The Man in the Iron Mask Alexandre DUMAS vol.2

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The Man in the Iron Mask Alexandre DUMAS vol.2 This article is about an aspect of French history. For other uses, see Man in the Iron Mask (disambiguation). "Iron Mask" redirects here. For the band, see Iron Mask (band). Man in the Iron Mask Man in the Iron Masque crop.jpg L'Homme au Masque de Fer (The Man in the Iron Mask). Anonymous print (etching and mezzotint, hand-colored) from 1789. Born Birth name unknown c. 1640 Died 19 November 1703 Île Sainte-Marguerite, Lérins Islands, France Resting place Fort Royal, Île Sainte-Marguerite Nationality French Other names Eustache Dauger, Marchioly Known for Mystery regarding his identity Religion Catholic Criminal charge Unknown Criminal penalty Life imprisonment Criminal status Died in prison Date apprehended 1669/70 The Man in the Iron Mask (French: L'Homme au Masque de Fer; c. 1640 – 19 November 1703) is a name given to a prisoner who was arrested as Eustache Dauger in 1669 or 1670 and held in a number of jails, including the Bastille and the Fortress of Pignerol (modern Pinerolo, Italy). He was held in the custody of the same jailer, Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars, for a period of 34 years. He died on 19 November 1703 under the name of Marchioly, during the reign of Louis XIV of France (1643–1715). The possible identity of this man has been thoroughly discussed and has been the subject of many books, as no one ever saw his face because it was hidden by a mask of black velvet cloth. Writer and philosopher Voltaire claimed (in the second edition of his Questions sur l'Encyclopédie, published in 1771) that the prisoner wore an iron mask and was the older, illegitimate brother of Louis XIV. In the late 1840s, writer Alexandre Dumas elaborated on the theme in The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later, the final installment of his D'artagnan saga: here the prisoner is forced to wear an iron mask and is Louis XIV's identical twin.[1] Dumas also presented a review of the ideas about the prisoner extant in his time (circa 1840) in the chapter "L'homme au masque de fer" of the sixth volume of his Crimes Célèbres.[2] What facts are known about this prisoner are based mainly on correspondence between his jailer and his superiors in Paris.