Excavations at St. Peter and Paul Church in Maastricht, the Netherlands, have uncovered skeletal remains that may belong to the legendary French musketeer d’Artagnan. Church deacon Jos Valke stated he is 99% certain the skeleton is that of Charles de Batz de Castelmore, known as Count d’Artagnan, a close aide to France’s Sun King Louis XIV who was killed during the Siege of Maastricht in 1673 and later immortalized in Alexandre Dumas’ adventure novels.
The discovery was made after broken floor tiles prompted an investigation under the church floor. Initially, a wall was found, and upon further digging by archaeologists, a complete skeleton was unearthed beneath where the altar table stood 200 years ago. Valke recounted, “We became quite silent when we found the first bone,” and highlighted several indicators pointing to d’Artagnan: “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.”
However, archaeologist Wim Dijkman, who participated in the excavation, expressed more caution. He told regional broadcaster Omroep Limburg, “I’m a scientist, but my expectations are high,” preferring to await DNA confirmation of the skeleton’s identity. A sample from the remains has been sent for analysis in Germany, while some bones were taken to Deventer in the Netherlands to assess age, origin, and gender. Dijkman added, “I’ve already been researching d’Artagnan’s grave for 28 years. This could be the highlight of my career.”
Historical accounts suggest d’Artagnan was struck in the throat by a musket ball as Louis XIV sought to capture Maastricht. The French army decided to bury him locally due to mid-summer conditions, with their camp set up near the church in the Wolder area, now part of southwest Maastricht. While d’Artagnan was modeled on a historical figure, the Three Musketeers were fictional characters, possibly inspired by members of an elite corps that provided protection for the king and engaged in military actions.
Source: www.bbc.com