Chapter I: Front Matter

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THE

MAN WITH THE IRON MASK.

BY MARIUS TOPIN.

TRANSLATED AND EDITED

BY HENRY VIZETELLY,

AUTHOR OF
“THE STORY OF THE DIAMOND NECKLACE.”

“No one must know what has become of this man.”

_Order of Louis XIV._

_LONDON:
SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 15, WATERLOO PLACE.
1870._

TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.

M. Topin’s _L’Homme au Masque de Fer_, of which the present volume is a translation, has met with considerable attention in France, on the part both of historical students and the reading public; several editions of it having been called for in the course of a few months.

That a work which professes to give an authentic account of this almost legendary character, after having discussed in an exhaustive fashion the various theories that have been broached during a century and a quarter respecting his mysterious identity, should have been received with so large an amount of favour, is not surprising, for the story forms perhaps the most romantic episode of a reign more than ordinarily rich in dramatic incidents. But the extent of M. Topin’s historical knowledge, the painstaking nature of his researches, the subtlety of his reasoning, the skill which he has displayed in the grouping of his materials, combined with his life-like pictures of events far from commonly familiar, not only render his work highly amusing reading, but entitle it to take its place in the library, both as an historical study which has resolved beyond all doubt a problem that had long perplexed some of the acutest minds, and as a valuable contribution towards the history of Europe during the latter part of the seventeenth century.

During the progress of the translation M. Topin’s text has been carefully revised, and a few errors have been corrected. Additional notes, too, have been given whenever the subject-matter seemed to require elucidation, or where individuals little known to English readers make their appearance on the scene.

H. V.

_Paris, April, 1870._

AUTHOR’S PREFACE.

If this book had been intended merely to satisfy a vulgar and commonplace curiosity, it would only have consisted of a few pages. My aim has been a loftier one. I have endeavoured, while concerning myself with the most famous and romantic of State-prisoners, to write the history of the principal individuals in whom people have beheld the Man with the Iron Mask. As regards some of these I have been compelled to lay bare the private life of Louis XIII. and Anne of Austria, and in order to refute the accusations with which the memory of this princess has been sullied, I have not hesitated to touch upon certain delicate points, and to follow her accusers on to the ground on which they have carried the discussion. But I have imposed upon myself the obligation of always respecting my readers, and of influencing their judgment without offending their taste. I have traced the others throughout their adventurous careers and agitated existences, and some of them even through their captivity, spent, sometimes in the monotonous inaction of solitude, sometimes with the resignation of the sage, or animated more frequently still by daring attempts at flight which the incessant vigilance of the most scrupulous of gaolers always foiled. Thus there will be found grouped together in this work Louis XIII. and Anne of Austria, the seductive Buckingham and the affecting Vermandois, the versatile Monmouth and the adventurous Beaufort, Lauzun the rash, and Fouquet, rendered admirable by his resignation and Christian virtues, the unfortunate Matthioly, and Saint-Mars, whose memory, and even existence, is inseparable from that of his prisoners.

The sole and firm ground-work of this book are the materials, for the most part unpublished, to be found in our Archives. For the space of two years I have been collecting them in the different depositories of manuscripts; and at the Ministries as at the Archives of the Empire, at the Imperial Library as well as at the Arsenal, at the Institute as at the Hôtel de Ville, I have everywhere met with the most cordial reception, the most unreserved liberality, and the most invaluable courtesy. It is my duty, and at the same time my pleasure, to testify my gratitude to MM. Camille Rousset, Gallet de Kulture, Margry, de Beauchesne, Lacroix, Ravaisson, Sage, Aude, and Read. The treasures of our Archives are not only rendered accessible by the goodwill of their Keepers, but are also made easy of consultation by the order which these gentlemen have introduced among the profusion of documents by means of classifications as clear as they are ingenious.

I have given in the text the more important documents of which I have made use, and in the notes those which are of less consequence, whilst I have contented myself with indicating the collections where those materials are to be found which are altogether of a secondary character. By this means the reader will have a complete check upon me. Without sacrificing anything of the strictest exactitude I have endeavoured to introduce into my account the spirit and the action proper to the individuals brought on to the scene, and, in a subject at once legendary and historical, to represent the faithful drawing of history under the seductive colouring of fiction.

_Paris, November 8, 1869._

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

Page

Arrival of the Man with the Iron Mask at the Bastille--His
Death--General Reflections on this celebrated Prisoner--Motives
which determined the present Writer to make fresh Researches
concerning him--Plan and Object of the Work 1

CHAPTER I.

Theory which supposes the Man with the Iron Mask to have
been a Brother of Louis XIV.--Voltaire the first to support
this Theory in his _Siècle de Louis XIV._, and in the _Dictionnaire
Philosophique_--Certain Improbabilities in his Story--Account
of the Man with the Iron Mask introduced by Soulavie
into the _Mémoires Apocryphes du Maréchal de Richelieu_--The
three different Hypotheses of the Theory which makes the Man
with the Iron Mask a Brother of Louis XIV. 9

CHAPTER II.

First Hypothesis--Portrait of Buckingham--Causes of his Visit
to France--Ardour with which he was received--His Passion
for Anne of Austria--Character of this Princess--Journey to
Amiens--Scene in the Garden--The Remembrance that Anne
of Austria preserved of it 20

CHAPTER III.

Second Hypothesis--First Feelings of Anne of Austria towards
Louis XIII.--Joy which she experienced on arriving in France--First
Impressions of Louis XIII.--His Aversion to Spain--His
Dislike to Marriage--Austerity of his Manners--His
persistent Coldness--Means adopted to induce him to consummate
the Marriage--Political Position of Anne of Austria--Louis
XIII. and Richelieu--Watch kept by the Minister over
the Queen--The King’s Illness at Lyons 31

CHAPTER IV.

Third Hypothesis--Reconciliation of Louis XIII. and Anne of
Austria--The Queen _enceinte_ for the Fourth Time--Suspicions
with which Royal Births have sometimes been received--Precautions
adopted in France for the Purpose of avoiding these
Suspicions--Story of Louis XIV.’s Birth--Impossibility of admitting
the Birth of a Twin-brother--Richelieu’s Absence--Uselessness
of abducting and concealing this pretended
Twin-brother 50

CHAPTER V.

Motives which hinder one from admitting the Existence, the Arrest,
and the Imprisonment of a mysterious Son of Anne of Austria--The
Period at which he is said to have been handed over to
Saint-Mars, according to the Authors of this Theory, cannot
be reconciled with any of the Dates at which Prisoners were
sent to this Gaoler--Other Considerations which formally
oppose even the Probability of the Theory that makes the Man
with the Iron Mask a Brother of Louis XIV. 58

CHAPTER VI.

The Count de Vermandois--His Portrait--Mademoiselle de la Vallière,
his Mother--Anecdote from the _Mémoires Secrets pour servir à
l’Histoire de Perse_--Father Griffet adopts its Conclusions--Arguments
that he advances--Motives which render certain of Mademoiselle de
Montpensier’s Appreciations suspicious--Improbability
of the Story in the _Mémoires de Perse_--Illness
of the Count de Vermandois--Reality of his Death
attested by the most authentic Despatches--Magnificence of
his Obsequies--Pious Endowments at Arras 65

CHAPTER VII.

Causes which render the Theory probable that makes Monmouth
the Man with the Iron Mask--Political Position of Monmouth--His
Portrait--He is persuaded to revolt against his Uncle
James II.--He lands near Lyme Regis--His first Successes--Enthusiasm
with which he is received--His premature
Discouragement--His Defeat at Sedgemoor--His shameful
Flight--He is captured and taken to London--Cowardly
Terrors of the Prisoner--His Interview with James II. 85

CHAPTER VIII.

Bases on which Saint-Foix has founded his Theory--Disputes of
Saint-Foix and Father Griffet--The Recollection of Monmouth
becomes Legendary in England--Ballads announcing his
Return--Indisputable Proofs of Monmouth’s Death in 1685--Interview
of Monmouth with his Wife and Children--He
is conducted to the Scaffold--His Firmness--The Last Words
which he utters--Awkwardness of the Executioner 92

CHAPTER IX.

François de Vendôme, Duke de Beaufort--His Portrait--His
Conduct during the War of the Fronde--Unimportance of this
Individual--Motives cited by Lagrange-Chancel in support
of his Theory--Their Improbability--Reasons which determined
the Search for Proofs that leave no doubt of Beaufort’s
Death at Candia 103

CHAPTER X.

Causes of the Expedition to Candia--Court Intrigue--Turenne and
the Duke d’Albret--Preparations for the Expedition--Beaufort
Commands it--Departure of the Fleet--Its Arrival before
Candia--State of this Island--Description of the Place
besieged--Last Council of War--Plan of Attack, which is
fixed for the Middle of the Night of June 24, 1669--The First
Movements are successful--Terrible Explosion of the Magazine
of a Battery--Fearful Panic--Rout of the French--Re-embarkation
of the Troops--Certainty of Beaufort’s Death 113

CHAPTER XI.

General Considerations on the Abduction of the Armenian
Patriarch Avedick--Despatch of the Marquis de Ferriol to
Constantinople as Ambassador--Difficulties peculiar to this
Post--Incautious Conduct of some of Ferriol’s Predecessors--Quiclet’s
Adventures--Portrait of Ferriol--His Pretensions
at Constantinople--His Eccentricity of Manner--His Behaviour
in Religious Matters--The Armenian Church--Short
Account of its History--Ardent Desire of the Catholic Missionaries
to make Converts--Their Imprudence--Ferriol at
first attempts to repair it--Obstinate Resistance of Father
Braconnier, a Jesuit--Encroachments and Requirements of
the Jesuits 128

CHAPTER XII.

Avedick--His Origin--His Protector, the Grand Mufti, Feizoulah
Effendi--The two Churches, schismatic and catholic, exist in
perfect concord--Fall of Mustapha II.--Death of the Mufti--Avedick
is deposed and imprisoned--The Armenians
ransom him--Ferriol’s persistent Hatred--His stubborn Animosity
against Avedick--He succeeds in getting him deposed
a second Time--Avedick’s Abduction at Chio--He is imprisoned
on board a French Vessel--Incidents of the Voyage--Avedick
endeavours to give Tidings of his Fate to the World--Insuccess
of his Attempt--His Arrival at Marseilles 147

CHAPTER XIII.

The Chevalier de Taulès--How he was led to believe that Avedick
was the Man with the Iron Mask--A clear Proof furnished
him of the impossibility of his Theory--Taulès persists and
accuses the Jesuit Fathers of Forgery--Examination of
Dujonca’s Journal--Its complete Authenticity and the unaffected
Sincerity of the Writer cannot be doubted--New
Proofs of this Authenticity and of Dujonca’s Exactitude 158

CHAPTER XIV.

Avedick is at first confined in the Prisons of the Arsenal--From
Marseilles he is conducted to Mount Saint-Michel--Description
of Mount Saint-Michel--Treatment to which Avedick is exposed--His
useless Protestations against this Abuse of Force--Universal
Emotion excited throughout the East--Complaints
of the Divan--Ferriol’s Impudence--Terrible Reprisals
practised on the Catholics--False Avedicks--Expedients to
which Ferriol is reduced--Inquietude of the Roman Court--Duplicity
of Louis XIV.’s Government--Avedick is transferred
to the Bastille--Suggestions of which he is the Object--He
abjures, and is set at Liberty--He dies at Paris in the Rue
Férou--Delusive Document drawn up with Reference to this
Death--Share of Responsibility which attaches to each of the
Authors of the Abduction 171

CHAPTER XV.

Description of Pignerol--Its Past, its Situation--Portrait of
Saint-Mars--His Scruples and his Integrity--Fouquet’s Arrival at
Pignerol--Brief Account of the Surintendant’s Career--His
Error with regard to Louis XIV., whom he betrays--Causes
of Fouquet’s Fall--His Arrest--His Trial--His Condemnation--No
kind of Obscurity in this Affair 189

CHAPTER XVI.

Remark of Fouquet’s Mother--The Prisoner’s Piety--Danger which he
escapes at Pignerol--Incessant Supervision over him at La Pérouse,
near Pignerol--Excessive Scruples of Saint-Mars--Precautions
prescribed by Louvois--Espionage exercised
over Fouquet by his Servants and his Confessor--Illnesses of
the Prisoner--He devotes himself entirely to Study and to
religious Meditations--Works to which he gives himself up--His
new Motto--Interest which he continues to take in all his
Relations and in Louis XIV.--Saint-Mars’ laconic Answers 208

CHAPTER XVII.

Sudden and singular Arrival of Lauzun in Fouquet’s Room--The
latter had known him formerly under the Name of the Marquis
de Puyguilhem--Lauzun enumerates his Dignities and calls
himself the King’s Cousin--Fouquet believes his Visitor mad--Portrait
of Lauzun--His Adventures--His Arrival at
Pignerol--He continues his Visits to Fouquet--The Stories
he tells him--Noble Conduct of Louis XIV. towards Lauzun--Audacious
Method employed by the latter to overhear a Conversation
between Louis XIV. and Madame de Montespan--Difference
between the Conduct of Lauzun and that of Fouquet--Lauzun’s
Outbursts against Saint-Mars--Perplexity of the latter--Singular
Mode of Surveillance to which he has recourse--Progressive
amelioration of the Lot of the two Prisoners--They
receive Permission to see each other--Arrival of
Fouquet’s Daughter at Pignerol--Misunderstanding between
Fouquet and Lauzun--Cause of this Misunderstanding 219

CHAPTER XVIII.

Theory which makes Fouquet the Man with the Iron Mask--Arguments
advanced by M. Lacroix--Some to be absolutely
rejected and some discussed--Fouquet not in possession of a
dangerous State Secret--Madame de Maintenon--Her Character--Her
Youth--Her Relations with Monsieur and Madame
Fouquet--Her honourable Reserve--The Affair of the Poisons--How
Fouquet’s Name became mixed up in it--Probability
of his Death being caused by an Attack of Apoplexy--Weakness
of the other Arguments advanced by M. Lacroix--Oblivion
into which the Surintendant had fallen--Two
mysterious Arrests 232

CHAPTER XIX.

Intervention of the Kings of France in Italy--Policy of Henri II.,
Henri IV., and Louis XIII.--Judicious Conduct of Richelieu--Treaty
of Cherasco--Menacing Ambition of Louis XIV.--Situation
of the Court of Savoy on the Death of Charles-Emmanuel--Portrait
of Charles IV., Duke of Mantua--The
Marquisate of Montferrat and Casale--The Count Matthioly--His
political Career--His Character--The Abbé d’Estrades
and Giuliani--Proposal to cede Casale to Louis XIV.--Interview
at Venice between Charles IV. and the Abbé d’Estrades--Journey
of Matthioly to Versailles--He communicates the
Project formed to the Enemies of France--How is his Conduct
to be estimated? 251

CHAPTER XX.

The Regent of Savoy’s Perplexity--She discloses Matthioly’s Conduct
to Louis XIV.--Arrival of Catinat at Pignerol--Arrest of
the Baron d’Asfeld and his Imprisonment at Milan--The Abbé
d’Estrades the first to conceive the Project of Matthioly’s
Abduction--Despatches of the Abbé d’Estrades detailing the
Abduction and the Incarceration of Matthioly--Means adopted
in order to recover the official Documents connected with the
Negotiation--Mystery surrounding Matthioly’s Disappearance--His
family dispersed, and remaining silent and powerless 267

CHAPTER XXI.

Period from which the Theory that makes Matthioly the Man with
the Iron Mask dates--Numerous Writers who have concerned
themselves with the Abduction of this Individual--Arguments
of Reth, Roux-Fazillac, and Delort--M. Jules Loiseleur--His
Labours--The Supposition that an obscure Spy was
arrested in 1681 by Catinat--It cannot be admitted--Grounds
on which M. Loiseleur rejects the Theory that makes Matthioly
the Man with the Iron Mask--Soundness of his Reasoning
and Justness of his Conclusions 293

CHAPTER XXII.

The Isles Sainte-Marguerite--Their Appearance--Their Past--Various
Causes of their Celebrity--How I was led to suppose
that Matthioly was not taken to Exiles by Saint-Mars--Documents
which prove him to have been left at Pignerol--Obscurity
of the two Prisoners transferred to Exiles by
Saint-Mars--Neither of them could have been the Man with
the Iron Mask--Removal of the Prisoners of Pignerol to the
Isles Sainte-Marguerite 313

CHAPTER XXIII.

Behaviour of Charles IV., Duke of Mantua, towards his ex-Minister--His
true Sentiments with reference to him--Precautions prescribed to
Villebois and Lagrade for the Prisoners left by Saint-Mars at
Pignerol--Change in Louis XIV.’s Position in Italy--Transfer of the
Pignerol Prisoners to the Isles Sainte-Marguerite--Instructions
given to Marshal de Tessé--Increase
of Saint-Mars’ Watchfulness--Mystery surrounding the three
Prisoners--Great Importance of one of them compared with the
others--It is he who was the Man with the Iron Mask 332

CHAPTER XXIV.

The Use of a Mask formerly very general--Frequently adopted for
Prisoners in Italy--Its Employment not difficult in the Case
of Matthioly--Origin of the Legend of the Man with the
Iron Mask--As to the Transmission of the Secret from
King to King--Louis XV. and Louis XVIII.--How it is
that the Despatches which we have quoted have remained
unpublished--Concerning the Silence of Saint-Simon--Dujonca--Taulès’
Objection--Louvois’ harsh Language--Matthioly’s
Age--Concerning the name of Marchialy--Order
for Matthioly’s Arrest--Arrival of the Duke of Mantua in
Paris--Conclusion 350

THE

MAN WITH THE IRON MASK.