Modern Mysteries

Who was the mysterious Man in the Iron Mask?

By T.K. Randall
May 8, 2016 ·  8 comments

Was the Man in the Iron Mask really Louis XIV's twin ? Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Prosopee It is one of history's most enduring mysteries - that of a prisoner arrested in 1669 in France who was held under tight security for more than three decades and whose identity was kept a total secret thanks to the full face mask he was forced to wear throughout his incarceration.

The story has been the subject of much speculation over the years and was even the setting for a major movie starring Leonardo di Caprio back in 1998 - a film which also helped popularize the theory that the mysterious prisoner was actually the twin brother of France's King Louis XIV.

Author and historian Paul Sonnino however maintains that this was certainly not the case.

"[Historians] are pretty much in agreement that his name was Eustache Dauger [and] that he only occasionally wore the mask and when he did, it was velvet, not iron," he said."They are also quite sure that he was a valet. What they have not been able to figure out is whose valet he was, and for what possible reason he was held under tight security for over 30 years."

Through his own research Sonnino now believes that Dauger was the valet for the treasurer of Cardinal Mazarin - France's principal minister during the early life of King Louis XIV.

"What I was able to determine was that Mazarin had ripped off some of his huge fortune from the previous king and queen of England," he said.

"Dauger must have blabbed at the wrong time. He was informed, when arrested, that if he revealed his identity to anyone, he would immediately be killed."

Source: Live Science | Comments (8)

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