| Man in the Iron Mask | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Unknown (historicaly) |
|
Died |
November 19, 1703 |
Historical Background[]
The Man in the Iron Mask was an unidentified prisoner of state during the reign of King Louis XIV of France. His true identity remains a mystery, even though it has been extensively debated by historians, and various theories have been expounded in numerous books, articles, poems, plays, and films. Among the oldest theories is one proposed by the French philosopher and writer Voltaire, who claimed in the second edition of his Questions sur l'Encyclopédie (1771) that the prisoner was an older, illegitimate brother of Louis XIV. This assertion of a royal connection was echoed later by authors who proposed variants of this aristocratic solution.
What little is known about the prisoner is based on contemporary documents that surfaced during the 19th century, mainly some of the correspondence between Saint-Mars and his superiors, in which the prisoner had been labelled "only a valet" shortly after his arrest. What emerges from these documents is that he was jailed for "what he had seen", "what he knew", and "what he was employed to do" before his arrest. Legend has it that no one ever saw his face, as it was hidden by a mask of black velvet cloth, later misreported by Voltaire as an iron mask. Official documents reveal, however, that the prisoner was made to cover his face only when travelling between prisons after 1687, or when going to prayers within the Bastille in the final years of his incarceration; modern historians believe the latter measure was imposed by Saint-Mars solely to increase his own prestige at the end of his career, thus causing persistent rumours to circulate about this seemingly important prisoner.
The Man in the Iron Mask has been the subject of many works of fiction, most prominently in 1850 by Alexandre Dumas, the author of the Three Musketeers. A section of his novel The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later—the final installment of his D'Artagnan saga—features this prisoner, portrayed as Louis XIV's identical twin and forced to wear an iron mask. In 1840, Dumas had first presented a review of the popular theories about the prisoner extant in his time in the chapter "L'homme au masque de fer", published in the eighth volume of his non-fiction Crimes Célèbres. This approach was adopted by many subsequent authors, and speculative works have continued to appear on the subject.
Public Domain Appearances[]
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- The Prison (1821)
- The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later (1847–1850)
- The Man With the Iron Mask (1870)
- Le Vrai Masque de fer (1873)
Public Domain Film Appearances[]
- La maschera di ferro (1909)
- The Man in the Iron Mask (1923 film)
- The Iron Mask (1929 film)
Public Domain Comic Appearances of Characters Inspired by the Man in the Iron Mask[]
- Tim Holt #32 - As the Iron Mask, Ed Lacerton terrorized the town of Bullet and the surrounding areas with robberies until stopped by Red Mask.
- Captain Flash #1 - An unknown villain took the identity of Iron Mask and planted a lead-coated hydrogen bomb in Atom City and challenged Captain Flash and Ricky Davis to find it.
- Doll Man Quartley #15 - Dan Vittorio was the kingpin of a crime syndicate, was being pursued by police for a simple hit-and-run accident, but he lost control of the wheel and careened off a bridge into a raging river with his car engulfed in flames. His face is burned so he kept it hidden from "any living soul" with an iron mask he stole from elderly locksmith who quickly nursed him back to health. Renaming himself "Iron Mask," He resumed his criminal activities only to be confronted and stopped by the Doll Man.