Skeleton of Three Musketeers hero d'Artagnan may have been found

[muriel_volestrangler]

Archaeologists believe remains found in Maastricht, Netherlands, may be of soldier who inspired novel character

More than three-and-a-half centuries after a musket ball to the throat put an end to decades of exemplary swashbuckling, the French soldier who inspired Alexandre Dumas and went on to be immortalised on the stage and screen – not to mention as a plucky cartoon dog – may rise again.

Workers repairing a church in the Dutch city of Maastricht have discovered a skeleton that could belong to the 17th-century Gascon nobleman Charles de Batz-Castelmore – better known as d’Artagnan – whose exploits led Dumas to make him the hero of the Three Musketeers.

The real-life d’Artagnan was a spy and musketeer for King Louis XIV who died during the siege of Maastricht in 1673. Three hundred and fifty-three years later, the longstanding mystery of where the warrior came to be buried may finally have been solved, thanks to a set of bones found under a collapsed church floor.
...
“He lay buried under the altar in consecrated ground,” he said. “There was a French coin from that time in the grave. And the bullet that killed him was lying at chest level, exactly as described in the history books. The indications are very strong.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/25/skeleton-three-musketeers-dartagnan-alexandre-dumas

I had no idea he was a real person.

"I'm a scientist, but my expectations are high," Wim Dijkman told regional public broadcaster Omroep Limburg, adding that he preferred to wait for DNA confirmation of the skeleton's identity.
...
"I've already been researching d'Artagnan's grave for 28 years. This could be the highlight of my career," said Dijkman.
...
The French army decided that as it was mid-summer they would bury him locally, and their camp had been set up close to the church in the Wolder area in what is now the south-west corner of Maastricht.

Although d'Artagnan was modelled on a historical figure, the three musketeers were fictional characters who may have been inspired by three members of an elite corps who provided protection for the king and took part in military action.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2rew2dgzzo

[Goonch]

1. ;-{)......

[Biophilic]

2. I had no idea the character was based on a real person. How interesting.

[Aristus]

12. He was. As were Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.

All four were highly fictionalized for the Dumas novel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_d%27Athos

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_de_Porthau

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_d%27Aramitz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Batz_de_Castelmore_d%27Artagnan

[Biophilic]

13. Well, dang. Thanks. You learn something new everyday. Sometimes it's fun.

[Aristus]

14. I've been a fan of TTM since I was a kid.

The Richard Lester Musketeer films from 1973 and 1974 are my favorites. I first saw TTM when I was six.

[Ponietz]

3. DNA results with known family pending -- this is fascinating

From the Guardian article:

Valke said several clues pointed to the skeleton belonging to the famous musketeer.

“He lay buried under the altar in consecrated ground,” he said. “There was a French coin from that time in the grave. And the bullet that killed him was lying at chest level, exactly as described in the history books. The indications are very strong.”

[DBoon]

4. d'Artagnan was so important ...

... that they named a candy bar after him

[Wounded Bear]

5. Cool stuff. Thanks for the link! nt

[AllaN01Bear]

6. """

[John1956PA]

7. The last moments of his life, as described by Dumas, are poignant and ironic.

He got the accolade he dreamed of for years, but the duration of time he got to enjoy it was incredibly short.

[HeartsCanHope]

8. My husband, son and I just watched PBS's The Count of Monte Cristo on Passport.

My husband decided to read Alexandre Dumas's book The Three Musketeers after watching the Count of Monte Cristo.

I will share this article with him. Many thanks for the links!

[Joinfortmill]

9. So cool.

[UTUSN]

10. k

[LogDog75]

11. I understand there was a note found next to the skelton that said

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

[soldierant]

15. The book "The Three Musketeers" is set during the reign of Louis XIII.

There are several books in the series, and it wasn't all that long before the XIII gave way to the XIV,, and D'Artagnan worked for himto the end.

in the first sequel, "20 Years After" Athos (who was a Count)) may have been still alive, but was not in the books. His son Raoul more or less replaced him. Raoul was in love with a young woman aso of noble birth, and she sort of was with him but she fell like a stone off a cliff for Louis XIV. Her name was Louise de la Valliere. (also a real person) The next volume was named for her.

Porthos, not born into wealth acquired some and decided to get educated on how to be a gentleman. Dumas's description of him ia thought by many to have been inspired by Moliere's play Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. Aramis, who in the original Three Musketeers is on again and off again pious, has become a priest and a Jesuit. In the last book, tThe Man in the iron Mask, Aramis more or less gaslights Porthos into joining him in a plot to replace Louis XIV with his identical twin brother to achieve a regime change. The plot fails when the brother refuses to go along with it. Aramis get Porthos out in the ocean in a bot and scuttles it, drowning both, to protect both from the humiliation of being caught, tried, and hanged ignominiously. All of the books also have pretty complex subplots. Reading all in sequence is quite a roller coaster ride.