The Man with the Iron Mask
L'Homme au Masque de Fer ( The Man in the Iron Mask ) is the name given to a prisoner arrested in c. 1669, and condemned to the cruel fate of having his head clamped within an iron mask, or so the story goes. The legend of the Man in the Iron Mask, is based on the true life story of Eustache Dauger. Over time, however, the story became legend, and the legend faded into myth, retold dozens of times in children’s books, novels, and movies throughout the world.
Much of what we know about Eustache Dauger comes from the correspondence between his jailer, Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars, and his superiors in Paris, so there is very little information about him prior to his prison time, such as the circumstances of his arrest, and how came to be wearing the mask. Incidentally, there is no historical evidence to suggest that the mask was made out of anything but black velvet. It is believed that it was only later that stories came to refer to an iron mask.
The most popular of all the legends regarding this prisoner pertains to his lineage. It has been said that The Man in the Iron Mask, was the son of Anne of Austria and Cardinal Mazarin, and therefore an illegitimate half-brother of King Louis XIV, an idea transformed into a book by Alexandre Dumas called "The Vicomte de Bragelonne". However, the book introduced a substantial change: he made the prisoner an identical twin of Louis XIV. The story goes on to say that the man was kept hidden because of his rights to the throne. Twins were a threat to orderly succession, but no one could kill a prince of royal blood, so the second twin was masked and imprisoned. Other stories say that the prisoner was indeed the king’s brother, but not his twin.
