Possible d'Artagnan Skeleton Found in Maastricht Church

Church officials and archaeologists in the Dutch city of Maastricht announced on Wednesday that a skeleton discovered beneath the floor of St. Peter and Paul Church may belong to Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan, the 17th-century French musketeer who inspired Alexandre Dumas's novel "The Three Musketeers." The remains were uncovered in February when part of the church floor subsided during repairs, prompting an excavation that revealed a grave containing human bones.

The discovery has sparked a detailed scientific investigation, with DNA extracted from a jawbone now undergoing analysis in a Munich laboratory to compare against samples from d'Artagnan's descendants. Archaeologist Wim Dijkman, who has been searching for the musketeer's remains for 28 years, described the effort as a top-level probe. "We want to be absolutely certain or as certain as possible whether it is the famous musketeer, who was killed here near Maastricht," Dijkman said. He added that results from the tests could be available in the coming weeks, with additional analyses proceeding both in the Netherlands and abroad.

D'Artagnan, a real historical figure born around 1611 in Gascony, France, rose...