The Man in the Iron Mask: The Truth about Europe’s Most Famous Prisoner

The Man in the Iron Mask tells the story of Louis XIV’s most famous prisoner in history and legend - showing definitively that the Iron Mask was a man named Eustache Danger. It begins with his arrest and early captivity at Pignerol, a sinister state prison with only one other captive: the fallen minister Foucquet. Soon, a third prisoner arrives, Lauzun, and he and Foucquet have a profound influence upon Danger’s fate. Danger, who is described as ‘only a valet,’ goes on to serve Foucquet in his prison apartment, where he enjoys friendly human contact for the first time in several years. Later, Foucquet and Lauzun are allowed to visit each other, but it is essential that Danger and Lauzun do not meet, or that Danger has contact with anyone other than Foucquet and his other valet. Upon Foucquet’s death, however, it is discovered that Danger had encountered Lauzun; he and Foucquet’s other valet are hidden away in a cell as secret prisoners. When their gaoler is assigned to other fortresses, they go with him; it is now that the legends about the mysterious prisoner begin to emerge. After thirty-four years of imprisonment, Danger dies at the Bastille and is lost to history when he is buried under a false name. Now forgotten, he enters fully the realm of legend as the source of a sinister royal secret. The final chapter discusses how and why Danger became the Man in the Iron Mask, restoring him to his rightful place in history. The history and legend of Europe’s most famous prisoner is every bit as fascinating as any of the fictional accounts that have given him life in the popular imagination. It is time his story was retold for a new audience.