The Man in the Iron Mask (Wordsworth Classics)

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Fabulous Librivox free audio book, read by Mark F. Smith. Amazing job! Different character voices, and narrated with plenty of passion and enthusiasm. Thank you so much!

Porthos - Porthos is one of the original musketeers and best known for being a gentle giant. Unless he is fighting and then he uses his amazing strength to decimate his enemies. Porthos is perhaps Aramis' best friend in the series and dies trying to protect him. He is a surprisingly clever, divisively moral man who willingly goes along with Aramis' plan to overthrow the king but has to stop and think about the moral implications at Belle Isle before agreeing to fight the soldiers. Gonnet, Paul (1989). "Conclusion". Il y a trois siècles, le Masque de fer (in French). Cannes, France: OMACC. Court of Daggers (serialised online from 19 April to 05 November 2022) - 44 chapters (book form: January 2023) Set in the 1660s and concerned with the early reign of Louis XIV, the novel has been called an "origins" story of the King, "a tale about the education of a young man who went on to rule for over 70 years and become one of France's most beloved monarchs." Naturally, in a novel about Dumas' musketeers, the characters play an important role in Louis' education. [1] Plot [ edit ] The Kingdom of France faces bankruptcy from King Louis XIV's wars against the Dutch, causing French citizens to starve. As the country moves toward revolution, King Louis prepares for war. At this point, the four musketeers have gone their separate ways; Aramis is now a priest, Porthos is a womanizing drunkard, and Athos has retired to his farm. Only D'Artagnan has remained loyal to the musketeers and is now the captain.In addition to the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, several other archives host historical documents that were consulted by historians researching the enigma of the Man in the Iron Mask: the Archives of the Foreign Ministry (Archives des Affaires étrangères),

A very fascinating and enjoyable journey into 17th & 18th Century France during the reigns of Louis XIII and his son, Louis XIV, the Sun King. It is an important point that the man in the mask served as a valet. Fouquet was never expected to be released; thus, meeting Dauger was no great matter, but Lauzun was expected to be set free eventually, and it would have been important not to have him spread rumours of Dauger's existence or of secrets he might have known. Historians have also argued that 17th-century protocol made it unthinkable that a gentleman, let alone an aristocrat, would serve as a manservant, casting some doubt on speculation that Dauger was in some way related to the king. [1] Voltaire was immured in the Bastille, in 1717. According to him, this prisoner was an older brother of the King. In 1751, he published his work A century of Louis XIV, where he spends a section detailing the story of the man with the iron mask. According to Voltaire, the man was imprisoned in 1661, after the death of Cardinal Mazarin. It is possible that most of what is known today was an invention of Voltaire, who used this man to give an example of how bad an absolute ruler could be.After 35 years of loyal service, d'Artagnan resigns as lieutenant of the Musketeers as he perceives the young king Louis XIV as weak-willed. He resolves to aid the exiled Charles II to retake the throne of England, unaware that Athos is attempting the same. With their assistance Charles II is restored to the throne and d'Artagnan is rewarded richly. While these theories would certainly explain why the king wouldn’t want the identity of the prisoner released, there’s never been any clear-cut evidence to prove that these ideas were true. The Eternal Mystery

Aramis then tells him about the rulers of France. King Louis XIII was the king of France until very recently, but he was a weak ruler and allowed himself to be led around by a man named Cardinal Richelieu. Meanwhile, the TV series Versailles, which follows the early days of the magnificent French palace, portrays Louis XIV’s brother as being obsessed with the Man in the Iron Mask. Wilkinson, Josephine (2021). The Man in the Iron Mask: The Truth about Europe's Most Famous Prisoner (softcover) (1sted.). Stroud: Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-9393-4. Dauger was not always isolated from the other prisoners. Wealthy and important ones usually had manservants; Fouquet for instance was served by a man called La Rivière. These servants, however, would become as much prisoners as their masters and it was thus difficult to find people willing to volunteer for such an occupation. Because La Rivière was often ill, Saint-Mars applied for permission for Dauger to act as servant for Fouquet. In 1675, Louvois gave permission for such an arrangement on condition that he was to serve Fouquet only while La Rivière was unavailable and that he was not to meet anyone else; for instance, if Fouquet and Lauzun were to meet, Dauger was not to be present.

de la Barre-de-Raillicourt, Dominiue (1989). "La condition carcérale en France au début du XVIII ème siècle". Il y a trois siècles, le Masque de fer (in French). Cannes, France: OMACC. The earliest surviving records of the masked prisoner are from 19 July 1669, [3] when Louis XIV's minister, the Marquis de Louvois, sent a letter to Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars, governor of the prison of Pignerol (which at the time was part of France). In his letter, Louvois informed Saint-Mars that a prisoner named "Eustache Dauger" was due to arrive in the next month or so. Across the country, Aramis and Porthos desperately escape from Vaux, riding all day and night to get out of town. They change horses at every opportunity until eventually they reach a way station with no fresh horses. Aramis despairs until he remembers that the last former musketeer, Athos, lives nearby. This part mostly concerns romantic events at the court of Louis XIV. Raoul de Bragelonne finds his childhood sweetheart, Louise de La Vallière, is maid of honour to the Princess. Fearing a tarnishing of Louise's reputation by affairs at court, Raoul seeks to marry her. His father, Athos, the Comte de la Fère, disapproves, but eventually, out of love for his son, reluctantly agrees. The king, however, refuses to sanction the marriage because Louise is of inferior social status, and so marriage is delayed.