Remains believed to belong to legendary musketeer D’Artagnan have been discovered beneath a church over 350 years after he died.
Charles de Batz de Castelmore, Count D’Artagnan, was a real-life marksman whose name went down in history in Alexandre Dumas’s Three Musketeers adventure stories.
A close confidant of France‘s Louis XIV, he was killed during the Siege of Maastricht in 1673, but despite countless searches his body has never been found – until now.
Jos Valke, deacon at St Peter and Paul Church in Maastricht, was at the scene when the skeleton was found underneath the church floor, and says he is “99% certain” that the remains belong to D’Artagnan.
Deacon Valke said the church had never been searched before, and that the idea to dig beneath it came to him after a few floor tiles had been broken.
Finding a mystery wall, he took out a brush to dig further – and called in an archaeologist for help when he began to suspect he may be on the brink of a significant discovery.
A skeleton was found directly beneath where the altar once stood 200 years earlier – and a hush descended when they realised who it might belong to.
The deacon told the BBC: “We became quite silent when we found the first bone.
“He was buried on sacred ground below where the altar was; we found the bullet that put an end to his life and we found a coin from 1660 in his grave, and it was from the bishop who attended Mass for the Roi Soleil.”
DNA testing will now be used to determine whether the bones belong to D’Artagnan, and will be compared to a living descendant residing in Avignon, France.
On March 13, part of the teeth and jaw of the skeleton were sent to a laboratory in Munich, with results from the tests expected ‘soon’
A spokesperson for Maastricht local government told Dutch media: “Whether these skeletal remains can actually be attributed to the musketeer D’Artagnan must be determined by the DNA research currently being conducted in Munich.”
D’Artagnan is a key character in Alexandre Dumas’s 1844 novel The Three Musketeers, a best-seller which has since been adapted into multiple films and TV series, including a 1948 version where he is played by ‘Singin’ in The Rain’ star Gene Kelly.
Though not one of the original trio, in the books he becomes their close friend, adventures with them, and acts as the leader – becoming considered an honorary fourth musketeer.
In real life, he served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard, dying at the siege of Maastricht in the Franco-Dutch War after taking a musket ball to the throat.
Story by Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas
Skeleton of D’Artagnan discovered buried beneath church after 350 years
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