En garde!

A historian believes that she has found the tomb of d'Artagnan, the inspiration for the book "The Three Musketeers".

Charles de Batz de Castelmore d’Artagnan was killed during the Siege of Maastricht on June 25, 1673. Historian Odile Bordaz claims that she has found the tomb a few kilometres away at Saint Peter and Paul Church in Wolder, and is asking the Dutch authorities and the Catholic Church to approve an archaeological dig of the site.

Bordaz claims: "I would rate the chance of success at 50/50, but it would be wonderful to find him. It's like a police inquiry." She also claims that d'Artagnan reputation as a lady-killer was justified saying: "The musketeers and their officers led joyous lives and multiple conquests not only on the battlefield but also in the secret of the alcoves."

Born between 1611-1615 in south-western France, d'Artagnan became a member of the King's musketeers by the age of 20. Amongst his comrades where Athos, Porthos and Aramis, the actual three musketeers referred to in the title of the book. The musketeers were engaged in cloak-and-dagger operations for Kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Louis XIV, the Sun King, appointed d'Artagnan leader of the musketeers in 1658. He was eventually killed in a charge lead by the Duke of Monmouth, who was at the head of an English contingent allied to France.

While most historians believe that his body had been repatriated, Bordaz claims she could find no trace of his tomb in France, and argues that the hot and humid weather at the time would have caused corpses to putrefy rapidly. Embalming the body would have been too costly and time-consuming. During the siege, French officers were buried in the nearest Catholic church, and d'Artagnan had his camp near Wolder.

The parish priest at Saint Peter and Paul, Father Peter van der Aart said that while there was a good chance that d'Artagnan was buried in the church, an excavation would only be authorised if historians could be sure of the tomb's exact location. He said: "I don't think we could dig up everything to look for him."

The book "The Three Musketeers" was created by Alexandre Dumas in 1844, after he read the about the exploits of d'Artagnan in "Les Mémoires de Monsieur d'Artagnan". However, Dumas moved the storyline 15 years forward and invented much of his story.

Story in The Times