The Search for the Man in the Iron Mask

A Historical Detective Story

by Paul Sonnino

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Pub Date Jan 05 2016 | Archive Date Jan 15 2016

Rowman & Littlefield | Rowman & Littlefield (Academic)

History | Nonfiction (Adult)

Description

This book pursues an enduring puzzle that has stumped historians for centuries and seduced novelists and filmmakers down to this day. Who was the man who wore an iron mask and was kept in prison for years during the reign of the Sun King, Louis XIV? Paul Sonnino brilliantly traces his decade-long quest to solve the mystery. He takes readers into the heart of the tiny nucleus of people who knew about Cardinal Mazarin’s massive wealth, corruption, and collections. This tiny group included servants who carried out orders that enable their masters to appear innocent and legitimate. Kings, queens, cardinals, ministers, valets, shady merchants, art collectors, bankers, princesses, jailors and judges all play their part—as one Eustache Dauger was masked and jailed for decades, simply because he knew too much and had some unsavory acquaintances. Using the Man in the Iron Mask as the thread, Sonnino weaves a fascinating tapestry of the world of the French court in the seventeenth century. Personalities, diplomatic intrigue, art collections, and a court trial that became an “affaire” are all tied together in this engaging and important work.

Paul Sonnino is professor of history at the University of California Santa Barbara. His books include Louis XIV’s View of the Papacy: 1661-1667 (University of California Press, 1966), Louis XIV: Mémoires for the Instruction of the Dauphin (Macmillan-Free Press, 1970), Louis XIV and the Origins of the Dutch War (Cambridge University Press, 1988), and Mazarin’s Quest: The Congress of Westphalia and the Coming of the Fronde (Harvard University Press, 2008)

This book pursues an enduring puzzle that has stumped historians for centuries and seduced novelists and filmmakers down to this day. Who was the man who wore an iron mask and was kept in prison...

A Note From the Publisher

This is a set of uncorrected page proofs. It is not a finished book and is not expected to look like one. Errors in spelling, page length, format and so forth will all be corrected by the time the book is published several months from now. Photos and diagrams, which may be included in the finished book, may not be included in this format. Uncorrected proofs are primarily useful so that you, the reader, might know months before actual publication what the author and publisher are offering. If you plan to quote the text in your review, you must check it with the publicist or against the final version. Please contact publicity@rowman.com with any questions. Thank you!

This is a set of uncorrected page proofs. It is not a finished book and is not expected to look like one. Errors in spelling, page length, format and so forth will all be corrected by the time the...

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A Note From the Publisher

This is a set of uncorrected page proofs. It is not a finished book and is not expected to look like one. Errors in spelling, page length, format and so forth will all be corrected by the time the book is published several months from now. Photos and diagrams, which may be included in the finished book, may not be included in this format. Uncorrected proofs are primarily useful so that you, the reader, might know months before actual publication what the author and publisher are offering. If you plan to quote the text in your review, you must check it with the publicist or against the final version. Please contact publicity@rowman.com with any questions. Thank you!

Advance Praise

The identity of the Iron Mask is one of the most thrilling and mysterious problems in the history of France. Who was the man imprisoned in the royal jails under the reign of Louis XIV who had to wear a mask up to the time of his death? Nearly fifty hypotheses have been proposed by historians, novelists, and filmmakers alike. Paul Sonnino, a renowned authority on the ‘Grand Siècle,’ knows virtually everything about the actors and events of the French court and government during that period, especially in the time of Cardinal Mazarin. Who better than he to solve the grand mystery?
— Bernard Barbiche, École Nationale des Chartes, Paris

Paul Sonnino is renowned for the clarity of his style and the depth of his documentation, and his book on the man in the iron mask is a formidable inquiry that takes us into the heart of the reign of Louis XIV.
— Jean-Christian Petitfils, Author of L'Homme au masque de fer and Le Masque de fer

Paul Sonnino is one of the great French historians, and the Man in the Iron Mask is one of the great French stories. With painstaking research and the precision of a master, Sonnino cracks the mystery of the true story behind Alexandre Dumas’s famed legend and in the process tells a great story himself. It’s not only an excellent read, it’s a window into the “Great Century” of Louis XIII and XIV, how French society worked, and how a tale of kings and queens evolved into one of the most famous modern adventure stories.
— Jacob Soll, University of Southern California, Dornsife

An example of the deepest possible learned historical quest! With appropriate caution and transparency, irony, and humor, Paul Sonnino construct one of the darkest chapters in the history of the Grand Siècle.
— Orest Ranum, emeritus, The Johns Hopkins University

Paul Sonnino offers an extraordinary inquiry through the lens of Louis XIV’s political world and French society of the time. By mastering a huge array of primary sources in numerous archives, this remarkable historian succeeds in combining his imaginative mind with his rigorous expertise.
— Lucien Bély, Université Paris-Sorbonne

The identity of the Iron Mask is one of the most thrilling and mysterious problems in the history of France. Who was the man imprisoned in the royal jails under the reign of Louis XIV who had to...

Marketing Plan

Table of Contents

Illustrations
Chronological Table
Principal Characters
Map

Introduction: The State of the Question

Chapter One: The Sex Life of Anne of Austria
Chapter Two: The Candidacy of Claude Imbert
Chapter Three: The Fouquet Connection
Chapter Four: Calais
Chapter Five: Follow the Money
Chapter Six: A Tale of Two Families
Chapter Seven: The Testament of Cardinal Mazarin
Chapter Eight: The Cover Up
Chapter Nine: Was Eustache Dauger Gay?

Conclusion

Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography

Table of Contents

Illustrations
Chronological Table
Principal Characters
Map

Introduction: The State of the Question

Chapter One: The Sex Life of Anne of Austria
Chapter Two: The Candidacy of...