The Three Musketeers' D'Artagnan Actually Existed and Now His Body May Have Been Found After 353 Years

French writer Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers is 1 of the astir celebrated novels of each time, aboriginal begetting a slew of movie and tv adaptations. But you mightiness not person known that the Musketeers were based connected existent humanities figures. Yes, D'Artagnan was a existent feline and present his agelong mislaid remains whitethorn person yet been recovered nether the level of a Dutch church.

As The BBC reports: “Jos Valke, who is deacon astatine St Peter and Paul Church successful Maastricht, helped unearth the skeleton and is 99% definite that the remains beryllium to Charles de Batz de Castelmore, a adjacent adjutant to France's Sun King Louis XIV who was known arsenic Count d'Artagnan. D'Artagnan was killed during the Siege of Maastricht successful 1673, but aboriginal immortalised successful the escapade stories of Alexandre Dumas arsenic a person of the Three Musketeers.”

Count d'Artagnan’s assemblage was agelong rumored to remainder astatine the church, but this is the archetypal clip anyone has investigated capable to find immoderate imaginable evidence. The floor’s tiles were broken, allowing Deacon Valke to virtually excavation a small deeper into the matter.

Archaeologist Wim Dijkman, who said he’s researched D'Artagnan’s sedate for 28 years, was enlisted and is the 1 who discovered the bones buried underneath wherever an altar array had stood 2 centuries before.

Musketeer d'Artagnan's remains believed recovered nether Dutch religion https://t.co/cM8sINA8Ku

While Dijkman wants to hold connected DNA trial results earlier confirming the remains beryllium to D'Artagnan, Valke is much assured that they’ve yet recovered their man.

"He was buried connected ineffable crushed beneath wherever the altar was; we recovered the slug that enactment an extremity to his beingness and we recovered a coin from 1660 successful his grave, and it was from the bishop who attended Mass for the Roi Soleil,” Valke told the BBC.

Analysis connected the remains are presently underway successful Germany and successful the Netherlands.

Just arsenic Dumas based D’Artagnan connected the existent musketeer Charles de Batz de Castelmore, helium besides based Athos connected Armand de Sillègue d'Athos d'Auteville, Porthos connected Isaac de Portau, and Aramis connected Henri de Aramitz.

The adventures of D’Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis person graced the surface since the soundless era. The 1970s saw a brace of star-studded Musketeer films starring Michael York arsenic D’Artagnan. The 1990s gave america Disney’s The Three Musketeers (starring Chris O’Donnell arsenic D'Artagnan) and The Man successful the Iron Mask (where Gabriel Byrne played an older D'Artagnan other Leonard DiCaprio successful dual roles arsenic the rubric quality and the wicked king).

Most recently, determination has been 2001’s The Musketeer, Resident Evil manager Paul W.S. Anderson’s 2011 film, the BBC bid The Musketeers, and the French connection two-parter The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan and The Three Musketeers: Milady.

Nintendo besides released a Three Musketeers crippled backmost successful 2006.