There are several hypotheses about who was the real “man in the iron mask”, the famous prisoner who was said to be the twin of King Louis XIV. Such a peculiar character has inspired literary works and some movies.
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One of the mysteries of the French chronicles
Various historians and chroniclers refer to a strange anecdote. A prisoner who spent decades in the Bastille. It is said that he always wore a velvet mask, although many say it was made of metal.
He was not an ordinary prisoner, since he deserved extreme vigilance and special care. His arrest is confirmed between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th. Some consider it to be just a legend, others that it was real.
Source: Five News
How has this story reached our days?
The first reference comes from Voltaire (1694-1778), who was in the dungeons of La Bastillo. During his seclusion, he heard the older prisoners talk about the mysterious inmate who always wore his face covered.
Voltaire then wrote about what he had heard in prison. In his texts he comments on that captive with many privileges. In addition, his custodian was Benigno de Saint-Mars, who served as governor of Pignerol.
It is said that he was a cultured man and his identity a state secret. No one could see him, due to his perennially covered face. Other inmates were prohibited from excessively socializing with this character.
Why was he always wearing a mask? Why was he given special treatment? Apparently, she ate better than the other detainees. His gallows had a library and he was described as tall and intelligent.
There are those who argue that he was a twin brother of the monarch Louis XIV. Therefore, they always veiled his face. It is believed that his face was identical to that of the king, which had to be kept under the strictest secrecy.
Voltaire and Dumas, who wrote about the Man in the Iron Mask
The man in the iron mask in culture
A feature film was made about this character in 1998, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Likewise, there have been some television series and comics. Everything around this mysterious inmate without identity.
The writer Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) ― author of moving books such as “The Lady of the Camellias” ― portrayed the man in the iron mask in his novel “The Vicomte de Bragelonne”, in the saga of the three musketeers.
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Have you heard about the “Man in the Iron Mask”? It is a widely commented legend, surrounded by the mists of a mystery that only has hypotheses as answers.
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