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[[File: Man in the Iron Mask.jpg|200px220px|thumbthumbnail|left|A 19th-century drawing of the Man in the Iron Mask]]
The Man in the Iron Mask is a name given to a mysterious prisoner in seventeenth-century France. His identity has never been established, and this mysterious individual has intrigued writers and others since the early 1700s. Once it was believed that the story was only a myth, a literary fiction but it is now accepted that the unknown prisoner was a historical figure. The name of the inmate was kept an official secret, and this has spawned a debate as to his real identity.
====The historical background====
[[File: Man in the iron mask 2.jpg|200px210px|thumbthumbnail|left|King Louis XIV, the man who confined the mysterious prisoner]]
The Man in the Iron Mask was confined in the French penal system between 1669 and 1703, the year in which he died. At this time, France was ruled by Louis XIV (1638-1715), who is often known as the ‘Sun King’. He was monarch of France from a very young age. In his childhood, his realm was engulfed by civil wars, known as the Frondes, and they shaped the philosophy of Louis XIV.
====An Italian diplomat====
[[File: Man in the Iron Mask 3.jpg|200px210px|thumbthumbnail|left| The Man in the Iron Mask’s first prison]]
In the 19th century, many writers argued that an Italian aristocrat 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.
====References====
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[[Category:Wikis]] [[Category:French History]] [[Category:Historically Accurate]]
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