Man in the Iron Mask has also been proposed as the man in the mask. A Protestant, he led a rebellion against his uncle, the Catholic King James II. The rebellion failed and Monmouth was executed in 1685. But in 1768, a writer named Saint-Foix claimed that another man was executed in his place and that Monmouth became the masked prisoner, it being in Louis XIV's interests to assist a fellow Catholic like James who would not necessarily want to kill his own nephew. Saint-Foix's case was based on unsubstantiated rumours and allegations that Monmouth's execution was faked. Other popular suspects have included men known
Man in the Iron Mask even with his sister, unless in your presence or in the presence of one of the priests of the mission". The letter was signed by the king and Colbert. A poem written by Louis-Henri de Loménie de Brienne, himself an inmate at the time, indicates that Eustache Dauger de Cavoye died as a result of heavy drinking in the late 1680s. Historians consider all this proof enough that he was not involved in any way with the man in the mask. Man in the Iron Mask The Man in the Iron Mask (French: "L'Homme au Masque de Fer"; c. 1640