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The True History of the State Prisoner, commonly called the Iron Mask
Baron George Agar Ellis Dover
The True History of the State Prisoner, commonly called the Iron Mask / Extracted from Documents in the French Archives
PREFACE
I was led to undertake the following Narrative by the perusal of a work, lately published at Paris, entitled “Histoire de L’Homme au Masque de Fer, par J. Delort;” in which the name of that state prisoner is most clearly and satisfactorily ascertained, by means of authentic documents.
Under these circumstances, it may be asked why I was not contented to leave the question, thus set at rest, in the hands of M. Delort, who had the original merit of the discovery: – to this I would answer, that M. Delort’s part of the book struck me as peculiarly ill arranged and confused; besides being unnecessarily filled with the most fulsome flattery of Lewis the Fourteenth, never, certainly, more inappropriately bestowed, than while in the act of recording one of the most cruel and oppressive acts of that Sovereign’s cruel and oppressive reign.
I have also thought, that the subject was one of sufficient historical curiosity to interest the English public.
For these reasons, I have been induced to throw together the following chain of evidence upon the subject, making use of the same documents as M. Delort, to which I have added some others previously published, and printing the whole series in an Appendix.
G. A. E.April, 1826.CONTENTS
History of the Iron Mask.
APPENDIX.
No. 1. Estrades to Lewis the Fourteenth.
Commencement of the Negociation. – State of the Court of Mantua. – Influence of the Spaniards there.
No. 2. Matthioli to Lewis the Fourteenth.
Protestations of devotion to Lewis. – Belief in the good intentions of the Duke of Mantua.
No. 3. Estrades to Pomponne.
Continuation of the negociation. – Intrigues of the Austrian Party.
No. 4. Estrades to Pomponne.
Intrigues of the Spaniards to form a league in Italy against France.
No. 5. Pomponne to Estrades.
No. 6. Pomponne to Estrades.
The King’s approval of the negociation.
No. 7. Lewis the Fourteenth to Estrades.
Approval of the negociation. – Answer to the demands of the Duke of Mantua.
No. 8. Lewis the Fourteenth to Matthioli.
No. 9. Estrades to Pomponne.
No. 10. Estrades to Lewis the Fourteenth.
Conference with Matthioli. – Discussion of the demands of the Duke of Mantua.
No. 11. Estrades to Pomponne.
The Duke of Mantua watched by the Spaniards.
No. 12. Estrades to Pomponne.
Impatience of the Duke of Mantua to conclude the Negociation.
No. 13. Estrades to Pomponne.
Plans of the Spaniards. – Dispositions of the Venetian Government.
No. 14. Pomponne to Estrades.
Recommendations of Delay in the Negociation.
No. 15. Estrades to Pomponne.
Information respecting the Dispositions of the Venetians.
No. 16. Estrades to Pomponne.
Fears of the Duke of Mantua.
No. 17. Estrades to Lewis the Fourteenth.
Account of his Interview with the Duke of Mantua. – The latter insists upon sending Matthioli to Paris.
No. 18. Estrades to Pomponne.
Reasons for consenting to the mission of Matthioli to Paris.
No. 19. Estrades to Pomponne.
No. 20. Pomponne to Estrades.
Approval of Matthioli’s Mission to France. – Permission to Estrades to leave Venice.
No. 21. Estrades to Pomponne.
Conversation with Matthioli.
No. 22. Pomponne to Estrades.
No. 23. Estrades to Pomponne.
Means of protracting the Negociation. – Views of Matthioli.
No. 24. Estrades to Pomponne.
Delay in Matthioli’s Journey to Paris.
No. 25. Estrades to Pomponne.
Interview with Matthioli.
No. 26. Pomponne to Estrades.
No. 27. Pomponne to Estrades.
No. 28. Estrades to Pomponne.
Differences between the Duke of Mantua and the Spaniards.
No. 29. Estrades to Pomponne.
Excuses for the delay of Matthioli.
No. 30. Pomponne to Estrades.
No. 31. Estrades to Pomponne.
No. 32. Pomponne to Estrades.
No. 33. Estrades to Lewis the Fourteenth.
Good dispositions of the Duke of Mantua, and of the Garrison of Casale.
No. 34. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
No. 35. Matthioli to Lewis the Fourteenth.
Excuses his own delay.
No. 36. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
No. 37. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
No. 38. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
No. 39. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
Intention of Estrades to leave Venice.
No. 40. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
Continued delay of Matthioli.
No. 41. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
No. 42. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
No. 43. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
No. 44. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
No. 45. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
No. 46. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
No. 47. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
No. 48.
Powers granted to Pomponne, to treat with Matthioli.
No. 49. Lewis the Fourteenth to the Duke of Mantua.
Promises his protection to the Duke.
No. 50. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
No. 51. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
Interview of Pinchesne with Don Joseph Varano.
No. 52. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
A courier sent to Venice with a new cypher.
No. 53. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
Catinat sent to Pignerol.
No. 54. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
D’Asfeld sent to Venice.
No. 55. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
No. 56. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
No. 57. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
No. 58. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
No. 59. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
Arrival of d’Asfeld at Venice.
No. 60. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
Delays of Matthioli, and of the Duke of Mantua.
No. 61. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
Further Delays of Matthioli.
No. 62. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 63. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
Interviews with Matthioli. – Further Delays in the Ratification of the Treaty.
No. 64. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 65. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
No. 66. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
Reasons for the Duke of Mantua’s delay in going to Casale.
No. 67. Pomponne to Matthioli.
No. 68. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
Arrangements for the Exchange of the Ratifications of the Treaty.
No. 69. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
Suspicions of the House of Austria respecting the Negociations.
No. 70. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
Arrest of d’Asfeld. – Departure of the Duke of Mantua from Venice.
No. 71. Pomponne to Matthioli.
Letter of Credence to be presented to Matthioli by Catinat.
No. 72. Estrades to Matthioli.
Complaints of the Delays in the Conclusion of the Negociation.
No. 73. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 74. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
No. 75. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
Suspicions of the Fidelity of Matthioli.
No. 76. Chanois to Louvois.
Reports of Catinat being at Pignerol. – Different Rumours respecting the Negociation.
No. 77. Catinat to Louvois.
No. 78. Catinat to Louvois.
Rumours of Catinat’s being at Pignerol. – Civilities of Saint-Mars to him.
No. 79. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
Continued Suspicions of Matthioli.
No. 80. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 81. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
Confirmation of the Suspicions respecting Matthioli’s want of fidelity.
No. 82. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
Order to receive Matthioli as a Prisoner.
No. 83. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
Further confirmation of the Treachery of Matthioli.
No. 84. Catinat to Louvois.
Arrest of Matthioli.
No. 85. Catinat to Louvois.
Intelligence respecting Matthioli’s Papers.
No. 86.
Inventory sent by Catinat to Louvois, of the Papers which Matthioli had about his person.
No. 87. Catinat to Louvois.
First Examination of Matthioli.
No. 88. Pomponne to Pinchesne.
No. 89. Pinchesne to Pomponne.
Interviews between the Duke of Mantua and the Senator Foscarini.
No. 90. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
Orders to treat Matthioli with severity.
No. 91. Catinat to Louvois.
Plans of Catinat for obtaining possession of Casale.
No. 92.
Second Examination of Matthioli.
No. 93. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 94. Catinat to Louvois.
Further particulars respecting Matthioli.
No. 95.
Third Examination of Matthioli.
No. 96. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 97. Catinat to Louvois.
Concluding Examination of Matthioli.
No. 98. Varengeville to Pomponne.
Proposed recompense to Giuliani.
No. 99. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 100. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 101. Saint-Mars to Louvois.
No. 102. Saint-Mars to Louvois.
Matthioli complains of his Treatment, and gives Proofs of Insanity.
No. 103. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 104. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 105. Saint-Mars to Louvois.
Matthioli and the Jacobin placed together.
No. 106. Saint-Mars to Louvois.
No. 107. Saint-Mars to Louvois.
Particulars respecting the Ring given by Matthioli to Blainvilliers.
No. 108. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 109. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 110. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 111. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
Appointment of Saint-Mars to the Government of Exiles – Measures to be taken by him thereupon.
No. 112. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
Precautions for the Journey of the Prisoners from Pignerol to Exiles.
No. 113. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 114. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 115. Saint-Mars to Louvois.
Precautions for the Security and Concealment of the Prisoners at Exiles.
No. 116. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
Departure of Saint-Mars from Pignerol ordered to be deferred, in order that he might receive Catinat there.
No. 117. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 118. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
Orders for the Reception of Catinat at Pignerol.
No. 119. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 120. Louvois to Saint-Mars.
No. 121. Saint-Mars to Louvois.
No. 122. Saint-Mars to Louvois.
Description of the Apartment and manner of Confinement of the Prisoners at Exiles.
No. 123. Saint-Mars to Louvois.
No. 124. Saint-Mars to Louvois.
Saint-Mars is made Governor of the Islands of Saint Margaret.
No. 125. Saint-Mars to Louvois.
No. 126. Saint-Mars to Louvois.
Arrival of Matthioli at the Islands of Saint Margaret.
No. 127. Saint-Mars to the Minister.
Relation of the conduct of two Protestant Ministers.
No. 128.
Extract from the Register of the Bastille, published in the Work entitled, “La Bastille Dévoilée”.
No. 129.
Second Extract from the Register of the Bastille, published in the Work entitled, “La Bastille Dévoilée”.
No. 130.
Extract from the Register of Burials of the Church of Saint Paul, at Paris.
No. 131.
Extract from the Work entitled “La Correspondance Interceptée,” by M. Lewis Dutens, published in 1789.
No. 132.
Extract from the article on the Iron Mask in the Work entitled “Mélanges d’Histoire et de Littérature;” by Mr. Quintin Craufurd.
No. 133.
Letter from the Baron de Heiss to the Authors of the “Journal Encyclopédique” on the subject of the Iron Mask; published in that Journal in 1770.
Letter on the subject of the Man in the Iron Mask, announced in the preceding one.
HISTORY OF THE IRON MASK
The curiosity of the public has been now, for above a century, so much wrought upon by the, mystery which has enveloped the name of the Iron Mask, (or as the French more properly designate him, “the Man of the Iron Mask,”1) that the eagerness for discovery has thus been carried much farther than the real importance of the subject deserved. Numerous have been the papers written, and the conjectures hazarded in favour of different theories; almost all presenting, at first view, some semblance of probability; but all, without exception, crumbling to nothing when exposed to the researches of accurate inquiry. Under these circumstances, it is certainly satisfactory, that the question should be finally set at rest.
It is singular, that among all the inquiries hitherto made respecting the Iron Mask, no one seems ever to have thought of recurring to the only source from whence true information could be derived – the archives of the French Government, during the reign of Lewis the Fourteenth. It was reserved for M. Delort to make these researches; which he did by the permission of the Count d’Hauterive, Keeper of the Archives of the office of Secretary of State for the Foreign department, and the result has been perfectly conclusive. In those archives, he found the continued correspondence of the French ministers, proving, beyond a doubt, that the Iron Mask was an Italian of the name of Matthioli; a personage who was first put on the list of candidates for that honour, in a pamphlet published in 1801, by M. Roux (Fazillac);2 who, however, was then unable to support his opinion with sufficient authorities.
Hercules Anthony Matthioli3 was a Bolognese of ancient family, distinguished in the law. He was the son of Valerian Matthioli and Girolama Maggi, and was born on the 1st of December 1640. On the 13th of January, 1661, he married Camilla, daughter of Bernard Paleotti, and widow of Alexander Piatesi. By her he had two sons, one of whom only had posterity, which has long since been extinct. Early in life he was public reader in the University of Bologna, but he soon quitted his native city to enter into the service of Charles the Third, Duke of Mantua, by whom he was much favoured, and towards the conclusion of whose reign he was made Secretary of State. His successor, Ferdinand, Charles the Fourth, the last sovereign of Mantua, of the house of Gonzaga, created Matthioli Supernumerary Senator of Mantua, an honour which had formerly been enjoyed by his great grandfather, and gave him the title of Count. When he ceased to be Secretary of State at Mantua does not appear; but he was clearly not in that office when he first, unhappily for himself, was involved in diplomatic relations with the agents of the French Government.
Towards the end of the year 1677, the Abbé d’Estrades,4 ambassador from France to the Republic of Venice, conceived the idea, which he was well aware would be highly acceptable to the insatiable ambition of his master, of inducing the Duke of Mantua5 to allow of the introduction of a French garrison into Casale,6 a strongly fortified town, the capital of the Montferrat, and in a great measure the key of Italy. The cession of the fortress of Pignerol7 to the French, by Victor Amadeus,8 Duke of Savoy, in 1632, had opened to them the entry of Piedmont, and the possession of Casale would enable them to invade the Milanese, whenever they were so inclined.
At this time the council of the Duke of Mantua, headed by his mother,9 an Austrian Archduchess, was entirely in the interests of the Court of Spain; while the young Duke, plunged in pleasures and excesses of every kind, took little apparent interest in politicks. The great difficulty, therefore, which Estrades had to encounter in the prosecution of this intrigue, was the establishment of a channel of communication with the Duke; who, as has been stated, was surrounded by persons in the Spanish interest. If he could once enter into secret relations with that Prince, he hoped to be able to bribe him into a concurrence in his designs; for Ferdinand Charles was both needy and unprincipled. He had, besides, discovered, as he writes word to Lewis, in his first letter10 to him, dated Venice, Dec. 18th, 1677, that the Duke was not so abandoned to his pleasures, but that he still had some ambition, and much chagrin at the state of subjection in which he was kept by his mother; joined to a great distrust of the Spaniards, who were supposed to foment the divisions of the Court of Mantua, with the view of, eventually, themselves obtaining possession of Casale and the rest of the Montferrat.
The desired channel of communication Estrades thought he had found in Matthioli, who was a complete master of Italian politicks, as well as much in the Duke’s good graces. Before, however, he proceeded to enlist him in his service, he deemed it necessary to discover what was the bent of his inclinations. This he effected ingeniously enough, by sending a certain Giuliani, in whom he appears to have placed implicit confidence, to Verona, where Matthioli then was, to act as a spy upon him. The report of Giuliani, upon his return to Venice, was so favourable, both with regard to the discontent of Matthioli against the Spaniards, “who had always amused him with hopes, and afterwards abandoned him,”11 and his wish to enter into the service of the French Monarch, that Estrades lost no time in sending him (Giuliani) back again for the purpose of conferring with Matthioli upon the subject of the proposed negociation.
Giuliani was instructed by the Ambassador to enlarge to Matthioli upon the jeopardy which the sovereignty of the Duke of Mantua was in, in consequence of the different pretensions of various branches of his family to his territories, which were more or less countenanced by the Spaniards for the purposes of their own aggrandizement. These were, among others, those of the Empress Eleanor12 to the Montferrat; and those of the Marquis of Laguna13 to the Duchy of Guastalla, to the prejudice of the Duke of Mantua, who was the rightful heir. Giuliani was also to lament the dependant state of the Duke of Mantua, the revenues of whose states, as well as all the powers of government, were entirely in the hands of his mother, and the Monk Bulgarini;14 and to explain the necessity which, on these accounts, existed for that Prince to seek, without delay, the alliance and protection of Lewis the Fourteenth. He was to assure him, in conclusion, that Estrades had no doubt of the readiness of Lewis to assist in freeing the Duke of Mantua from his embarrassments; but that, in order to enable him to do this effectually, it was absolutely necessary to garrison Casale with French troops.
Matthioli concurred entirely in these views of Giuliani, and offered to sound the Duke of Mantua upon the subject. A few days afterwards, he sent word to Estrades, that he had managed to have an interview with that Prince (having previously established himself secretly in the neighbourhood of Mantua), and had found him generally well-disposed to the plan. He also requested Estrades to send Giuliani again to him, in order that they might act in concert; the said Giuliani being also a person who might, without suspicion, carry intelligence backwards and forwards,15 which was not the case with Matthioli himself.
Giuliani was accordingly sent, and had an audience of the Duke of Mantua, who received him very favourably, and acquainted him with his willingness to enter into an alliance with France, and to deliver up Casale, upon the understanding that Estrades was to try to obtain for him any reasonable requests he might make; the principal of these, in addition to the grant of a sum of money, was the being made generalissimo of any French army that might be sent into Italy, “that being,” says Estrades, “what he wishes beyond all things; or rather, that being the only thing he is very anxious for, in order that he may have the same consideration in Italy the late Duke of Modena16 had, and the late Duke of Mantua,17 who at his age commanded in chief the Emperor’s army, with the title of Vicar General of the Empire.”18
The Duke of Mantua also announced in this conference, that he put himself, on this occasion, entirely into the hands of Matthioli, whom he promised to reinstate in his place of Secretary of State, and to appoint his first minister, as soon as he himself should have regained his authority, and that the treaty, he was now projecting with the King of France, had been duly executed.
To Matthioli were joined in the negociation the two counsellors of the Duke of Mantua, in whom he had the most confidence; the Marquis Cavriani and Joseph Varano; and these, together with Giuliani, Estrades, Pinchesne the French Secretary of Embassy at Venice, and the Duke himself, were the only persons in Italy acquainted with the business; so that the Ambassador had certainly very fair grounds for expressing his hopes “the secrecy, so necessary in this affair, would remain impenetrable.”19
This conference was followed by another, in which the Duke showed the greatest impatience to conclude the treaty; entreating that Lewis might be instantly made acquainted with the state it was at present in, and requesting, or rather imploring, for a French army; on the arrival of which he hinted much might be done against the Duchy of Milan. Finally, he promised to have a conference with Estrades, “as he was soon going to Venice, where they might see one another conveniently, and without being observed, on account of the Carnival, during which all the world, even the Doge and the oldest Senators were accustomed to go about in mask.”20
He also requested that the Cardinal d’Estrées21 might not be made a party to the negociation; because he was so well known to be employed generally by Lewis to negociate with the Italian Sovereigns, that his entering into it would naturally excite the suspicions of the Spaniards that something secret was going on; and that they would then ruin him, the Duke of Mantua, before he could receive the assistance of the French Monarch; and that thus the hopes of both the contracting parties, from the treaty at present under discussion, would be frustrated. To this proposition Estrades agreed, though unwillingly. We cannot but here remark how skilful a negociator he seems to have been; beginning as he does by making trial of his tools, and then of his arguments, and afterwards bringing both of them to bear very judiciously on the negociation, in the way the most likely to lead to a favourable result.
When the affair was advanced thus far, Estrades lost no time in forwarding an account of it to Lewis, to whom, as he says himself, he had not before ventured to write upon the subject, because at first he despaired of being able to bring the intrigue to bear: but he now thought it in so good a train, that upon receiving the approval of his proceedings from Lewis, he could almost answer for its success. The letter of Estrades was accompanied by a schedule, containing the demands of the Duke of Mantua, and by a letter from Matthioli, also addressed to Lewis, in which he offers to devote himself to his service, to strive to detach his master, the Duke of Mantua, from the Austrian interest, and insinuates very plainly his wish and intention of selling him and his fortress of Casale to the French Monarch; whom, he says, he “regards and reveres as a Demigod.”22 To these protestations Lewis returned, as was natural, a very civil answer;23 generally promising his protection and favour to Matthioli.
On the 24th of December of the same year, Estrades24 writes to M. de Pomponne,25 (then one of the Secretaries of State), to inform him of a discovery he has made from the Duke of Mantua himself, that the Austrian party have determined, in case any French troops should arrive in Italy, and that the Duke of Mantua should manifest any disposition of favouring them, to seize upon Casale and Mantua. He therefore adds that the Duke, though thoroughly well-disposed towards the French interests, cannot take any active part in their favour, unless Lewis will send into Italy a sufficient force to secure Casale and the rest of the Duke’s territories from the attempts of the House of Austria. He subsequently seems to hint his fear that the life of the Duke of Mantua may be made away with by the Austrians, in order the more easily to possess themselves of his territories. “We must besides, Sir, consider that the Duke of Guastalla26 being the nearest relation of the Duke of Mantua, as well as his heir, there would be danger that, if the Duchess,27 his daughter, who is very ill and has no children, should die, some misfortune might happen to the Duke of Mantua, which would assure his territories to the Spanish Nobleman, who has married the second daughter28 of the Duke of Guastalla, and whose marriage the Spaniards, doubtless with this view, made up at Vienna by means of Don Vincent.”29
To Estrades, Lewis returned a long and detailed statement of his views; in which he approves generally of the design of putting a French garrison into Casale; intimates upon what terms it may be done; rejects a request of the Duke of Mantua to procure for him the restoration of those parts of the Montferrat, which by former treaties had been ceded to the Duke of Savoy; objects to the largeness of his demand of 100,000 pistoles as the price of Casale; promises to bear him harmless and remunerate him for any injury that may be done to him by the Spaniards, in consequence of his siding with the French; and finally instructs Estrades, to entertain the notion that a French army is about to pass the Alps, and in the meanwhile to protract the negociation, in order to allow him, Lewis, time to make his various preparations. Indeed this last point, the necessity for delay, was so strongly impressed upon Estrades, upon more than one occasion, that, in a subsequent despatch, he expresses his regret that the negociation goes on so smoothly and prosperously, that he cannot find any difficulties30 to enable him to protract it till the troops of Lewis are in readiness to march towards Italy.