LHomme au masque de fer (French Edition)

The man in the iron mask

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She wrote this eight years after Daugers death, thus it is possible what she wrote might just be a enumeration of rumours she heard. His life is well documented and he might have worn masks from time to time, yet never one made of iron, nor was he ever imprisoned. French novelist Marcel Pagnol claims this twin brother grew up in the countryside and was sent to England later on, part of an intrigue to overthrow the King, he was arrested on his return to Dunkirk. It suggests Cardinal Richelieu, had arranged for a substitute, probably an illegitimate son or grandson of Henri IV, to become intimate with the Queen and father an heir.

Richelieu would have most likely lost his job and life, Anne would have been removed from any influence, and Louis XIII was quite opposed to his brother.

Therefore he might have agreed to such a scheme. Supposedly the father then left for New France, but returned to France in the s with the aim of extorting money for keeping his secret and was promptly imprisoned. This theory was first mentioned by Hugh Cecil, 1st Baron Quickswood , with the note that this idea has no historical basis and is hypothetical.

Williamson said it is a guess with no solid historical basis and like every other theory on the matter. It might make more sense than most of the other theories, but there is no known evidence that is incompatible with it.

A man named Marc de Morelhie was also suggested to the prisoner. Morelhie was informed of it by his father-in-law according to this theory and imprisoned due to it. Morelhie, however died already in and his father-in-law was also not present at the autopsy. It is based at the discovery of coded letters in by Louis Gendron, a French military historian, who passed them to Etienne Bazeries at the cryptographic department of the French army.

Three years later parts were of it were decoded and a reference to Vivien de Bulonde and a crime committed by him found. At the Siege of Cuneo in , Bulonde was concerned about enemy troops arriving from Austria and ordered a hasty withdrawal, leaving behind his munitions and wounded men. His Majesty desires that you immediately arrest General Bulonde and cause him to be conducted to the fortress of Pignerole, where he will be locked in a cell under guard at night, and permitted to walk the battlement during the day with a Bazeries verified General Bulonde was disgraced and removed from command, so he reasoned and stood for masque and a full stop.

His death is also recorded as happening in , six years after that of the man in the mask. Another theory states the prisoner was a valet that somehow was in knowledge of secrets of the state. This was the Duke of Monmouth. The rebellion failed and Monmouth was executed in Government Minister Other popular suspects have included men known to have been held at Pignerol at the same time as Dauger.

Fouquet himself has been considered, but the fact that Dauger is known to have served as his valet makes this unlikely. He was an Italian diplomat who acted on behalf of debt-ridden Charles IV, Duke of Mantua in , in selling Casale, a strategic fortified town near the border with France. Mattioli was kidnapped by the French and thrown into nearby Pignerol in April The French took possession of Casale two years later.

His full name was Eustache Dauger de Cavoye. Like them he joined the army where he came under the command of Armand de Gramont , Comte de Guiche. In April , Eustache and Guiche were invited to an Easter weekend party at the castle of Roissy-en-Brie along with many young prominent men of court, such as Philippe-Jules Mancini, the nephew of Cardinal Mazarin. When news of these events became public an enquiry was held and the various perpetrators jailed or exiled.

The two men claimed that they had been provoked by the boy who was drunk, but the fact that the killing took place near a castle where the King was staying meant that this was not a good enough explanation and, as a result, Dauger was forced to resign his commission. The records show that during the enquiry the investigators were told about a supplier of poisons, a surgeon named Auger, and Duvivier became convinced that Dauger de Cavoye, disinherited and short of money, had become Auger, the supplier of poisons, and subsequently Dauger, the man in the mask.

In , 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 stated that he was well treated and received everything he desired. The fate of the mysterious prisoner — and the extent of the apparent precautions his jailers took — created significant interest in his story and gave birth to many legends.

Some were presented after the existence of the letters was widely known. Still later commentators have presented their own theories, possibly based on embellished versions of the original tale. Later, many people such as Voltaire and Alexandre Dumas [8] suggested other theories about the man in the mask. It has even been suggested that he was one of the other famous contemporary prisoners being held at Pignerol at the same time as Dauger.

However, the sincerity of this claim is uncertain. In his history essay Le Masque de fer , [9] French novelist Marcel Pagnol , supporting his theory in particular on the circumstances of King Louis XIV's birth, claims that the Man in the Iron mask was indeed a twin but born second, and hence the younger, and would have been hidden in order to avoid any dispute over the throne holder.

The historians who reject this theory including Jean-Christian Petitfils , highlight the conditions of childbirth for the queen. It took place usually in public, in front of the main court's figures.

The man in the iron mask | French convict | www.farmersmarketmusic.com

To make the context clearer, it should be remembered that there was a controversy at that time over which one of twins was the elder: In such a situation, the reigning twin would face a serious threat to his throne. This book has served as the basis — even if loosely adapted — for many film versions of the story.

Later he would have conspired against King Louis XIV besides Roux de Marcilly , and would have been arrested in Calais in further to the execution of Roux, who would have denounced him when being tortured. Furthermore, Louis XIII was old, weak, ill, and not expected to live much longer, and thus may have been impotent at the time, implying that he was not the father. The theory then suggests that the King's minister, Cardinal Richelieu , had arranged for a substitute, probably an illegitimate son or grandson of Henry IV , to become intimate with the queen and father an heir in the king's stead.

If Gaston became King, Richelieu would quite likely have lost both his job as minister and his life, and so it was in his best interests to thwart Gaston's ambitions. Louis XIII also hated Gaston and might thus have agreed to the scheme; the queen would have had the same interest, as Gaston would have removed her from any influence.

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Supposedly the substitute father then left for the Americas but in the s returned to France with the aim of extorting money for keeping his secret, and was promptly imprisoned. This theory would explain both the secrecy surrounding the prisoner, whose true identity would have destroyed the legitimacy of Louis XIV's claim to the throne had it been revealed, and also - because of the King's respect for his own father - his comfortable imprisonment and why he was not simply killed. He said the idea has no historical basis and is hypothetical. Williamson held that to say it is a guess with no solid historical basis is merely to say that it is like every other theory on the matter, although it makes more sense than any of the other theories.

There is no known evidence that is incompatible with it, even the age of the prisoner, which Cecil had considered a weak point; and it explains every aspect of the mystery. One of the letters written by Louvois made specific reference to de Bulonde's crime. At the Siege of Cuneo in , Bulonde was concerned about enemy troops arriving from Austria and ordered a hasty withdrawal, leaving behind his munitions and wounded men.

Louis XIV was furious and in another of the letters specifically ordered him "to be conducted to the fortress at Pignerol where he will be locked in a cell and under guard at night, and permitted to walk the battlements during the day with a However, in 17th-century French avec un masque would mean "in a mask". Some believe that the evidence of the letters means that there is now little need of an alternative explanation for the man in the mask.

Other sources, however, claim that Bulonde's arrest was no secret and was actually published in a newspaper at the time and that he was released after just a few months. His death is also recorded as happening in , six years after that of the man in the mask. In , revolutionary legislator Pierre Roux-Fazillac stated that the tale of the masked prisoner was an amalgamation of the fates of two separate prisoners, Ercole Antonio Mattioli see below and an imprisoned valet named "Eustache D'auger".

Titillating tidbits from the court of the Sun King

After his master's execution in the valet was taken to France, possibly by capture or subterfuge, and imprisoned because he might have known too much about his master's affairs. One of Charles's confirmed illegitimate sons, the Duke of Monmouth , has also been proposed as the man in the mask. The rebellion failed and Monmouth was executed in But in , a writer named Saint-Foix claimed that another man was executed in his place and that Monmouth became the masked prisoner, it being in Louis XIV's interests to assist a fellow Catholic like James who would not necessarily want to kill his own nephew.

Saint-Foix's case was based on unsubstantiated rumours and allegations that Monmouth's execution was faked.

Other popular suspects have included men known to have been held at Pignerol at the same time as Dauger. Fouquet himself has been considered, but the fact that Dauger is known to have served as his valet makes this unlikely. Another candidate, much favoured in the s, was Fouquet's fellow prisoner Count Ercole Antonio Mattioli or Matthioli.

He was an Italian diplomat who acted on behalf of debt-ridden Charles IV, Duke of Mantua in , in selling Casale , a strategic fortified town near the border with France. A French occupation would be unpopular, so discretion was essential, but Mattioli leaked the details to France's Spanish enemies, after pocketing his commission once the sale had been concluded, and they made a bid of their own before the French forces could occupy the town.

Mattioli was kidnapped by the French and thrown into nearby Pignerol in April The French took possession of Casale two years later. The prisoner is known to have been buried under the name "Marchioly", and many believe [ citation needed ] that this is proof enough that he was the man in the mask. George Agar Ellis reached the conclusion that Mattioli was the state prisoner commonly called The Iron Mask when he reviewed documents extracted from French archives in the s. His book, [13] published in English in , was also translated into French and published in German historian Wilhelm Broecking came to the same conclusion independently seventy years later.

Robert Chambers ' Book of Days supports the claim and places Matthioli in the Bastille for the last 13 years of his life. Since that time, letters sent by Saint-Mars, which earlier historians missed, indicate that Mattioli was only held at Pignerol and Sainte-Marguerite and was not at Exiles or the Bastille and, therefore, it is argued that he can be discounted.

In his letter to Saint-Mars announcing the imminent arrival of the prisoner who would become the "man in the iron mask," Louvois gave his name as "Eustache Dauger" and historians have found evidence that an Eustache Dauger was living in France at the time and was involved in scandalous and embarrassing events involving people in high places known as l'Affaire des Poisons. His full name was Eustache Dauger de Cavoye. Like them, he joined the army, where he came under the command of Armand de Gramont, Comte de Guiche , a brave soldier, notorious playboy and bisexual.

By all accounts it was a debauched affair of merry-making, with the men involved in all sorts of sordid activities, including attacking a man who claimed to be Cardinal Mazarin 's attorney. It was also claimed, [ by whom?

L'homme au masque de fer;

Other activities, such as heterosexual and homosexual sex, may also have taken place. When news of these events became public, an enquiry was held and the various perpetrators jailed or exiled. The two men claimed that they had been provoked by the boy, who was drunk, but the fact that the killing took place near a castle where the king was staying meant that this was not a good enough explanation and, as a result, Dauger was forced to resign his commission.

Dauger's mother died shortly afterwards. In her will, written a year previously, she passed over her eldest surviving sons, Eustache and Armand, leaving the bulk of the estate to their younger brother Louis. Eustache was restricted in the amount of money to which he had access, having built up considerable debts, and left with barely enough for "food and upkeep". As titular head of the family, he had come into some small estates, but gave these up to Louis, who provided him with an additional annual payment. In the s, historian Maurice Duvivier linked Eustache Dauger de Cavoye to the Affair of the Poisons , a notorious scandal of — in which people in high places were accused of being involved in black mass and poisonings.

An investigation had been launched, but Louis XIV had instigated a cover-up when it appeared that his mistress, Madame de Montespan was involved. The records show that during the enquiry the investigators were told about a supplier of poisons, a surgeon named "Auger", and Duvivier became convinced that Dauger de Cavoye, disinherited and short of money, had become Auger, the supplier of poisons, and subsequently Dauger, the man in the mask.

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