A skeleton that may be that of d’Artagnan, the French soldier who inspired the story of “The Three Musketeers“, has been found in the Netherlands.
The skeleton was found near a church in the Dutch city of Maastricht, where d’Artagnan died several hundred years ago, local media reports.
Charles de Batz de Castelmore, better known as d’Artagnan, was the famous musketeer of the kings Louis XIII and the “Sun King” Louis XIV.
D’Artagnan inspired the author Alexandre Dumas’ character in The Three Musketeers from 1844 and is now known worldwide thanks to the book and a series of films based on it.
It was during a renovation of the church, which dates from the 13th century, that the skeleton was found. D’Artagnan was killed during the siege of Maastricht in 1673. Since then, his final resting place has been a mystery.
Next to the skeleton was found a coin that must have been in use at the time.
– In addition, the place where the grave was found indicates that an important person was lying here. The skeleton was found where the altar used to be, and only royalty or other important people were buried under an altar at that time, says dean Jos Valke of the church to L1 Nieuws.
The skeleton has been moved from the church to an archaeological institute in Deventer in eastern Germany, reports the regional broadcaster.
On March 13, a DNA sample was taken from the skeleton, which is currently being analyzed by a laboratory in Munich.
