The Man in the “Iron” Mask – Unmasked! vol 5, rel 8

Of all the enduring myths, a 350-year-old French mystery, the Man in the Iron Mask, has been, for lack of a better term, been unmasked. The 17th Century mystery has been an endeavor by both conversationalists and historians alike.  Even the modern era has seen the story revitalized, first by Richard Chamberlain’s movie in 1977 and again by Leonardo DeCaprio’s depiction in 1998.  It's a mystery that evaded even famed philosopher Voltaire and writer Alexandre Dumas. Historians have discounted the theory popularized by Voltaire and Dumas that the masked man was the twin brother of Louis XIV.  However, since then, no other theories have really held up, for little was known about the masked prisoner who spent 34 years incarcerated till his death in 1703.  That is of course, until now.  

In his new book, "The Search for the Man in the Iron Mask: A Historical Detective Story", Paul Sonnino, a professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, claims he has uncovered the real identity of the mysterious Man in the Iron Mask. 

WHO

The earliest surviving records of the masked prisoner are from late July 1669, when Louis XIV's minister the Marquis de Louvois sent a letter to Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars, governor of the prison of Pignerol, then part of France. In his letter, Louvois informed Saint-Mars that a prisoner named Eustache Dauger  was arrested by Captain Alexandre de Vauroy, garrison Commander of Dunkirk at Casale on the Italian border and was due to arrive in the next month or so.

WHAT

Louvois instructed Saint-Mars to prepare a cell with multiple doors, one closing upon the other, which were to prevent anyone from the outside listening in. Saint-Mars himself was to see Dauger only once a day in order to provide food and whatever else he needed. Dauger was also to be told that if he, Dauger, spoke of anything other than his immediate needs he would be killed, but, according to Louvois, the prisoner should not require much since he was "only a valet".

Historians have noted that the name Eustache Dauger was written in a handwriting different from the rest of the text, suggesting that a clerk wrote the letter under Louvois' dictation, while a third party, very likely the minister himself, added the name afterwards.

WHY

Again, in his book, Sonnino leads the reader through historical records, correspondence

regarding the prisoner and other aspects of his investigation.

Through his research, Sonnino determined that Dauger was a valet for the treasurer of Cardinal Mazarin, who was principal minister of France during Louis XIV's early life. Mazarin accumulated a large fortune, and Sonnino believes the valet thought that some of the money was stolen.

"What I was able to determine was that Mazarin had ripped off some of his huge fortune from the previous king and queen of England …" Sonnino said. "Dauger must have blabbed at the wrong time. He was informed, when arrested, that if he revealed his identity to anyone, he would immediately be killed."

Any mention of this reaching England would be easily verified by an audit of funds and would be an act of war with France.  Hence, one could see why Dauger’s loose tongue would be a significant political embarrassment, not to mention an international time bomb.  It wouldn’t take a stretch of the imagination that this information, if released, would result in a devastation of valueable resources if it resulted in military conflict.

HOW 

The prison at Pignerol, was used for men who were considered an embarrassment to the state and usually held only a handful of prisoners at a time. Men like Nicolas Fouquet, Marquis of Belle-Île, a former superintendent of finances, who had been jailed by Louis XIV on the charge of embezzlement; and the Marquis de Lauzun, who had become engaged to the Duchess of Montpensier, a cousin of the King, without the King's consent. Fouquet's cell was above that of Lauzun.

In his letters to Louvois, Saint-Mars describes Dauger as a quiet man, giving no trouble, "disposed to the will of God and to the king", compared to his other prisoners who were either always complaining, constantly trying to escape, or simply mad.

Dauger was not always isolated from the other prisoners. Wealthy and important ones

usually had manservants; Fouquet for instance was served by a man called La Rivière. These servants, however, would become as much prisoners as their masters and it was thus difficult to find people willing to volunteer for such an occupation. Since La Rivière was often ill, Saint-Mars applied for permission for Dauger to act as servant for Fouquet. In 1675 Louvois gave permission for such an arrangement on condition that he was to serve Fouquet only while La Rivière was unavailable and that he was not to meet anyone else; for instance, if Fouquet and Lauzun were to meet, Dauger was not to be present.

It is an important point that the man in the mask served as a valet. Fouquet was never expected to be released; thus, meeting Dauger was no great matter, but Lauzun was expected to be set free eventually, and it would have been important not to have him spread rumours of Dauger's existence. Historians have also argued that 17th-century protocol made it unthinkable that a man of royal blood would serve as a manservant – casting some doubt on those suggestions that Dauger was related to the king.

After Fouquet's death in 1680, Saint-Mars discovered a secret hole between Fouquet and Lauzun's cells. He was sure that they had communicated through this hole without detection by him or his guards and thus that Lauzun must have been made aware of Dauger's existence. Louvois instructed Saint-Mars to move Lauzun to Fouquet's cell and to tell him that Dauger and La Rivière had been released. In fact, they were held in another cell in another part of the prison, their presence there being highly secret.

In 1681 Lauzun was freed; however, later that same year, Saint-Mars was appointed governor of the prison fortress of Exiles (now Exilles in Italy).  When he transferred there he took Dauger and La Rivière with him. 

In January 1687, La Rivière's death was reported; Later that same year, in May, Saint-Mars and Dauger moved to Sainte-Marguerite, one of the Lérins Islands, half a mile offshore from Cannes.  During his move from Exiles to Saint Marguerite,  Dauger was seen wearing a steel mask, which probably bore many of the subsequent folklore. 

On 18 September 1698, Saint-Mars took up his new post as governor of the Bastille prison in Paris, bringing the masked prisoner with him. He was placed in a solitary cell in the pre-furnished third chamber of the Bertaudière tower. The prison's second-in-command, de Rosarges, was to feed him. Lieutenant du Junca, another officer of the Bastille, noted that the prisoner wore "a mask of black velvet".

The move to Exilles and the move to Bastille is the only time where the Iron Masked prisoner was seen.

With the move to the Bastille, this cumbersome disguise was replaced with a more humane

mask of black velvet. It has also been discovered through official correspondence between a government minister and Saint Mars, the prisoner’s jailer, that the prisoner was not to communicate with anyone, be it by writing or speaking. If he did, he was to be executed on the spot.

The prisoner died on 19 November 1703 and was buried the next day under the name of Marchioly. All his furniture and clothing were reportedly destroyed afterward, the walls of his cell scraped and whitewashed and everything of metal which the man had possessed, or used, melted down.

In 1711, King Louis's sister-in-law, Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine, sent a letter to her aunt, Sophia, Electress of Hanover, stating that the prisoner had "two musketeers at his side to kill him if he removed his mask." She described him as very devout, and that he was well treated and received everything he desired. It might be noted, however, that the prisoner had already been dead for eight years and that the Princess had not necessarily seen him for herself; thus she was quite likely reporting rumours she had heard at court.

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Source(s)

• http://www.livescience.com/54669-man-in-the-iron-mask-identified.html
• http://coolinterestingstuff.com/real-unsolved-mystery-man-in-the-iron-mask
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_the_Iron_Mask
• https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442253636/The-Search-for-the-Man-in-the-Iron-Mask-A-Historical-Detective-Story

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