Forbidden History - The Man in the Iron Mask

Episode Date: November 28, 2024

In this episode of the Forbidden History podcast, we attempt to unravel the enigma of the identity of the real-life "The Man in the Iron Mask". The man, known as Eustache Dauger, was held captive in strange circumstances for 34 years during the reign of Louis XIV… Cast List: Jamie Theakston: Investigative reporter Richard Felix: A historian and lecturer specialising in local and paranormal history Andrew Gough: Writer, presenter and editor of The Heretic Magazine  Rev. Lionel Fanthorpe: Author ‘Mysteries & Secrets of Time’ Lynn Picknett: Historian and researcher specialising in exposing historical conspiracies. She is also the co-author of several notable works Heather Osborn: Author & Historian  Jean-Christian Petitfils: Author, ‘Louis XIV’ Olivier Caumont: Curator, Langres Museum  Christophe Roustan Delatour: Local Historian  Eric Meyers: Narrator Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the Forbidden History Podcast. This program is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes. It contains mature adult themes. Listener discretion is advised. The world famous man in the Iron Mask is one of history's great mysteries. He was written about by famous French author Alexander Dumas, but his true identity remains unknown. He was said to have been guarded night and day by the infamous musketeers. But his actual crime.

has confounded academics for hundreds of years. It's a story of power, of betrayal, and of a man imprisoned for most of his life whose identity could rewrite modern history. He is without a doubt, one of the most famous prisoners of all time. But who was he? Although Dumas actually referred to the Man in the Iron Mask

as a fictional figure in one of his novels, I genuinely do believe the world was a real historical figure and there really was a man in the Iron Mask. He was kept in a cell that only allowed access through multiple tiers of gates so nobody could ever hear what he was talking about because this was a scandal that King Louis XIV couldn't let out. The identity of the man in the Iron Mask is one of the greatest mysteries of history. Nobody was supposed to know who he was or why he was there for that matter, which his identification would have indicated. Why would he be both looked after and kept in a mask?

And that surely must be that he was instantly recognizable. Why would they want to conceal his identity? What would be the purpose of that? And the reasonable conclusion would be to hide his identity because he looked like the king, possibly even his twin brother. The reason I think this story has captivated people's imagination for a couple hundred years now is the fact that, one, it remains unsolved. Two, you have this almost heroic figure who would have.

is somehow regal because he's treated very well. What did he know? Why wasn't he killed? And isn't it sad that he has to live a life of solitary confinement? So there's a bit of romance and a bit of mystery associated with it. And of course it's been played up in the media

for decades in films, so it's quite popular and well-known. I don't see it dying out anytime soon. On November 19th, 1703, a tomb in the Bastille's St. Paul Cemetery, welcome the corpse of a man who had spent the last four decades of his life behind bars. He is, without a doubt, the most famous prisoner in French history. But who was he?

What was his crime? And why was he kept in near isolation with his face covered by an infamous iron mask? Journalist Jamie Thiexton is on the trail to find out the truth. This man must have been someone very well known or looked very much like. someone else or had one hell of a secret that they didn't want anyone to know about, but for someone to endure for a few hours a mask that was actually riveted onto your head with a mouthpiece that opened, to endure this for 32 years, it's unbelievable that someone could survive.

All we can say with any certainty about the alleged man in the iron mask is that he was a chap who was imprisoned in many prisons across France, and who was confined to what we would call solitary confinement, but yet was treated really well. So what's curious is that there's no one who's ever been recorded as having seen his face. So we're not sure who he was. The idea that a prisoner should be masked

would seem to depend on three major factors, that nobody was supposed to know who he was supposed to know who he was or why he was there for that matter. Secondly, that he himself had requested it in some strange way, that having been captured, he said, look, all right, I know I'm here for life, but I don't want certain people to know. Can I beg to be concealed? And thirdly, that the whole concept of the masking was not a form of punishment,

but to elevate him from the other, if we say in inverted commas, common prisoners. Now, the evidence becomes particularly interesting when in 1789 in the course of the French Revolution, the Bastille is overrun, and among mysterious things it contains is a skeleton wearing an iron mask. The source that made this prisoner world famous was a book by Alexander Dumas, The Man in the Iron Mask. Although it's a work of fiction, it does contain some useful historical data,

with the author having conducted a detailed investigation into the facts. According to Dumas, the mysterious prisoner was none other than King Louis XIV's twin, who was just minutes older than his brother, and thus the legitimate king of France. As a result, the king had him thrown into jail, and the infamous Iron Mask was placed on his face for life, so no one could ever see the resemblance between the two brothers. He was the twin of King Louis XIV. And as the king was aspiring to the throne,

he realized that this wasn't going to happen for him, so he got rid of him. He imprisoned him. But, of course, it's his brother, so he's going to treat him very well, which in fact the man in the Iron Mask was. So that theory actually is relatively plausible. Obviously, the person in the mask, without the mask, would be instantly recognizable. And the only person who would be instantly recognizable in those days was the king. Alexander Dumas was known for brilliantly mixing fact with fiction.

So I think we can definitely make the conclusion that the man in the iron mask was indeed the twin brother of Louis XIV. Another theory is that he wasn't the twin, but actually the real father of King Louis XIV. Louis the 13th was thought to be too old to sire an heir, and yet an heir was desperately needed, otherwise his scheming brother would inherit the throne. So it's rumored that Cardinal Richelieu, the king's closest advisor and spy chief, arranged for one of his musketeers to sleep with the queen and produce an heir, which she did. However, it's said that years later, and now poor, this musketeer then tried to extort money from the king and Richelieu, threatening to expose the whole affair, and was promptly imprisoned, an iron mask clamped on his face and was never to be heard from again.

The old king, Louis XIII, was allegedly impotent and had been for some time when the boy destined to become Louis XIV, was born. It had also been commented that the strong, vigorous young prince was nothing like his sick, ailing, invalid father. Now, one of the theories was that on the machinations of certain very highly placed people in the French court, the queen was impregnated by a vigorous young guardsman who worked for one of those same very highly placed courts. and that he was then imprisoned so that they then could not ever be known. Basically, the real father of Louis XIVs was making a fuss about this, perhaps demanding a lot of money, power, titles, whatever, and that he was getting a little out of hand with this, and so he had to be dealt with. Of course, the other possibility that most people would think, yeah, in those days, and certainly

Richelor would go along with the idea of basically just shooting him in the head and then there'd be no more demands. So it doesn't seem very likely. Jean-Christopheppéphis is one of the most well-respected historians in France. He's an expert on the work of Alexander Dumas and believes that the story of the man in the Iron Mask is based on a real man who spent most of his life in prison. And to cap it off, he even has a theory on who that really was. Was the man in the iron mask a real historical figure? Yes, the man in the iron mask really existed.

There is the legend of him that surfaced in the 18th century, and there is the reality of a French prisoner during the reign of Louis XIV, who wore an iron mask, a metal mask, but this person really existed. The identity of this man is one. of the great French mysteries. So who do you think he was? Dumas's thesis in the Vicombe de Breslau is that the man in the Iron Mask is the twin brother

of King Louis XIV. This poses a grave problem for the throne, because how can you decide who is king when you have twins? The serious problem had never been really faced in French history, but Dumas suggests it. So the one who is not the eldest has to be cast aside. And they put him in prison and make him wear an iron mask so that no one would recognize him. There's very little documentary evidence to help us unravel this mystery. Presumably because the men behind it wanted all trace of this prisoner and his incarceration destroyed. But Jean-Christophe has published, in his book on the subject,

an original letter which actually talks about the imprisonment of a man who wore an iron mask. It would seem that Dumas' story was in fact based on a real person. So this is evidence that there was a prisoner who wore an iron mask. Exactly, exactly, exactly. So what does it say? It said the eye roll of this prisoner at the prison. of Saint-Marguerite with a mask of steel or iron mask on this face. Yeah.

Okay, and this details what? This was the movement. The prisoner was moved from one prison. The prison was moved from exile to Saint-Marguerite, which is near Cannes. So this is hard evidence that he really existed. Yes, it's a proof of... proof of his existence.

We dig further into the mystery, including exploring the prison where the man was kept for many years off the coast of Cannes, and what's claimed to be the actual mask he wore. He is without a doubt the most famous prisoner in French history. But who was the man in the iron mask? What was his crime? And why was he kept in near isolation with his face covered for over three decades? decades. The source that made this prisoner world famous was a book by Alexander Dumas, who claims that

the mysterious prisoner was none other than Louis XIV's twin, who was just minutes older than his brother and thus the legitimate king of France. As a result, the king had him thrown into jail, and the infamous iron mask was placed on his face for life, so no one could ever see the resemblance between the two brothers. Journalist Jamie Thiexton is on the trail to find out the truth and has come to a museum in the village of Long, about 300 kilometers southeast of Paris, where they claim to have the actual mask that the prisoner wore.

Unbelievably, the mask was discovered at a street market at the end of the 19th century, before changing hands several times and ending up in this museum. It's not on show to the public, so the curator, Olivier Coman, agreed to have it brought up from their archives for Jamie. So this is the actual mask? Yes, the mask of Iran.

And you believe this to be the... I don't know. It's very difficult to say it's a real mask. He was discovered by a scrap dealer in the town of Long in 1895. And this woman, it was a woman, by the mask to an anti-year-old. Antiquarian and the Antiquarian after gave the mask to the museum. And was there any inscription on the mask when it was found? Yes, yes. The history, we know that during the 19th century we have a little paper label inside the mask

who is lost today unfortunately. We know the inscription. Incription was in 1703 the death. the this take off this mask from the face of the twin brother of the king Louis XIV. So it's very important to think that it's perhaps the real mask of Ivan. Wow, that's extraordinary. We can't be sure then that this was the actual mask. It's impossible to say the true about the mask.

Perhaps it's a real mask from the brother of the king or something. or someone, another person, knows the people. But it's still an extraordinary thing, isn't it? The mask is quite an object, a real piece of French history, and what could be the actual Iron Mask worn by the infamous prisoner. But the question still remain, who was he, and what crime had he committed to deserve this fate? The mask that's in the museum in Long is really interesting

because it is sort of an adrogynous-looking, part of a mask, but is it the mask that the man in the iron mask would have worn? I'm not so sure. It could be part of it because the front piece is there, but there's no, just going to cover his face and his eyes. It's not going to cover his hair or his head or the side of his face. So it doesn't seem like that was enough to hide the identity of a truly important man. Well, we have no really conclusive evidence about the mask that's turned up. And masks turn off quite often in flea markets across France,

but there's really no viable evidence to prove that this mask actually is the actual one that was used for the man in the iron mask. It doesn't ring true to me. It's got eye holes, it's got a mouth, but it's only more like a death mask than anything else, nothing at the back. And the original mask was supposed to have been riveted to this guy, so it could never come off. And that's back and front, and this is not what you see in that museum. Truth is it's very unusual for a prisoner to be wearing an iron mask.

I mean, think about prisons in that day and age. They were nasty places. People are insane. They're trying to escape. They're behaving. They're down in a dungeon somewhere. You know, they're not in masks. They're barely clothed. So here you have a man of a quite regal status who has an iron mask on at all times. That really would have stood out.

That was not usual or normal at all. he also had the same jailer for the whole of his life behind bars, the French prison warden Benin Dovan de Saint-Mars, who played a key role in the prisoner's life and who undoubtedly knew who he really was. What's really interesting about the man in the Iron Mask is his jailer, who is a very ambitious man who rises through the ranks

and asks to be associated to look after the man in the Iron Mask. And sure enough, they're together for 34 years, Could you imagine the relationship? And it almost seems as though, it certainly seems as though he understands, his jailer does, that this is an important individual, maybe a royal individual, or somebody who knows something so fantastic, that they cannot be killed. St. Merz, who was the jailer of the man in the Iron Musk,

from the first incarceration all the way through the other prisons, and finally to the Bastille itself, was a very ambitious man, and had there been an opportunity for him to be promoted and to be well treated by Louis XIV, in return for his total trustworthiness and his total secrecy? There is a lot of evidence that the governor of the prisons that the man in the mask was in, treated him almost with deference, almost with a slight element of all,

that this person was a person of some status. The stories, for example, of other prisoners and, you know, doffing their caps and calling him my prince, of course it could have been sarcastic, but taken together with everything else and the way he was treated by the governor, then it probably wasn't sarcastic. It probably was a person of status. Journalist Jamie Fexton is on a quest to find out the truth about his identity and has come to a remote island off the coast of Cannes in southern France

to a prison known as Fort Royal. According to reports, the man in the Iron Mask was moved here in 1687 and was kept in solitary, if luxurious confinement. So this was once a fort, is that right? Yeah, it's a fort standing on the border of France in these days. So there wasn't a prison here, then? No, there was a military garrison, a few hundred soldiers strong, certainly in its heyday. And the prisons were built for the arrival of the man in the Iron Mask in 6080s.

Specifically for his arrival. Which suggests then that he was quite an important guy. Whoever you are. You can read it that way. Certainly we don't have the answer, but they were built to his specifications. And it feels like nothing has changed here for 300 years. No, it's almost in a pristine state. This is the way the man in the Iron Mask would have seen, certainly the fort in those days.

So would there have been Musketeers stationed here? Yes, Samarach, the Armask's custodian, brought with him a troop of musketeers. To here? Yeah. So when does he first arrive here? He arrives here on the 30th of April 1687, coming from the Italian Alps, his preceding prison, the Fort of Exile. Okay. And would it have been common for prisoners to have worn iron masks?

masks. I don't think that common. I mean, we have no trace of any other prisoner having an iron or other velvet mask. Right. And I mean, it strikes me the only reason why he would have been forced to wear a mask would have been to conceal his identity, right? It's probably not a punishment of any kind. It's really to hide his face. And why would it be, why would it been so important to conceal his true identity? Well, that's, that's really a matter of speculation. Again, who is the the most recognizable figure in the land, probably the king. Therefore, it's sprouted a lot of theories about the identity of the Iron Mask in relation to the king.

Because people aren't going to know, people aren't going to recognize, there's no TV, there's no magazines, people aren't going to recognize. That's right. The most recognizable face is that of the king. It's on all the coins any peasant in the realm would have had in his pocket. We know that the prisoner could have been the twin brother of King Louis XIV. But why was he said to have been visited by the king's sister-in-law, Elizabeth Charlotte? Afterwards, she sent a letter to her aunt Sophia,

stating that she's seen the prisoner in his cell, and that he had two musketeers at his side to kill him if he removed his mask. And she described him as very devout, and that he was well-treated and received everything he desired. It does seem that a very great fuss was made over this man, whoever he was. So if the prison cell itself was considered to be quite, I mean, luxurious is probably not the right word,

that again would suggest that the prisoner was indeed an important person. It might. I think if we look at the cell, built for the iron mask, to his specifications, this is how they built the cell. And it does tell you something about the type of prisoner he might have been. When you visit his prison cell,

the first thing that strikes you is how spacious it is. With the furniture inside, the frescoes on the wall and the view of the Bay of Kahn, it clearly was designed for someone of some stature and importance. But who? Some historians think he could have been a man known as Eustache Dengé, who was arrested around the same time as the man in the Iron Mask and accused of crimes against the King. Who do you think the man in the Iron Mask really was? The big question. I think the best thing, the best thing, the best candidate is a man called Eustache D'Eghé or D'Angé, but we don't know who that man was exactly. What we know is he had some secret, some state secret.

He might have seen something or participated in an event which he was sworn to secrecy about under pain of death. The lore of the day propagated by Voltaire and others suggests that he had a connection to the identity of the king. Somehow the identity of the king plays into this whole affair. So he's been incarcerated because he's a threat to a... either the dynasty or to the person of the king himself. Whether that's true, we just don't know. Is it possible the man in the iron mask could have been related to Louis XIV? It's possible.

It's not certain. And I don't think we'll ever find out. Because the people in those days were very cautious. Secrecy was very high. And I don't think we'll ever find out the true identity. Actually, true identity, the true nature of his crime or the reason for such a punishment. 34 years in prison for something we know nothing about. Who was the man in the Iron Mask?

Author Alexander Dumas claims he was the twin of King Louis XIV. But this has never been proved. Journalist Jamie Thiexton is on the trail to find out the truth, and following clues has visited a museum in Long, where he saw what could be the actual Iron Mask that the prisoner wore, and now the trail has led him to a remote island off the coast of Khan in southern France to a prison known as Fort Royale.

According to reports, the man in the Iron Mask was moved here in 1687. Would he have been able to communicate with the other prisoners or? No, probably not. The legend is that he did try at one point to communicate with the outside world by throwing a silver dish where he'd inscribed his name, his true identity. And this dish was recuperated, so the legend says, by a fisherman who promptly brought it back to the governor of the fort, and who asked him if he could read what was written on it,

and having ascertained he couldn't read, then the dish was kept. Right, so that spayed his life. The mystery was, yeah, spared his life, and the mystery was saved as well. So as King Louis XIV's brother, you know, the king is going to treat him well, right? He's not going to kill him, it's his brother. He doesn't, you know, hate him. He just, he wanted the throne. So he's kept in isolation and has to wear a mask.

So nobody can see who this guy is. Because they would say, hey, you're the king's brother. You're the rightful heir to the throne, aren't you? So he had to be kind of kept a little bit out of view. On September 18, 1698, St. Mars was again transferred, this time becoming the governor of the Bastille in Paris, at which point, once again, his masked prisoner was moved with him. There's nothing left of the infamous Bastille,

that once stood on this spot for centuries. But according to eyewitness reports from the time, this man was kept in solitary confinement under tight security and did indeed wear an iron mask. It's said that he died in prison on November 19th, 1703, after almost four decades behind bars. It's claimed that his skeleton was found in his cell, his skull, still encased in an iron mask,

perhaps left there as a warning to others. In 1789, when they stormed the Bastille at the beginning of the French Revolution, they were obviously tearing through the building, and they went to one of the deepest, darkest dungeons, opening various doors, and inside this rather small cell, still chained to the wall with the remains of a skeleton. Waring, would you believe, an iron mask.

Ironically, the iron mask made the prisoner even more noticeable. I mean, no one stands out in a prison unless you're a raving lunatic, but this chap did. He had a mascot, and there's many historical accounts of him being seen in this prison or that person, or on this boat, on his way to another prison, Voltaire mentions that he was seen in the Bastille wearing this iron mask. So it really led to the creation of the legend in the first place. It's very sketchy who he really was, but there are reports of people entering his cell,

taking off the hats, bowing to him, and of course Benin Doverne actually referring to him as my prince. So what little evidence there is leads to some form of royal personage. To wear that thing for more than just a few moments would have been very, very uncomfortable, painful, difficult. It restricts your hearing, it restricts your vision, wearing this mask which must have weighed three or four kilograms, then the prisoner would have been lucky to survive for a year wearing the thing and not for more than three decades. But why is this story so famous?

And why has it remained so popular for over 300 years? Perhaps it's because of the hidden identity of the prisoner himself and the fact that he was forced to wear an iron mask at all times. The whole thing is the most tragic tale. Someone of royal blood actually not only locked away but tortured, terribly tortured with this heavy mask on his face. And lasting 32 years in a dreadful prison cell

that when his jailer came in, they always took off their hats and bowed to him. The story of the man in the Iron Mask fascinates us because it's a great conspiracy story, and it's got all the intrigue of and the mystery of, who was this man in the mask? Was he a masked royal? And all the different mysteries attached to it, and the legend has grown over time because of that. We love a good mystery as human beings, don't we? I believe the man in the Iron Mask was a real historical figure, not a work of fiction.

The question is, who was he? And there's two or three really good candidates I'm not sure we'll ever know. Everything points to the hand of power coming down from the monarchy, coming down through Rieschler and going, we are going to take control of this man right up to beyond his last breath. He is, without a doubt, one of the most infamous prisoners in history. But is it possible to identify who he really was? The security in which he was kept, the mask, and the other elements of his imprisonment,

all point to the fact that he wasn't to be seen by anyone. He was to be kept hidden at all costs. So the theory that he was the twin of King Louis XIV would seem to make the most sense. A legitimate heir and older brother, if only by a few minutes, who was then brutally erased from history.