1,752
edits
Changes
no edit summary
==The Royal Theory==
In the years after the death of the prisoner in a bare cell, there emerges a number of theories as to the identity of the prisoner. Many assumed that there was some sort of a relationship between the king and the prisoner. One that was proposed in the 18th century was that the prisoner was the elder twin of Louis XIV and this therefore the legitimate monarch. This was popularized by Dumas in his novel<ref> Topin, Marius Jean François. The Man with the Iron Mask (London, Smith, Elder and Company, 1870), p 114</ref>. He was kept in an iron mask so that no-one would recognize him. If he was he could become the king. According to this theory, Louis XIV was not able to bring himself to kill his twin and devised the idea of imprisoning him and disguising his identity. There are several writers who believe that the disguised inmate who died alone in the Bastille was, in reality, the real father of Louis XIV. The ‘Sun King’ was born to Louis XIII (1601-1643) and his wife of Anne of Austria (1615-1666). There are those who have speculated that Louis XIII could not have children and that Anne of Austria had taken a lover, who was the real father of the future ‘Sun King’. He This indiviudal was imprisoned and kept in isolation so that he would not tell anyone that he was the former lover of the Queen and the real father of Louis XIV. Voltaire argued that the mysterious prisoner was the illegitimate half-brother of the king who ruled France for so many decades <ref>Topin, p 119</ref>. The great philosopher stated that the masked inmate was born from an affair between the powerful Cardinal Mazarin (1602-1661) and Queen Anne of Austria. There is no real evidence that the Man in the Mask was related to the French Royal Family <ref>Topin, p 156</ref>. It is highly unlikely that he was the twin of Louis XIV or his natural father. The main argument against this is the fact that the prisoner known as Dauger or Marchioly served as a valet during his time in prison, based on official records. Seventeenth-century France was obsessed with status and it would have been unthinkable for a member of the Royal family to work as a servant. It would not only have dishonored him but every Royal. Despite the popularity of the theory, it seems highly unlikely that the prisoner was related to the French monarch.
==An Italian diplomat==
In the 19th century, many writers focused on another candidate, as to who was the Man in the Iron Mask. This was Count Ercole Antonio Mattioli, a leading diplomat. He was paid, a small fortune by the French to help them to secure a key fortress in Italy by diplomatic means. Mattioli was able to persuade the Duke of Mantua to give up the fortress to the French in return for a generous payment. The Italian Count was duplicitous, and he informed the arch-enemies of Louis XIV, the Spanish of the deal and they tried to stop the French from occupying the key stronghold <ref>Williamson, p 156</ref>. When the French king heard of this he grew outraged and he is alleged to have had the Count imprisoned and placed in a mask. Yet the evidence for this is scant and thought to be unreliable.
