The legend of the Man in the iron-velvet mask did not subside over the centuries, but acquired new details. Main question- who the prisoner was - is relevant to this day. There are at least 52 versions in total. But we will not torment you with everything, we will introduce you only to the most, in our opinion, entertaining ones.
Mysterious lady
No wonder the expression "cherchet la femme" was coined by the French. They always see a woman behind every secret. The version arose after the prisoner (prisoner) was in prison on the island of Sainte-Marguerite and, probably, made a romantic impression on the head of the prison.
theory that appeared at the end of the 19th century. Like, Molière (sorry for the pun) was already so tired of the authorities with his accusatory plays that it was most convenient to put his talent in a mask. Although the writer had, strictly speaking, cultural relations with the king: Molière even held the honorary position of bed king.
skin cancer patient
1933 version. A terrible disease struck skin some high-ranking person, and therefore this person had to be covered with a mask.
Twin brother of Louis XIV
Until the death of the de facto regent Mazarin, the young Sun King had no interest in politics at all. He only danced, changed clothes and, so to speak, flaunted with the ladies. But the next day after the death of the cardinal, the behavior of the king changed dramatically (and again, pardon the pun) changed: he became serious, preoccupied with running the state. Just a different person! What if this is the twin brother of our king, hidden immediately after the birth? Well, exactly. And there is. And the king, I suppose, is now in prison and in a mask. The version gained popularity thanks to Dumas and the 1998 film The Man in the Iron Mask with Leonardo DiCaprio (yes, he didn’t get an Oscar for this film either).
Black son of Maria Theresa
A child born from an inappropriate relationship between a queen and her Negro page. The excuse “well, with whom it doesn’t happen” did not work in the royal families, and the criminal fruit of love had to be imprisoned forever.
On November 19, 1703, a man who spent the last four decades of his life in various prisons in France was buried in the Saint-Paul cemetery at the infamous Bastille prison. He is without a doubt the most famous prisoner in the history of France, although no one knows why he had to spend half of his life in a cell, moreover, as the story goes, in almost perfect isolation and with an iron mask on his face.
The first known record of this unfortunate man dates back to July 1669, when the Marquis de Louvois, in a letter to Benigny d'Auvergne de Saint-Mars, governor of the Pinerol prison, mentioned a certain Eustache Dauger who should have been arrested for his actions against the crown. An excellent contender for the title of "Iron Mask".
But was that his real name? This cannot be confirmed or denied, since analysis of the letter showed that the name of the offender was signed by another person, perhaps even after the message was written by the author himself. And this is another mystery that has shrouded the already insoluble riddle of history.
We also have numerous references to this person in the works of writers of that time, which are more credible. For example, Voltaire mentions him in his work Le siècle de Louis XIV ("The Age of Louis XIV"). As you know, Voltaire was imprisoned in the Bastille in 1717, where he spent about a year. Naturally, he met with many prisoners, and some of them stated in a conversation with the thinker of enlightenment that they allegedly came into contact with the mysterious prisoner while he was alive.
The existence of the man in the iron mask has also been noted in other historical references such as Le mémoire secret pour servir à l’histoire de la Percy (Mysterious remembrance) by an unknown author, writings by one of the most famous journalists french revolution, Baron Friedrich Melchior von Grimm and the personal diary of Etienne de Junc, one of the employees of the Bastille, who caught the death of a prisoner.
However, the source that made this prisoner known to the masses was Alexandre Dumas' The Man in the Iron Mask, which was the third and final in a series of stories that began with the adventures of the Three Musketeers. The book, although considered entirely fictional, seems to contain some credible data, as the author has done quite a thorough investigation of the case. French classical literature was often inspired by real stories people around whom were then created additional details and colorful action took place (this also applies to The Count of Monte Cristo, which was written based on the biographical stories of a real person).
In any case, as already mentioned, the order for Dauger's imprisonment was given by the Marquis de Louvois, Louis XIV's secretary for military affairs. Among other things, it was agreed that Doge was to be kept in high-security prisons, where he would have the right to communicate only with a very narrow circle of people (in particular, jailers and other high-ranking officials). And if he ever dares to speak to anyone about something that does not relate to his natural needs and needs, he should have been executed immediately. To achieve this goal, Doge was placed under the supervision of Benigny d'Auvergne de Saint-Mars himself, who was supposed to monitor the implementation of all orders "from above" until the end of the prisoner's life.
But, as early accounts of the Doge's life behind bars say, these rigid rules began to be forgotten over time. For example, he received permission to become a prison servant for former finance minister Nicolas Fouquet when his servant was ill. The only stipulation was that he was not to date anyone else other than Fouquet. If there were strangers in the cell, Doge was not supposed to go there. But why were Fouquet given such facilities? It has been suggested that, although he was to remain in prison for the rest of his life, he was not forbidden to receive guests or correspond with the most influential people of that time. 
The fact that Doge became someone's servant and then served as a laborer in the same prison is also significant. Given the rules of the era, if he had belonged to the royal family, or even simply had high-ranking relatives, or was related to counts, marquis and viscounts, he would not have been allowed to serve. Someone of royal blood was jailed for life on dubious charges? Perfect! (such prisoners were entitled to a whole staff of servants and other benefits of the nobility). To be “on parcels”, having noble roots? Unthinkable.
Anyway, main reason by which we still remember this particular poor fellow, and not a hundred other prisoners, is his mask. Why was his face hidden from the public? Some historians argue that this is nothing more than a trick by the ambitious Benigny d'Auvergne de Saint-Mars, who came up with it during the transfer of a prisoner to Saint-Marguerite in 1687 to impress the crowd by pointing out the importance of the criminal, whom he himself the king instructed him to guard. It was after this “transfer” that a rumor appeared among the people that the prisoner was always forced to wear an iron mask.
On September 18, 1698, Saint-Mars received another promotion and this time became the manager of the Bastille. It was at this moment that Doge was again transferred to Paris prison. According to Voltaire and other prisoners who saw a man in an iron mask in the walls old fortress This man never took off his mask. However, it should be noted that the aforementioned Lieutenant de Junca, who served there, repeatedly claimed that the mask was, in fact, made of black velvet.
Dauger died in prison on November 19, 1703. San-Mars described him as "disposed to the will of God and to the king" in contrast to most of the prisoners. If it is true that he was forced to hide his face behind a mask and serve Fouquet, then perhaps this prisoner was recognizable or had an obvious resemblance to another person, most likely from high society (whether direct relationship or pure coincidence).
But the question remains, was he just a lowly servant, or had the misfortune of being a witness to something the king kept secret, or did he look like one of the representatives of the ruling elite? Why didn't the disgruntled king and the French authorities simply kill him? People from the peasant class could easily be executed because of the slightest accusations (not always fair), for example, for dealing with the devil or stealing ears of corn from the royal fields. Why did they take the risk of letting him live even though they took steps to keep him anonymous? And if he was of royal blood, why was he allowed to work as a servant? And for that matter, why was he allowed to communicate regularly with Fouquet, to whom he could tell his secret, and he, in turn, would let it slip in one of his letters to freedom? So not so big secret kept behind this mask.
Needless to say, insignificant historical fact would not lead, after all, to the emergence of numerous speculations, theories and the search for evidence in support of any of them. According to Voltaire, the man in the iron mask was the elder illegitimate brother of Louis XIV (from the connection of Anna of Austria with Cardinal Mazarin), while in accordance with Dumas, the mysterious prisoner was none other than the twin of Louis XIV, who was born in a minute before and thus should have become the rightful king of France.
Another theory is that he was the real father of King Louis XIV. Everyone knows that Louis XIII was quite old at the time of Louis XIV's "miraculous" birth. But an heir was necessary so that Louis XIII's brother Gaston of Orleans did not receive the throne. Cardinal Richelieu and the queen herself were against him because of various political reasons. Therefore, according to the defenders of this assumption, the cardinal and Anna found another man who became the biological father of the Dauphin. As with other theories, there is no actual proof of this, but at least it explains why the prisoner loved the king so much, despite the fact that the same king imprisoned him for life. Of course, it would be cruel to force one's own father to live in prison as a slave, assuming that Louis knew that it was his father. And if he didn't know, then why keep him alive or put him in jail at all? Then there were no DNA tests, and the people would not have believed if some man had talked about a connection with the queen.
One of the most convincing theories to date, in terms of history and plausibility, comes from a coded letter from King Louis XIV about General Vivien de Bulonde, who aroused the wrath of the ruler when he fled from the approaching Austrian troops, leaving wounded soldiers and provisions to be torn to pieces by the enemy. After the encryption was solved, scientists were able to read the following:
“His Majesty knows better than any other person the consequences of this act, and he also knows how deeply our defeat has hurt our cause, a failure that we must make up for over the winter. His Majesty desires that you immediately arrest General Bullond and escort him to the fortress of Pinerol, where he will be locked in a cage under guard, and measures 330 and 390 should be taken against him.
And what are "measures 330 and 309"?
According to scientists, "330" meant wearing a mask, and "309" meant a life sentence, but, again, these are only the conclusions of historians. Perhaps the king simply had a penchant for shackling especially disliked prisoners in masks as punishment. But the main inconsistency in this theory is that General Vivien de Bullond died in 1709, while " iron mask"died six years earlier (according to records found in the archives).
And what about Eustache Dauger then? Does this mean that this mystery of the great Bastille is not connected with his name? It is known for certain that Eustache Dauger de Cavoy, the son of the captain of the guard, Cardinal Richelieu, really existed and was born in 1637. As a youth, he joined the army, but was forced to retire in disgrace after being assassinated. young guy in a drunken fight. Later, he was imprisoned. Due to endless complaints about his detention to his sister and letters to the king asking him to improve his conditions, in 1678 Louis ordered that he be banned from correspondence and ordered that he be protected from all visitors, except when a priest was present at the “date”.
The problem with Cavoy's story is that he was held at Saint-Lazare and the man in the iron mask was at Pinerole. In addition, Cavoy does not fit into the description of San Mars as "disposed to the will of God and to the king", and among the documents of the time there is evidence that he died in the 1680s, long before another famous us Eustache Dauger.
We know very little about the man in the iron mask and are not sure if he was actually guilty of a terrible crime against the king or was forced to hide his face so that no one would recognize him as another person. Or maybe he really was an ordinary guy named Eustache Dauger and a simple servant who "annoyed" the king, but not so much as to kill him. Although, what should a servant do wrong in order to be locked in a damp cell infested with rats, without the opportunity to communicate with people and with the humiliating duty to wear an ugly mask? Who knows, perhaps the favorite favorite of the king is involved in the case? But on the other hand, this is such an intriguing story that scientists will fight for centuries to unravel the identity and fate of the Iron Mask.
It is very good that there are so many people who are not indifferent at VO, and they very often suggest what to write about. For example, after the material about the IF castle, many wanted to learn more about the mythical Iron Mask and the castle on the island of Sainte-Marguerite, in which he was kept based on Dumas's novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne or Ten Years Later. And here's what, it turns out, it is possible (and should tell!) About all this! Through various ingenious calculations, it seems to have been possible to establish that this same prisoner was born around 1640, and died on November 19, 1703. Under the number 64389000, he was kept in various prisons, including (since 1698) and the Bastille, and he was kept there in a velvet mask (and only in later legends did it turn into an iron one).
Most the best option"Iron Mask" from the 1962 film of the same name with Jean Marais as D'Artagnan.
For the first time, this mysterious man was written in the book “Secret Notes on the History of the Persian Court”, printed in Amsterdam in 1745-1746, and it was there that it was reported that the “Iron Mask” was the Duke of Vermandois, the son of King Louis XIV and his mistress Louise de La Vallière, who was imprisoned for slapping the Dauphine. However, this story is absolutely implausible, since the real Louis of Bourbon died in 1683, when he was 16 years old.
1962 film: Cardinal Mazarin instructs D'Artagnan to bring a prisoner from the island of Sainte-Marguerite to replace the seriously ill king of France.
Then the great Voltaire put his hand to the drama of The Iron Mask. In the essay “The Age of Louis XIV” (1751), he was the first to write that the “Iron Mask” is none other than the twin brother of Louis XIV, absolutely similar to him, and therefore very dangerous as a possible usurper.
A prisoner in an iron mask in an anonymous engraving from the time of the French Revolution.
Dutch writers, who had no love for France and tried to cast a shadow on its kings at every opportunity, declared that the Iron Mask was ... a chamberlain and lover of Queen Anne of Austria and therefore the real Pope Louis XIV. Then the Jesuit Griffe, who served as confessor in the Bastille fortress for nine years, spoke about the Iron Mask, in 1769 he published an essay in which he cited the diary of the royal lieutenant of the Bastille, according to which on September 19, 1698, a prisoner was brought here in a sedan chair from the island of St. Margaret, whose his name was unknown, and his face was covered by a black velvet (but by no means iron) mask.
And here it is and the island - everything is exactly like in the movies!
He died on November 19, 1703. Well, as for Voltaire, he wrote in his Philosophical Dictionary in an article about Anna of Austria that he knows more than Griffe knew, but since he is French, he is forced to remain silent.
Why in the movie "Iron Mask" in 1929, this same mask was used to cover the prisoner's entire head? And how to scratch?
That is, it was the eldest, but illegitimate son of Anna of Austria, and that, they say, the confidence in her barrenness by the birth of this child was refuted; but then Louis XIV was born to her from her lawful spouse, well, and Louis XIV, having reached the age of majority, found out about all this and ordered to imprison his brother in a fortress. Immediately there were insinuations worthy of Dumas himself: “The Iron Mask” is the son of the Duke of Buckingham, the “Iron Mask” is the fruit of the marriage of Anna of Austria with Cardinal Mazarin, the “child of love” from the captain of the Cardinal Guard Doge de Cavua, Prince Conde, and so on, and all in the same way.
From film to film, the mask became more and more terrible ...
Abbot Sulyavi in 1790 also claimed that the “Iron Mask” was the twin brother of Louis XIV, whom Louis XIII ordered to be brought up in secret so that the misfortunes predicted for him associated with the birth of twins would not come true. Well, after the death of Cardinal Mazarin, Louis XIV found out everything, but ordered his brother to be imprisoned, and besides, because of their striking resemblance, he ordered to wear a mask. During the years of the French Revolution, this point of view was generally accepted, and it was on its basis that A. Dumas wrote his novel.
And even scarier ... and stupider!
There is evidence that a prisoner in a black velvet mask was listed under the name of Mattioli in the Bastille lists. And it seems that it was the adventurer Antonio Mattioli, who in 1678 promised Louis XIV to surrender the fortress of Casale with the help of betrayal. For this dark deed, he allegedly received 100,000 skudos, but then betrayed this secret at the same time to Savoy, Spain and Austria. For this, he was caught and first kept on the island of Sainte-Marguerite, and then transferred to the Bastille. This assumption was supported by most historians of the late 19th century.
Plan of Fort Royale 1775.
Then the cryptanalyst Etienne Bazeri deciphered a certain document, on the basis of which he concluded that the unfortunate prisoner in the mask was General Vivien de Boulogne, but there was also such a point of view that the “Iron Mask” was the nobleman Armois, who in 1672 in the Spanish Netherlands plotted against Louis XIV, but was captured in 1673 and imprisoned in the Bastille.
Watchtower and carronade of Fort Royale.
But there were also such versions, well, they were just obviously fantastic. For example, the "Iron Mask" was identified with the disgraced superintendent Nicolas Fouquet, the frivolous minister of Louis XIV who actually died in Pignerol, or the English Duke of Monmouth, who rebelled against King James II and was then executed in 1685.
View of Fort Royale from the sea.
There is also such a version, quite worthy of the pen of Bushkov and some authors here in VO, that this is how the enemies of Russia hid the real Tsar Peter I, who went to Europe with the “Great Embassy”, and was replaced, and sent to Russia by the Jesuits or Masons an impostor hostile to everything Russian.
Fort wall.
In 1963, Charles Benekrut, a French historian, "gave birth" to another version: in his opinion, the "Iron Mask" is none other than Cardinal Mazarin himself. Say, it was like this: in 1614, a 12-year-old albino native was taken from Polynesia to France, who, like two drops of water, looked like Cardinal Mazarin. This similarity was noticed in 1655 by the Duke de Gaulle. He decided to replace Mazarin with a native, and he did just fine. The native took the place of the first minister (that's how he “takes away” some!) under Louis XIV, and they put an “iron mask” on Mazarin himself.
Gate to the fort.
In 1976, the Soviet researcher Yu. Tatarinov suggested that there were several "iron masks": first it was the ex-minister Fouquet, then the loser Mattioli and the same Eustache Dauger. In any case, all these people were then taken to the island of Sainte-Marguerite - the largest of the Lerins Islands, which is located just a kilometer from the famous city of Cannes on the French Riviera. This island itself stretches from east to west for 3 km, and its width is only 900 m. It is on this piece of land that the main tourist attraction of the island stands - Fort Royal, a fort and at the same time a prison, where they kept the famous "Iron Mask" and where he threw plates out the window calling for help.
Iron Mask Camera.
First, that is, back in time ancient rome, the island was called Lero. Then the crusaders who went to the Holy Land built a chapel on it in honor of St. Margaret of Antioch. In the XIV century, a certain Raymond Feraud invented that Saint Margaret lived on this island, who led the community of virgin nuns on it.
Church of St. Margaret. Here the prisoner prayed and confessed.
But already in 1612 Claude de Laurent, Duke of Chevreuse began to own the island. And soon Fort Royal was built on it. In 1635, the Spaniards captured the island, but two years later the French drove them away. Then, just like the Chateau d'If, Fort Royal became a royal prison, but during the 18th century the settlement of St. Margaret grew and grew there, as it had to serve the garrison located on the island.
Maritime Museum with the Iron Mask camera.
On the eve of World War II, two concrete pillboxes were built on the island of Sainte-Marguerite to defend the island.
Today, the entire island of Sainte-Marguerite is overgrown with a dense forest of eucalyptus and pine trees. There are about twenty buildings in the village on the island, designed primarily to serve tourists. Well, in the fort itself, the Maritime Museum is open, where you can see the finds found on the sunken Roman and Arab ships, and where former cameras, and, of course, the Iron Mask chamber and the Roman cisterns in which the Romans kept freshly caught fish. For lovers of war memorials, there is a small cemetery of French soldiers participating. Crimean War, and also a cemetery of North African soldiers who fought for France during the Second World War. There is also a small estate owned by Vijay Mallya, an Indian millionaire and owner of the Formula 1 Force India team. Well, he is such an eccentric subject that he wished to have a villa there for himself, but the attractions there are exhausted by this.