Archaeologists in the Netherlands believe they may have discovered the remains of Charles de Batz-Castelmore, the 17th-century Gascon nobleman better known as d’Artagnan, who inspired Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Three Musketeers. The skeleton was found under the floor of the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Maastricht during repair work.
Deacon Jos Valke, who alerted retired archaeologist Wim Dijkman to the discovery, noted several clues pointing to the identity of the remains. The skeleton was buried under the altar in consecrated ground, accompanied by a French coin from the period, and a musket ball at chest level—consistent with historical accounts of d’Artagnan’s death during the siege of Maastricht in 1673.
Dijkman, who has spent 28 years searching for the musketeer’s final resting place, said the skeleton has been removed to an archaeological institute in Deventer. A DNA sample taken on 13 March is being analysed in Munich, with results to be compared against samples from descendants of d’Artagnan’s father.
“All kinds of analyses and investigations are under way both domestically and abroad,” Dijkman told local broadcaster L1 Nieuws. “It has truly turned into a top-level investigation. We want to be absolutely certain that it is d’Artagnan.”
The real d’Artagnan was a spy and musketeer for King Louis XIV. His posthumous fame soared after Dumas published The Three Musketeers in 1844, which has since been adapted into numerous films and an animated series, Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds.
