Maastricht: Suspected skeleton of Musketeer D’Artagnan found in Dutch church | EUROtoday

The skeleton of the legendary Musketeer commander D’Artagnan, who impressed Alexandre Dumas to write down his novel The Three Musketeers, could have been present in a Dutch church. During restore work within the nave of a church within the metropolis of Maastricht, a skeleton was discovered that might presumably be the bones of the French nobleman, broadcaster L1 Nieuws reported on Wednesday.

The actual D’Artagnan, whose full identify was Charles de Batz de Castelmore d’Artagnan, spent his life within the service of the French crown. He died in 1673 when he besieged the town of Maastricht together with his musketeers on behalf of King Louis XIV and was killed by a shot. However, his closing resting place has remained a thriller.

The skeleton was discovered after the ground collapsed in February of Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk, a contemporary church in Maastricht whose origins date again to the thirteenth century. According to the media report, the discover is at present being examined in an archaeological institute in Deventer. DNA assessments are meant to make clear whether or not these are literally the stays of the soldier.

There are a number of items of proof supporting the identification of the bones: a French coin was discovered close to the skeleton, reported Deacon Jos Valke, who was there through the first excavations. In addition, the situation of the grave below the earlier altar signifies a distinguished particular person: “At that time, only members of the royal family or other important personalities were buried under an altar.”

Charles de Batz de Castelmore d’Artagnan from Gascony, France, impressed the nineteenth century author Alexandre Dumas to change into the hero of the well-known novel “The Three Musketeers”. Thanks to quite a few movie variations, the character remains to be identified worldwide at this time.