When I was 5 years old, I was obsessed with the childrens' cartoon series Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds, a charming anthropomorphic interpretation of Alexandre Dumas' famous novels. Fortunately for little me, the show did not depict what became of Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan after he achieved his ambition and joined the Mousquetaires du roi: he got his head blown off at the Siege of Maastricht.
What became of his remains has remained a mystery ever since, but now a Dutch archeologist believes he has found them in the floor of a 17th-century church. The evidence is seductive: fragments of a lead musket ball, such as what killed him; a coin from 1660, as might have been in his possession, and a resting place consistent with fame but not great wealth. Kiona N. Smith for Ars Technica:
none of those clues provide definite evidence that this was the famed Musketeer. A sample taken from the skeleton's jawbone is on its way to Germany for DNA sequencing; those sequences will be compared to d'Artagnan's living relatives. Meanwhile, forensic anthropologists in Deventer, in the Netherlands, will examine the skeleton for clues about how old the person was when they died and whether they were more likely male or female. "I'm a scientist, but my expectations are high," Wim Dijkman, archaeologist and curator for the city of Maastricht, who excavated the skeleton, told the BBC. "I've already been researching d'Artagnan's grave for 28 years. This could be the highlight of my career."
Due to the same cartoon, I'll never be able to think of legendary French statesman Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, except as an Alsatian in a red dress (which is doubly historically inaccurate, as he was from Poitou.)
One for all and all for one
Muskehounds are always ready.
One for all and all for one
Helping everybody
