Secrets of History | The Man in the Iron Mask

A 2022 France TV History Documentary hosted by Stephane Bern. Audio in French with English subtitles.

Who was hiding behind the "Iron Mask", the most famous prisoner of Louis XIV's France? Who decided to isolate this man by depriving him of all contact and all exits? What serious fault, what crime did he commit to suffer this punishment that no one before him had received?

Writers like Voltaire, Alexandre Dumas and Marcel Pagnol largely contributed to forging the legend. No less than 50 hypotheses exist about the identity of the man behind this emblematic mask. In turn, we evoke a lover who is too imposing, a hidden son, a minister who is too greedy, or even a twin brother of royal blood, who risks having ambitions.