Lost remains of French musketeer d’Artagnan may have been found in Dutch church

The skeleton of famed French musketeer Charles de Batz de Castelmore d’Artagnan may have been found in front of a church altar in the Dutch city of Maastricht, church officials and an archaeologist said on Wednesday.

Workers ‌discovered a grave containing human remains beneath tiles after part of the floor of St Peter and Paul Church subsided in February, triggering a race to identify the skeleton through DNA testing.

“This has truly become a top-level investigation, in which we want to be absolutely certain – or as certain as possible – whether it is the famous musketeer, ⁠who was killed here near Maastricht,” archaeologist Wim Dijkman said.

The church had previously been ‌identified as a possible resting place of the 17th-century soldier. The DNA retrieved from a jawbone is now being tested against that of descendants.

A fictionalised version of d’Artagnan was the hero of Alexandre ⁠Dumas’ 1844 novel The ⁠Three Musketeers, a hot-headed teenager who becomes the fourth musketeer. But d’Artagnan was a real historical figure.

Like his fictitious counterpart, ‌d’Artagnan served French “Sun King” Louis XIV and eventually became captain-lieutenant of the musketeers. He was killed during the French ‌siege of Maastricht ‌in the Franco-Dutch War on June 25, 1673, after being struck in the throat ‌by a musket ball.