The Man In The Iron Mask - Was He Louis XIV 's twin ?

The man in the iron mask was an unknown mysterious state prisoner of Louis XIV, imprisoned from 1669 until his death on November 19, 1703. The prisoner was about 60 years old when he died. His identity remains the subject of speculation to this day. The first public mention of him is in a letter from Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate to Sophia of the Palatinate in October 1711. La Palatine explicitly mentions that the prisoner had to wear a mask at all times, including when he was eating or sleeping. It was Voltaire who claimed that the prisoner wore a mask made of iron, but it was actually made of black velvet. Attempts to identify the prisoner are numerous, and each hypothesis has its sometimes fierce proponents. We'll discuss the most popular theories today. Theory number 1. Voltaire theorized that the prisoner was a twin brother of Louis XIV, raised by Anne of Austria and Mazarin away from court, a theory which Alexandre Dumas popularized in his novel at a later date. The twin brother became involved in a plot to overthrow the king and was consequently arrested. Several hundreds of people were present at Louis XIV's birth. It was only a few hours later that the queen withdrew with a midwife and the lady in waiting. According to this theory, another twin would have been born after the withdrawal of the queen. The boy would have been the heir to the throne in case of the death of his older twin and was therefore taken away by Cardinal Richelieu to prevent confusion. The doubts about his theory are based, however, on the fact that another possible heir to the throne would have been most welcome to Richelieu and the queen, given the infant mortality rate at the time. The main argument in favor of this theory seems to be that even in the 1690s there were strict instructions that the face of the prisoner should not be recognizable. Theory number 2. According to this theory, the man in the iron mask was an illegitimate child of Anne of Austria who lived estranged from her husband for many years. As possible fathers, theorists indicate Mazarin, the Duke of Buckingham and some other less known individuals. However, an illegitimate child of Anne of Austria would have had no claim to the throne at all since, according to the Seley Claw of Succession, only the male line of the royal house counted. Thus, there would have been no point in imprisoning the child at all. Theory number 3. Another theory exists which claims that the mysterious prisoner was the biological father of Louis XIV. According to this theory, Anne of Austria was impregnated by an unknown man upon request of the Richelieu, whereafter the child was presented to court by Louis XIII as his own son, seeing how Louis XIII was unable to father children. Richelieu would have devised this plan in order to prevent the accession of Gaston d'Orléans to the throne in case of the death of Louis XIII. Louis XIV's biological father was sent into exile in Canada, which was French at the time. But when he tried to capitalize on his fatherhood of Louis XIV, he was kidnapped and imprisoned. However, if this was the case, the prisoner would have been well over 80 years old when he died, which contradicts witness statements of the prisoner being around 60 years old when he died. Theory number 4. Then there is the theory that the man in the iron mask was Marc de Morelli, the son-in-law of Anne of Austria's personal physician, who had performed an autopsy on Louis XIII, which revealed his inability to procreate. Afterwards, the good doctor would have entrusted this secret to his son-in-law. However, Morelli died in 1680 and his father-in-law was not present at the autopsy, as he was not yet the queen's personal physician at the time. This theory is therefore easily debunked. Theory number 5. During the reign of Louis XV, rumors existed that the man in the iron mask was Count Ercole Antonio Matteoli, the Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, who had arranged the surrender of the important fortress of Casale to the French for a large amount of money, but then betrayed the deal in order to obtain further rewards. When the betrayal was discovered, the furious Louis XIV had Matteoli kidnapped and imprisoned. However, since Matteoli died already in 1694, this seems to be the case of mistaken identity. On the other hand, the prisoner wearing the mask, who died in 1703, is said to have been buried under the name Matteoli, which fueled the rumors that this theory might be true. Theory number 5. After the decipherment of Louis XIV's secret military correspondence around 1893, a letter to General Cattina was discovered, in which Louis XIV instructs Cattina to arrest, imprison and put a mask on Vivien Lallet de Bullonde, who in the king's view had endangered a military campaign out of cowardice. But Bullonde did not die until 1709, and another argument against him being the man in the iron mask is that Bullonde had no secrets to betray and the reason for his imprisonment was common knowledge. More theories exist, stating that the prisoner was a servant named Eustache d'Auger or another servant named Martin who was guilty of treason. Some other candidates' names have been dropped as well, but none of the theories have provided certainty about the identity of the prisoner. The weak point of many of the hypotheses is that they rely on a relationship between Louis XIV and the prisoner. However, it would have been completely impossible for the king's mother, Anne of Austria, to have an affair due to strict social surveillance. Since birth in the French royal house traditionally took place in public, it is also impossible that a twin birth could have been covered up. Several hundred people were present at the birth of Louis XIV, which makes his birth an extraordinarily well-documented event in memoirs and letters, more extensively than that of almost any other person in history. The weakness of the servant hypotheses lies in the fact that no expense was spared to ensure the comfort of the prisoner and Louis XIV took a personal interest in him. Moreover, a simple servant would probably have been executed. Louis XV's son, Louis Ferdinand, repeatedly pressed his father to reveal the identity of the prisoner to him, but the king expressed that he had taken an oath to remain silent. He also made the same comment to his minister Choiseul. Pressed further, he said that the mysterious prisoner had been an insignificant person who had capitalized on his resemblance to the king. When Louis XVIII was asked about the subject, he stated that, like all of Louis XIV's successors, he had taken an oath not to divulge the information so as not to tarnish the honor of Louis XIV. This concludes today's video. As always, thank you for watching.