The bones of the legendary musketeer, the main hero of Dumas’ famous novel, may have been discovered at his famous site of death.
Archaeologists say they may have discovered the skeletal remains of the legendary D’Artagnan, the figure played by French writer Alexandre Dumas in ‘The Three Musketeers’, Dutch regional broadcaster L1 reported on Wednesday.
The remains were found in the city of Maastricht in the Netherlands. Historical accounts say Charles de Batz de Castelmore, on whom the novel’s fourth musketeer is based, was killed there by a musket shot when King Louis XIV besieged the city in June 1673.
Historians believe that Louis XIV had D’Artagnan, who was once the captain of his elite Guards Musketeers, buried in what was then the village of Wolder, which is now part of Maastricht. No confirmed remains have been found to date.
The tomb was discovered under a church in what is now a rural suburb of the city, L1 reported. Repairmen made the discovery during maintenance work, after the building’s floor collapsed last month, it said. The modern chapel is thought to be the second or third structure built on the historic site as far back as the 11th century.
“The location of the tomb shows that he was an important person: the bones were where the altar stood and only royal people or other important people were buried under the altar at that time,” L1 quoted Deacon Jos Valke, who was present at the initial dig, as saying.
A French coin and a musket bullet were found with the remains, the broadcaster reported. DNA taken from the teeth has been sent to a laboratory in Munich for comparison with the de Batz family lineage, it added.
D’Artagnan became a national hero in France and gained worldwide fame after the publication of Dumas’ novel in 1844. The work has inspired many screen adaptations.
The 1979 Soviet miniseries D’Artagnan and the Three Musketeers remains one of the most popular adaptations in Russia, known for its music and humor.
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