 Ercole Antonio Matthioli, was born in Bologna in 1640, and was appointed deputy to the Duke of Mantoue (in present Lombardy) which made him a count, a title that Marcel Pagnol describes as "not very serious".In 1678, the Duke of Mantoue secretly asked Matthioli to negotiate the sale of the stronghold of Casal with Louis XIV (in what is now Piedmont), a real strategic point close to the French border, explaining why he was generously rewarded by Louis XIV.However, he revealed the secret at the Court of Turin, which then spreads as far as Spain.