When Bartoli wrote his book about the identity of the famous Man in the Iron Mask, he detailed meaning a person who was using a pseudonym, one Monsieur G for research during his book. The mysterious Monsieur G stated the Man in the Iron Mask was Henri de Lorraine.
Bartoli wrote -
"Monsieur G told [me] that the conspiracy involving the Iron Mask was created by ‘secret’ members of the ‘Order of the Temple’. This, he said, was a ‘clandestine’ organisation which survived the Knights Templar after their demise in 1307. Monsieur G claimed to be a member of this ‘secret order’. He explained: ....The secret that the Templars of the 17th century were seeking, as were the Templar knights before them, was to impose their ‘grand design’ upon the world, a political and religious system to unify all nations and sects .......’. Monsieur G then went on to detail the first part of this ‘grand design’ of the secret Templars. It involved the re-instatement of the legitimate French monarchy identified as those Frankish kings –the Merovingian's – who Monsieur G added ‘were kings by right of birth’. All dynasties which followed after – the Capetian's, the Valois and the Bourbon were said to be illegitimate. It was re-iterated: ‘The crown of France belonged by divine right to the descendants of Charles de Lorraine, who was the true heir when Capet usurped the throne at the end of the 10th century’. Monsieur G asserted that when Louis XIVth was king he realised that there was a conspiracy against him and that a concerted effort was being made to oust him in favour of the Grand Monarch. He learnt the identity of this ‘Grand Monarch’ through the secret order who were trying to replace him. It was Henri de Lorraine, descendant of Charlemagne and heir to the Merovingian kings. Basically, Louis then had Henri imprisoned and it was Henri who became the ‘Man in the Iron Mask’.
So who was Charles de Lorraine, this asserted antecedent of Henri of Lorraine?
"Charles of Lorraine was the son of Louis IV of France and Gerberga of Saxony and younger brother of King Lothair. He was a sixth generation descendant of Charlemagne. Louis IV's father was himself son of Charles III [or Charles the Simple] and Eadgifu of England, a daughter of King Edward the Elder. Charles III was the undisputed King of France from 898 until 922 and the King of Lotharingia from 911 until 919/23. He was a son of Louis the Stamerer by his second wife, Adelaide of Paris. Louis the Stammerer was the King of Aquitaine and later King of West Francia. He was the eldest son of Charles the Bald and Ermentrude of Orleans. He succeeded his younger brother in Aquitaine in 886 and his father in West Francia in 877 though he was never crowned Emperor. In the French monarchial system, he is considered Louis II".
So Charles of Lorraine could legitimately trace his line back to Charles the Bald and Charlemagne. However, "Charles III (10th century) was excluded from the throne of France, and the German Emperor Otto II made him Duke of Lower Lorraine in 977. In 977, he accused Lothair's wife, Emma, daughter of Lothair II of Italy, of infideility with Adalberon, Bishop of Laon. The council of Sainte-Macre at Fismes (near Reims) exonerated the queen and the bishop, but Charles maintained his claim & was driven from the kingdom, finding refuge at the court of his cousin, Otto II. Otto promised to crown Charles as soon as Lothair was out of the way and Charles paid him homage, receiving back Lower Lorraine. In August 978, Lothair invaded Germany and captured the imperial capital of Aachen, but failed to capture either Otto or Charles. In October, Otto and Charles in turn invaded France, devastating the land around Rheims, Soissons and Laon. In the latter city, the chief seat of the kings of France, Charles was crowned by Theodoric I, Bishop of Metz. Lothair fled to Paris and was there besieged. But a relief army of Hugh Capet's forced Otto and Charles to lift the siege on 30 November. Lothair and Capet, the tables turned once more, chased the German king and his liege back to Aachen and retook Laon.
Through his daughter Gerberga of Lower Lorraine, (a countess of Brussels, who married Lambert I, Count of Leuven) and granddaughter Mathilda (Maud) the line of Charles later engendered Eustace I - who was father of Eustace II. It is Eustace II's second marriage with Ida of Lorraine (daughter of Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine), which produced the three sons, Eustace III, the next count of Boulogne, and Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin, both later kings of Jerusalem.
As Charles had been a vassal also of Lothair, Charles' acts on behalf of Otto were considered treason and he was thereafter excluded from the throne. On Lothair's death (986), the magnates elected his son Louis V and on the latter's death (987), Hugh Capet. Thus, the House of Capet came to the throne over the disgraced and ignored Charles".
The disgraced and ignored Charles - the alleged rightful King of France after the death of Lothair - was passed over for the Crown by the clergy, including both Adalberon and Gerbert (who later became Pope Sylvester III). They argued eloquently for Hugh Capet, who was not only of royal blood but had proven himself through his actions and his military might. Capet was elected to the Frankish throne and Adalberon crowned him, all within two months of Louis V's death. Thus the Carolingian dynasty ended and the Capetian began.
Even Shakespeare referred to the usurpation!
Anyway, I had always wondered who this Monsieur G might be. Why? Because if the source for Bartoli is not Plantard then we have to find another character acting in the same way & advocating the same information prior to the publication of Holy Blood, Holy Grail!
This must have interested Jean Luc-Chuameil, who tracked down Camille Bartoli to talk with him during research for his book The Templar Treasure, and discussed with him the assertions about this mysterious Monsieur G. He was able to interview Bartoli.
Chaumeil wrote of the exchanges;
"As the author was more than sympathetic to us, we could not resist the temptation to interview him.
Here are some excerpts:
Jean-Luc Chaumeil: Your work solves an enigma, but your informants remain in the shadows. Who are the two characters: Mr. Gilbert F... and Mr. G...? Is this a literary device?
Camille Bartoli: This is not a literary device at all. Gilbert F...'s name is Feys and he lives in La Roquette-sur-Siagne (A.M.). But he didn't want (why?) his name [to] appear in the book. Mr. G... another problem. He gave me the name Germain. At least, that's the name I was supposed to ask for on the phone when calling the Négresco Hotel in Nice. He made it clear that it wasn't his real name, which is why I only used the initial G... so that the reader would understand that I didn't know his true identity.
Jean-Luc Chaumeil - What do you think of his own description when he says: "I'm an old man, a very old man, so I live in a hotel; it's more convenient for me. So you can tell me your decision at the Négresco in Nice; just ask for Mr. G..." And of his request when he specifies: Never divulge this name; it's not that of a physical body, but a password that we must keep for ourselves."
Camille Bartoli -The above partially answers your question. "G..." was our way of communicating. But I must confess that I myself don't understand why this word, Germain, shouldn't be divulged. Perhaps you can tell me something about it. Could Germain have something to do with a Teutonic order or with Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris?
I've wondered about this without finding an answer. But I think there's a key there.
Jean-Luc Chaumeil: In 1947, a book was published by an anonymous author under the title "Is God Merovingian?" Should we consider it to be the same concept when Monsieur G... answers you? The hidden history, the true one that begins with the first kings of France, the only legitimate ones, the Merovingians.
And further on, he adds: Then the Franks came. From then on, the situation changed radically because, among the new masters of the country, it was a tribe, that of Meroveus, that provided the King. The latter did not become king because he was king, by his very essence."
His initial membership in the Meroveus tribe ensured his legitimacy.
So the first kings of France, the Merovingians, were not made kings; they had no need of a coronation because they were Kings?
Camille Bartoli: "He was King..." G... told me, not "they were Kings." It wasn't me who said it, but Monsieur G.... For me, his explanation:
His initial affiliation with the Méroweg tribe ensured his sufficient legitimacy at the time. But it no longer does today. The Méroweg tribe seems to hold a right or a power. From whom? Which one?
And when Monsieur G... says a little further on, "he was King!" The mystery deepens... for me.
Jean-Luc Chaumeil - It is in Cimiez that the king's secret lies, according to you. A king of alchemical origin, doubled by another king, this one very real, covered with a mask whose symbol is highly evocative. Why?
Camille Bartoli - The symbol of the mask rendered the king to nothingness, thus "annihilated" him. This is what I personally understood from Mr. G's sentence...
Jean-Luc Chaumeil - There is a whole magical, inescapable aspect in your book, where the word becomes active through time: Can you clarify for me what you mean by "alchemical condemnation" of the Temple and those it protects, particularly when you say: "By alchemical condemnation, should we understand "an intervention in time and the centuries" for the triumph of divine justice?"
Camille Bartoli - I thought I understood "the condemnation does not affect an individual but a race... and perhaps even more! It is pursued over time because it is linked to a grand design that cannot be realised in a specific time."
Jean-Luc Chaumeil - It is rare for a mathematics professor to be interested in the secret history of France. Can you tell us about your initiation?
Camille Bartoli - Before meeting Mr. G..., I didn't know much about the Merovingians. In other words, I'm not an expert on the Temple, nor on Merovingian or Carolingian ancestry. It was after reading this book and through the correspondence and contacts I've received since its publication that I truly discovered a whole world, unknown to me until then. Do I have the right to describe Mr. G... to you? He seemed to want to remain anonymous. Can I betray him? But on the other hand, I was hoping he would get back in touch after the book was published. He didn't. Perhaps you could help me find him? For now, I'll simply tell you that he must be in his sixties and about five foot seven; He's rather thin...
This is how I ended my interview with this courteous, affable man, who had been briefly embroiled in one of the greatest mysteries of all time. On the plane back to Paris, I was leafing through, or rather rereading, his book when suddenly my attention was drawn to two passages.
First quote, page 207: "France was, in the 18th century, in the hands of usurping monarchs. But times would change, and one day a True King, regaining his lost throne, would transform society for the good of mankind."