{"id":10070,"date":"2011-09-30T21:10:28","date_gmt":"2011-10-01T01:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=10070"},"modified":"2021-08-05T22:34:52","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T20:34:52","slug":"french-history-enigma-lhomme-au-masque-de-fer-the-man-with-the-iron-masque","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/french-history-enigma-lhomme-au-masque-de-fer-the-man-with-the-iron-masque\/","title":{"rendered":"L&#8217;Homme au Masque de Fer: The Man in the Iron Mask"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Today&#8217;s article is about\u00a0<em><strong>une<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>\u00e9nigme<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(an engima) of<em>\u00a0<\/em><strong><em>l&#8217;histoire de France<\/em>.<\/strong>\u00a0But don&#8217;t get too excited while reading the title above: It&#8217;s got nothing to do with any comics fictional character&#8212;Fans of &#8220;<strong>Iron Man<\/strong>&#8220;, really\u00a0<strong><em>d\u00e9sol\u00e9<\/em><\/strong>, but stick around nevertheless<strong>!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Usually,\u00a0<strong><em>les secrets d&#8217;\u00e9tats\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(state secrets) take a few decades before they are\u00a0<strong><em>divulgu\u00e9s\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(divulged) to\u00a0<strong><em>le public<\/em><\/strong>, but it seems that some secrets are never truly meant to be unveiled&#8212;or at least, not quite easily so.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The secret at hand goes back to\u00a0<strong><em>le XVIIe si\u00e8cle<\/em><\/strong>, the century of\u00a0<em><strong>Louis XIV<\/strong><\/em>, known to the world\u00a0as\u00a0<em>&#8220;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/french-musical-le-roi-soleil-the-sun-king\/\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Le Roi Soleil<\/span><\/a><\/strong>&#8221;\u00a0<\/em>(&#8220;the Sun King.&#8221;)\u00a0Ever since,\u00a0it\u00a0has elicited\u00a0a considerable amount of\u00a0speculation, inflamed the passion and imagination of so many\u00a0<strong><em>\u00e9crivains<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>(writers) and\u00a0<strong><em>historiens<\/em><\/strong>, but none could\u00a0determine<strong>\u00a0<em>avec certitude<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(with certainty) who was &#8220;<em><strong>l&#8217;Homme au masque de fer<\/strong><\/em>&#8220;, or the &#8220;<strong>Man\u00a0in the Iron Mask<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"L&#039;homme au masque de fer\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5NTMVB6_z1g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>Qui est donc\u00a0l&#8217;Homme au masque de fer ?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Today&#8217;s post only pretends to present the historical\u00a0enigma to you in very\u00a0broad terms. As for the task of &#8220;unmasking&#8221; the mysterious character,\u00a0as well as forming\u00a0<strong><em>votre propre opinion sur le sujet\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(your own opinion on the subject), that would,\u00a0<strong><em>bien entendu\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(of course), remain entirely your responsibility.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Having clarified that, one then is allowed to ask: What are\u00a0<em><strong>les faits connus<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(the known\u00a0facts), and from what point does\u00a0<em><strong>la sp<em>\u00e9<\/em>culation<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>begin?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>C&#8217;est un fait\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(it is a fact)\u00a0that\u00a0by the winter of\u00a0<strong>1703<\/strong>, the mysterious prisoner\u00a0who was to be later known to posterity as\u00a0the\u00a0<strong>Man in the Iron Mask\u00a0<\/strong>had passed away, after spending <strong>34 years<\/strong>\u00a0of his life locked up in prison cells. His\u00a0<strong><em>ge\u00f4lier<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(jailer), a man by the name of\u00a0<strong>B\u00e9nigne D.<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>de Saint-Mars\u00a0<\/strong>(quite a &#8220;benign&#8221; name for such a profession!), kept\u00a0him in complete\u00a0seclusion,\u00a0in three different prisons,\u00a0the last of which\u00a0being the famous -or rather infamous-\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/basta-with-bastille-day-why-the-real-french-national-holiday-should-be-june-20th\/\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Bastille<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>prison. He was to wear at all times a mask, which was first thought to be made out of iron, but according to most historians today, it was most likely black velvet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">34 years earlier, in a letter exchange between\u00a0<strong><em>le Secr\u00e9taire d&#8217;\u00c9tat de la Guerre<\/em><\/strong><em>\u00a0<\/em>(the Secretary of State for War), the shadowy\u00a0<strong>Louvois<\/strong>\u00a0(who was\u00a0to be\u00a0closely involved in\u00a0another\u00a0sinistrous affaire known as &#8220;<strong><em>l&#8217;affaire des poisons<\/em><\/strong>&#8220;, which is yet\u00a0another &#8220;dossier&#8221; in its own right) and the\u00a0jailer\u00a0<strong>Saint-Mars<\/strong>, there was a mention of a new &#8220;low profile&#8221;\u00a0prisoner, by the name of &#8220;<strong>Eustache Dauger<\/strong>.<strong>&#8220;<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Was that only a pseudonym, or the real name of\u00a0<strong><em>l&#8217;Homme au masque de fer\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>? And why was it so important for the King\u00a0to conceal\u00a0his real\u00a0identity from the public?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It is at this point that\u00a0the speculation begins\u00a0<strong><em>per se<\/em><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The most\u00a0privileged, if not most publicized,\u00a0hypothesis presents him\u00a0as being<strong><em>\u00a0rien d&#8217;autre que<\/em>\u00a0<em>le fr\u00e8re\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(none other than the\u00a0<strong>brother<\/strong>) of the &#8220;Sun King&#8221; himself!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The first to champion this\u00a0<strong><em>hypoth\u00e8se\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>was the famous philosopher\u00a0<strong>Voltaire<\/strong>,\u00a0though he never offered any piece of serious evidence to support it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Then came\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/all-for-one-and-one-for-al-exandre-dumas\/\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Alexandre Dumas,\u00a0<\/span><\/a><em><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/all-for-one-and-one-for-al-exandre-dumas\/\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">p\u00e8re<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong>,\u00a0the celebrated author of\u00a0\u00a0&#8220;<strong>The Three Musketeers<\/strong>&#8221; and &#8220;<strong>The Count of Monte Cristo<\/strong>&#8220;, who this time\u00a0portrayed\u00a0the mysterious prisoner, in his novel\u00a0&#8220;<strong><em>Vicomte de Bragelonne<\/em><\/strong>&#8220;, as the\u00a0<em>fr\u00e8re\u00a0<strong>jumeau<\/strong>\u00a0du Roi\u00a0<\/em>(the\u00a0<strong>twin<\/strong>\u00a0brother of the King.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The\u00a0<strong>Dumas<\/strong>\u00a0novel has subsequently\u00a0inspired several other works and movie adaptations, one of which is\u00a0<strong>Randall Wallace&#8217;s<\/strong>\u00a0(1998),\u00a0the director of\u00a0<em>&#8220;<\/em><strong>Braveheart<\/strong><em>&#8220;<\/em>, &#8220;<strong>Pearl Harbor<\/strong>&#8220;, &#8220;We Were Soldiers&#8221;, and featuring\u00a0<strong>Leonardo\u00a0Di Caprio<\/strong>\u00a0as\u00a0<strong><em>Louis XIV\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(as well as\u00a0his alleged &#8220;twin&#8221; brother.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">One\u00a0<em>piste int<em>\u00e9<\/em>ressante\u00a0<\/em>(interesting track), and a likely candidate for the mysterious\u00a0<strong><em>Homme au\u00a0masque de fer<\/em><\/strong>, (though officially declared dead earlier than 1703)\u00a0is\u00a0<strong>Nicolas Fouquet<\/strong>:\u00a0A close\u00a0friend\u00a0of\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/la-fontaines-le-corbeau-et-le-renard-a-fable-of-a-literally-outfoxed-crow\/\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">La Fontaine<\/span><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/2nd-part-lulled-by-lully-the-godfather-of-l%E2%80%99opera-francais\/\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Moli<em>\u00e8<\/em>re<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/a>(to name but a few of his &#8220;BFFs&#8221; at the time),\u00a0who\u00a0was charged by the King of massive\u00a0embazzlement, in a long-running financial\u00a0scandal that\u00a0has\u00a0little to envy our latter-day\u00a0<em>affaires de corruption<\/em>, ranging from\u00a0<strong>ENRON<\/strong>\u00a0in the US, to\u00a0<em><strong>l&#8217;affair ELF<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0in France, or the many mafia\u00a0<strong>oligarchs<\/strong>-related scandals\u00a0in <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/foule-sentimentale-alain-souchon-made-in-mozer-russia\/\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Mother Russia<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you wish to better explore this\u00a0<em><strong>\u00e9nigme<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>of<em>\u00a0<strong>l&#8217;histoire de France<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(and\u00a0exercise your\u00a0<strong>French listening skills\u00a0<\/strong>by the same token), then here is a\u00a0<em><strong>documentaire<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>you definitely ought to check (in four parts.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Secret  d&#039;histoire 1\/4 L&#039; Homme au masque de fer\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"500\" height=\"337\" src=\"https:\/\/geo.dailymotion.com\/player.html?video=x8l5t1&#038;\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today&#8217;s article is about\u00a0une\u00a0\u00e9nigme\u00a0(an engima) of\u00a0l&#8217;histoire de France.\u00a0But don&#8217;t get too excited while reading the title above: It&#8217;s got nothing to do with any comics fictional character&#8212;Fans of &#8220;Iron Man&#8220;, really\u00a0d\u00e9sol\u00e9, but stick around nevertheless! Usually,\u00a0les secrets d&#8217;\u00e9tats\u00a0(state secrets) take a few decades before they are\u00a0divulgu\u00e9s\u00a0(divulged) to\u00a0le public, but it seems that some secrets are&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/french-history-enigma-lhomme-au-masque-de-fer-the-man-with-the-iron-masque\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[9242,9235,9233,9241,9234,9230,9239,9229,9231,9240,9238,9232,9236,9237,604],"class_list":["post-10070","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","category-vocabulary","tag-affaire-elf","tag-alexandre-dumas","tag-bastille","tag-enron","tag-eustache-dauger","tag-le-roi-soleil","tag-leonardo-di-caprio","tag-louis-xiv","tag-man-in-the-iron-mask","tag-nicolas-fouquet","tag-randall-wallace","tag-saint-mars","tag-three-musketeers","tag-vicomte-de-bragelonne","tag-voltaire"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10070"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34029,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10070\/revisions\/34029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}