Who Was The Real Man In The Iron Mask?

The legend of the Man in the Iron Mask has persisted for centuries, inspiring numerous books, plays, films, and TV shows. But was there really a prisoner forced to wear an iron mask for his entire life? And if so, who was he really?

Here's what we do know about the true Man in the Iron Mask.

In July 1669, the Marquis de Louvois sent a letter on behalf of King Louis XIV to the governor of Pignerol prison, informing him that a new resident was en route. According to Britannica, the correspondence named the prisoner as Eustache Dauger, a humble valet arrested on charges that remain hazy.

Whatever those charges were, though, they required very special treatment to make sure nobody saw his face. A specialized cell with extra doors was built to minimize contact, and his caretaker was given strict instructions only to check on him once per day and, on pain of death, to limit the scope of conversation to the absolute bare minimum necessary.

The prisoner then remained in the cell for the next 34 years, becoming known as the Man in the Iron Mask.

So who was he? What was his crime? And did he really wear a skillet on his face for 30-plus years?

The answer to that last question is "probably not." Modern historians and contemporary accounts alike indicate that while he did wear a mask, it was actually a black velvet mask, though rumors of an iron mask began circulating as early as 1687.

Whether the mask was iron or cloth, though, it's true that the prisoner's identity was a carefully guarded secret. Curious minds have been launching theories like clay pigeons for hundreds of years, only to see them shot down by people who probably love starting their sentences with the word "actually."

Some records point to a real Eustache Dauger - a valet who witnessed or participated in some embarrassing church-related skullduggery involving either misappropriation of funds or - and this is a stretch - a "black mass" ritual. But while there was a real Eustache Dauger who was imprisoned for over a decade at this time, historical records seem to indicate he was a different person in a different prison who died some years before the Man in the Iron Mask.

And just about every historical figure possible has been posited as the Man in the Iron Mask. For instance, in his book Who Was The Man In The Iron Mask?, Hugh Ross Williamson posited that the prisoner was - plot twist! - the secret biological father of Louis XIV, stating that Louis XIII had been estranged from his wife for more than a decade when the bouncing bundle of monarchic joy was born, so someone else had to be the father.

Another theory, according to Ancient Origins, is that the prisoner was Vivien de Bulonde, a French general who was dishonored after his withdrawal of troops from the siege of Cuneo in 1691. The dates in question don't add up at all, but coded letters from King Louis XIV make for a compelling case.

The famous author Voltaire theorized that the Man in the Iron Mask was an illegitimate older brother of Louis XIV, the son of Cardinal Jules Mazarin and the Queen of France, but Voltaire was a notorious pot-stirrer.

And even more famously, writer Alexandre Dumas weighed in on this real-life mystery, suggesting that the prisoner was Louis XIV's identical twin brother, a story that was turned into the 1998 Leonardo DiCaprio film The Man in the Iron Mask - just one of several film adaptations of this tale.

Whatever the case, records from the Bastille, where the mystery man was moved in 1698, indicate that the prisoner died in November 1703 and was buried under the name Marchioly. Was there a cryptic secret meaning to this name? And is it possible that more than one of these theories are true, and that there were multiple prisoners forced to assume the identity of the man in the mask?

So far, nobody knows the truth - and at this point, it seems likely we never will.

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