Saint-Mars

Bénigne d'Auvergne de Saint-Mars was a French prison governor in the late 17th and early 18th century. He is best known as the apparent keeper of the Man in the Iron Mask.[1] According to letters written by Saint-Mars to various officials and ministers of France, he had in his custody a prisoner of State, whom he carried with him from Pinerolo to the Lérins Islands, and later to the Bastille.[2]

From 1665 to the spring of 1681, Saint-Mars was the Officer-in-Charge of the donjon (the main tower) of the fortress Pinerolo (in French Pignerol, 40 kilometers WSW of Turin, Italy), which then belonged to France. Saint-Mars acted as governor of the nearby fortified castle of Exilles from 1681.[3]

In 1687, Saint-Mars became the governor of two islands, Île Sainte-Marguerite and Île Saint-Honorat, in the gulf of Cannes (these islands are now called the Lérins Islands) until 1698. At that time he became governor of the Bastille in Paris, a post he held until his death on 18 September 1708.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "18 septembre 1698 : le masque de fer à la Bastille". LEFIGARO (in French). 2014-09-18. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  2. ↑ "L'Homme de l'année T19. 1687.0 - Lornieres antoinette De". ActuaLitté.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  3. ↑ "Histoire / podcast. C'est arrivé le 19 novembre 1703 : le décès de l'homme au masque de fer". www.ledauphine.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  4. ↑ "Versailles: What is the true story of the Man in the Iron Mask?". Radio Times. Retrieved 2022-04-04.


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