Long before Cannes was filled with exclusive residences and visiting celebrities – in fact, before it was even really much of a town – it had a very famous resident living living in a very exclusive location. Right off the coast and visible from the shore is the Ile St. Marguerite, which is of the the Iles St. Lerins. Once upon a time this was the Alcatraz of France – only for important people the king put away personally.
The royal prison had this strange mixture of being both high security – out on an island with few prisoners and plenty of guards – and yet, high privilege – because these were nobility and notables who deserved manservants and to be treated well…on an island in the south of France….
And while there’s a long list of historically famous prisoners who stayed, the one that perhaps is best remembered is the one whose identity know one knows – The Man In The Iron Mask.
No, it’s not just a movie and Alexander Dumas did not make it up. It was real, it happened. Someone actually had an iron mask stuck on his head and his identity concealed for more than thirty years. Last time I was here in Cannes, I took the boat out to the Ile St. Marguerite, walked around the island, went to the prison and saw the cell where he stayed.
I’ve always been a little fascinated by this story – and indeed, so have numerous French historians and writers, which is why there are numerous books and two movies made about it. The Leonardo DiCaprio, John Malkovich and Gerard Depardieu movie is the most recent and probably well known for my generation, but the old 1970’s Richard Chamberlain version followed the story much better and made an attempt to capture life at Versailles at the time of the story.
The Alexander Dumas novel has it that the Man in the Iron Mask was the twin brother of King Louis XIV – one of the greatest kings France ever had and by far its most genius. The idea is that Louis’ mother had twins. At birth, they took one away and hid him so that there would be no confusion or struggle over which would be the heir to the throne and there would be a spare safely tucked away in case of emergency.
Everyone was perfectly happy – except Anne of Austria, Louis and Philippe’s mother – until one day after Louis became ruling King (he actually became king at very young age with a regent) and somehow found out that he has a twin brother. Not wanting even a remote threat of being displaced by a twin, he had his brother locked up on the Ile St. Marguerite with an iron mask placed over his head so no one could ever see that he looked exactly like the king.
A few things lend some credence to this story. First, actual letters from archives show that the palace instructed the prison to construct two sets of doors over a cell to keep the man from being heard by anyone. Also, only the prison warden should go to see the man once a day – but not to believe anything he said, to kill him if he ever said his name and to give him whatever he wanted. A little odd…
The letter from the palace minister to the prison warden also said that the prisoner shouldn’t actually require much, he was just a valet… Very high security for a valet…
Several more interesting things occurred too. Apparently, the Man in the Iron Mask was really a very nice and gentle prisoner, so the warden asked if – since he had been a valet – could he fill in for one of the manservants who often fell ill. Fouquet, the king’s former minister of finance was locked up in the Ile St. Marguerite at that time, and for the remainder of his life for embezzlement (the king figured it out when Fouquet threw a housewarming soiree at his new chateau which rivaled many of the royal residences). His manservant hated being in prison and often “fell ill” which allowed him to get out of Fouquet’s cell.
The palace allowed the Man in the Iron Mask to serve Fouquet, but never to be in the presence of any other prisoner – so, if Fouquet were to go to a dining hall or outside, the MITIM could not follow.
So, why only Fouquet? Experts believe it was because while Fouquet might well have been able to figure out who the MITIM was, Fouquet was condemned to life in prison and would never be able to spread the word to anyone. Whereas other prisoners – like Fouquet’s neighbor who was locked up for asking the king’s sister-in-law to marry him without first asking the king’s permission – would be released after they learned their lessons and would resume their places in high society.
Another strange fact – the MITIM was kept under the care of the warden even when the warden was promoted to being in charge of the Bastille. So, the MITIM died in the Bastille more than 30 years after he was original incarcerated. He was also buried under a different name than was used on the letter which instructed his lock-up.
Who was this man that was kept under such tight secrecy? People at the time and ever since have guessed. At the Ile St. Marguerite, they have a list of people’s guesses. Most of the guesses were people who didn’t spend their lives in prison and whose deaths were well known and had witnesses – several weren’t even alive at the time.
I don’t know where they came up with this list or who moderated it because it reads like it was written by a group of fifth graders who forgot to do their homework. “Okay, kids – who was the Man in the Iron Mask?” “Uh, George Washington….” “Voltaire” “Was it Richard Nixon?” “Gerard Depardieu?” “Someone played by Gerard Depardieu!” – highly likely.
Voltaire – who is actually on the list of guesses and is one of the easiest to disprove for oh, so many reasons – wrote that the MITIM was an illegitimate older brother of Louis XIV, not actually a twin. Definitely one of the more plausible guesses. Another theory has it that since Louis XIII was suspected to be homosexual or at least bisexual and didn’t show a lot of interest in his wife, that perhaps they had arranged for a surrogate sperm donor from the family line. When later, he tried to extort the crown for money – thereby threatening the king’s legitimacy – Louis XIV had him locked away. Again, plausible. These are both within the same basic idea as Dumas’ story.
Dumas has the Musketeers rescue the twin from the prison, reveal to the twin – who never knew why he was locked up – his true identity and then teach him to act like Louis XIV. Then, one fated night at a ball, through a clever plot, they switch Louis XIV out for the twin. The only one who catches on is the king’s mother – Anne of Austria. But she knows Louis is a real bastard and she’s so happy to see her other boy – so she goes along with it and the switch takes hold. Louis XIV then gets put in the iron mask and justice is served.
The thing that lent some credence to Dumas’ story is that there was a point in his early 20’s when Louis XIV sort of softened and became a nicer, better ruler. He actually went on to be France’s – and the world’s – longest reigning kings who shaped his country into a more powerful, modern secular state. Go twin!
The story of the MITIM is one of the first great celebrity conspiracy theories in history. He was the JFK or Elvis of the 17th century and captured scholars’ imaginations well beyond. In the end, no one except a few dead royals from 300 years ago actually know.
And all this to say that he lived just down the street from me.
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