Experts excited about possible discovery of musketeer d'Artagnan's remains in Maastricht

French experts are reacting with cautious excitement after skeletal remains discovered in Maastricht were said to maybe belong to the famous French musketeer d’Artagnan, while DNA testing in Munich is underway to determine whether the identification can be confirmed.

The remains were discovered by chance in February after part of the floor of the Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk in the Wolder neighborhood of Maastricht collapsed. During repair work, a grave was uncovered containing a skeleton, along with a French coin and fragments of a musket ball, according to regional broadcaster L1, which first reported the find.

The discovery has revived questions about the final resting place of Charles de Batz de Castelmore, known as d’Artagnan, who served in the musketeers under King Louis XIII and later became a trusted officer and captain-lieutenant under Louis XIV. He was killed by a musket ball during the French siege of Maastricht in 1673. What happened to his body after his death has never been documented.

Historian Odile Bordaz, who has written extensively about d’Artagnan, told NOS that the burial in the Wolder church is plausible but unproven, calling it “a very logical hypothesis. But it remains a hypothesis.” Bordaz said the church’s proximity to Louis XIV’s royal encampment and burial customs of the period support the theory. “In that time, it was very common to bury important people in churches,” she said. “And d’Artagnan was a close officer of the king.”

She added that she is in close contact with archaeologist Wim Dijkman. “It is very interesting and good that the Netherlands is working on this,” Bordaz said. “Science will determine it.”

French historian Jean-Christian Petitfils called the discovery “tremendous.” “I have been working on d’Artagnan for fifty years,” he said. “For France, he is a double hero: on the one hand, he is a fictional character, d’Artagnan. But in French history, he was also a real hero: a loyal man, very devoted to the king. The king was very fond of him.”

DNA from the skeleton is being analyzed in a laboratory in Munich and compared with that of a possible descendant. Results are expected soon.

Petitfils said uncertainty remains about whether genetic testing will be definitive, noting that d’Artagnan had two sons but that the broader lineage is unclear. He also pointed to a possible maternal line through the aristocratic De Montesquiou family.

In Lupiac, d’Artagnan’s birthplace in southwestern France, the discovery has drawn attention. Aline Goebel, who oversees the d’Artagnan museum in Lupiac, told NOS: “Lupiac truly lives thanks to d’Artagnan. This is the place where he learned to ride horses and fence before he left for Paris.”

She said the museum focuses mainly on his later life because little is known about his childhood, and its exhibition ends with his death in Maastricht. “There have often been moments when people believed they had found clues about his remains,” she said. “We are waiting for the research results, but if this really is d’Artagnan, it would be a miracle. He is a very mysterious figure; finding him would make him feel real.”