Man in The Iron Mask
Another prisoner at Pignerol was Eustache Dauger, the so-called Man in the Iron Mask, which was in fact made of black velvet cloth. Dauger was in the custody of a man named Saint-Mars and was held in the prisons of which Saint-Mars was governor.
It has been suggested that Mattioli himself was the masked prisoner and this was a popular theory during much of the 19th-century. Since the prisoner is known to have been buried under the name "Marchioly", many believe that this is proof enough that he was the man in the mask. But letters sent by Saint-Mars indicate that he was only held at Pignerol and Sainte-Marguerite. He was never at the Bastille and can therefore be discounted.
Read more about this topic: Ercole Antonio Mattioli
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