Legends and suppositions have been circulating about the true identity of the Iron Mask for centuries. The man, who really existed and was born in 1638 in Paris, was taken prisoner during the reign of Louis XIV of France. His story inspired Alexandre Dumas father, who described him in his novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne.
The Iron Mask has a connection to the Susa Valley in that part of his long imprisonment was spent inside the Fort of Exilles, where he was imprisoned from 1681 to 1687. The name derives from the fact that the prisoner's identity was concealed by a black velvet mask, attached to his head with metal straps.
Although incarcerated, the man was given a treat that included quality food lavishly bestowed, expensive clothing, provision of books and a musical instrument, the lute, with which to spend time in the cell. The Iron Mask was not allowed to speak to anyone except the confessor and the doctor in case of health problems; he also had to conceal his face whenever he came in contact with anyone.
He could only remove his mask for feeding and sleeping, in the safety of his cell, while he was obliged to wear it during walks in the courtyard, guarded by the guards.
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The imposing silhouette of the Fort of Exilles (photo Fulvio Giorgi).
The rumors that followed over time are many and varied: some claimed he was a minister of the Duke of Mantua guilty of betraying the king with whom he served, others speculated he was a spy called Dubreil.
Some swore it was a gentleman, a certain Eustache Dauger, a protagonist of sex scandals in Paris, some a general, even a Jacobin monk. Others leaned toward a servant named La Rivieri, but some speculated it might have been either the superintendent of finance Nicolas Fouquet or the Italian Count Ercole Antonio Mattioli, who was responsible for a double game against the sovereign.
Amid exchanges of persona and dates of death, masterfully orchestrated to muddy the waters and throw off the search, Voltaire stood out and wanted to see it through. Imprisoned in the Bastille in 1717, the French philosopher learned of this figure's existence from the accounts of guards who had watched over him in the past.
Upon his release from prison, Voltaire initiated research and found out about the prisoner's sudden death in the fall in 1703. The body was supposed to have been buried at the Saint Paul des Champs cemetery in Paris under the false name of Marchiergues or Marchioly. The obsequies had been attended by Bastille Governor Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars, who, oddly enough, had always been followed by the prisoner in all his movements.
These had in fact been taken from the Fort of Pinerolo (of which Saint Mars was governor) to Exilles, later landing on the island of St. Marguerite, off the coast of Cannes, and finally at Bastille. The data, however, did not add up: the Bastille doctor stated that the deceased was roughly 60 years old, the burial certificate stated 15 years younger.
BETWEEN LEGEND AND MYSTERIES, NO ONE HAS EVER DISCOVERED THE TRUTH
Voltaire's investigations yielded no results, and plausible answers were not found in the years to come either. The special attentions to which the prisoner was subjected led to widespread thought that he was someone particularly dear to the king.
One of the two main theories brought forward by Voltaire, but never confirmed, speculates that the Iron Mask was the twin or a half-brother of King Louis XIV, sidelined to prevent him from interfering with his brother's accession to the throne. However, the hypothesis seems unfounded as it was impossible for a queen's birth, subject to strict court protocol, to have been hushed up, given the number of people including doctor, midwives, service staff, ladies-in-waiting, etc. who would attend.
The Iron Mask in a historical re-enactment (photo Pro Loco Pinerolo).
Could this then have been a natural son of the ruler? Was it perhaps Louis de Bourbon, Count of Vermandois, one of his illegitimate children? No one can say.
The second supposition identifies the mysterious prisoner as the King's natural father. Louis XIV was born in 1638, but his parents' marriage dated back to 1615; could it have lasted 23 years without children? Considering that 5 years after the wedding, the couple led separate lives within the royal walls, there was a hypothesis that, in order to avoid competition from relatives for the ascension to the throne, Louis XIII, who had become impotent in the meantime, had sought a scion of Bourbon descent who, for a large reward, would lend himself to making the queen a mother.
Perhaps, years after the woman's death in 1666, the real father, noticing the resemblance to his son, had returned to beat the drum to ensure silence again, being locked up and forced to wear the mask for life? The mystery was never unraveled, leaving the enigma unsolved.
However, the three fixed points of the affair remain: the prisoner was informed of some serious fact that, if revealed, would create problems for the authorities; the sight of his face was prevented, so it had to be someone known; and one could not get rid of him by killing him with poison and making him disappear since there were political or emotional impediments that prevented such action.
The mixture of truth and lies, accompanied by legend and history, as well as numerous film adaptations and books published on the affair, further cloaked a visit to the Exilles fortress overlooking the Susa Valley with fascination. Curiosity grew with the passage of time, but no one, not even many centuries later, has ever been able to reveal what identity was behind the mask.
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