The story is full of semi-mythical characters. Needless to say, even if a touch of legend is created around real personalities. But there are mysteries that have not yet been solved … In 1703, a prisoner died in the Bastille, who became famous as "the man in the iron mask." The name of the mysterious prisoner is still a mystery. In the recent Russian-Chinese film "To Kill the Dragon" it was suggested that it was … Peter I! And in St. Petersburg at that time a European impostor ruled. But this, of course, is a wild fantasy. Recently, an American scientist suggested that the mysterious Mask was named Estache Dauger and he was the valet of Cardinal Giulio Mozarini of France. Who could this man be?
Iron Mask: Who Was The Most Mysterious Prisoner?
Royal bastard?
Speaking of the Iron Mask, most often they recall the brother of Louis XIV, who was either his twin, or just so much like him that the sun king decided to hide his brother out of sight, fearing his claims to the throne. Where this version came from is not known for certain. The parents of the sun king - Louis XIII and Anne of Austria - did not have children for a long time, so the long absence of an heir gave rise to all kinds of rumors. But Louis XIV did have a younger brother, Philip, a homosexual who was deprived of his virginity by a man (Duke da Nevers). However, his life is well described, he was a good military leader.
Maybe their father had another bastard, who tried on the notorious mask on his face … But there is also a version on the contrary: the Iron Mask is the illegitimate son of Anne of Austria from the Count of Rochefort, or from the Duke of Buckingham, or from Cardinal Mazarin. It is known that the Queen of France was not very fond of her husband, so a child “on the side” was quite possible.
Hero of the novel
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In general, the concept of "iron mask" is conditional. This is not some rusty knight's helmet that is usually presented. Most likely, the mask was made of black velvet with an iron frame and was worn by high-ranking prisoners of the Bastille - there were no others there. They were imprisoned in this prison practically without trial or investigation on the personal order of the king. Therefore, in order not to cause dissatisfaction in society with the fact that some nobleman was put on a bunk, a mask was put on him so that it was impossible to identify his face. Well, the disappearance of a person was attributed to some vicissitudes of fate - you never know there were diseases and wars in those days.
Secrecy always gave rise to rumors, which were walking among the people and got on the pages of novels. In particular, to Alexander Dumas in his work "The Viscount de Bragelon, or Ten Years Later". Few people know that the first hypothesis about the prisoner prince, the king's brother, was expressed by the philosopher Voltaire, who was in the Bastille in 1717: then the old jailers had a fresh memory of the mysterious "lodger" of a solitary confinement, who received royal support and died only 14 years ago.
In general, there was a man, but who exactly - it will be difficult to say for a long time.
Journal: Forbidden History №8 (101). Author: Kirill Kuznetsov