The skeleton was on the site of the former altar, and in the chest area, researchers found the remains of a musket bullet and a French coin.
To confirm the identity, experts took DNA samples, which were sent to a laboratory in Munich for comparison with d'Artagnan's descendant along the de Batz line, that is, on the paternal side of his family.
Church minister Deacon Jos Valcke, who performed auxiliary functions during the excavations, called the find a “historical discovery,” and archaeologist Wim Dijkman noted that there is currently no evidence that this is d’Artagnan, but there is no refutation of such an assumption.
Final confirmation depends on DNA results.
D'Artagnan was the leader of the Musketeers and the right hand of King Louis XIV of France. He died in 1673 during the siege of Maastricht. Later he became one of the heroes of the novel “The Three Musketeers” by Alexandre Dumas.
