The Mysterious Prisoner of France

In the late 1600s, rumors spread through France about a mysterious prisoner — a man kept under

the strictest secrecy the kingdom had ever seen. He was moved from fortress to fortress,

from Pignerol to Sainte-Marguerite Island, and finally to the dreaded Bastille.

But every guard he ever met said the same thing: they were forbidden to see his face.

He wore a mask — sometimes described as black velvet, sometimes as iron —

locked in place so tightly that removal was punishable by death. His cell was isolated.

His name never spoken. His meals delivered through double-locked doors. Who was he?

A disgraced noble? The king’s own twin brother? A political enemy too dangerous to