Man in the Iron Mask
17th century prisoner, among the most famous in French history
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A prisoner held for 34 years in French state custody, identity unknown, face covered when moved between cells — the secrecy was so extreme it spawned three centuries of theory. Voltaire thought he was the king's bastard brother. Historians have named over 50 candidates. No one knows.
About
Arrested under the name "Eustache Dauger" near Calais on 28 July 1669, the man was imprisoned for "what he was employed to do" and "what he knew" — labels that explained nothing. He spent 34 years in the custody of Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars, moved through four prisons including the Bastille, and was made to wear a black velvet mask when travelling between them after 1687. He died on 19 November 1703; his burial certificate gave the name "Marchioly", leading some to believe he was Italian diplomat Ercole Antonio Mattioli. Correspondence uncovered in the 19th century called him "only a val…
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- WikipediaHigh confidencewikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- WikidataHigh confidencewikidata · wikidata.org
- Pantheon 2.0High confidencedatabase · pantheon.world
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