Stichting 6213HL/Gamma-RaphoThe bones were found underneath where the church altar used to be situatedMore than 350 years after the death of legendary French musketeer d'Artagnan, remains have been found under the floor of a Dutch church that may well have been his.
Jos Valke, who is deacon at St Peter and Paul Church in Maastricht, helped unearth the skeleton and is 99% certain that the remains belong to Charles de Batz de Castelmore, a close aide to France's Sun King Louis XIV who was known as Count d'Artagnan.
D'Artagnan was killed during the Siege of Maastricht in 1673, but later immortalised in the adventure stories of Alexandre Dumas as a friend of the Three Musketeers.
His remains were long rumoured to have been buried in the church but no evidence has been found until now.
Deacon Valke told the BBC that nobody had dug under the floor until now, but as a few tiles had been broken it was decided to have a look. They first found a wall and took out a brush to dig further.
At this point an archaeologist was called, who discovered the skeleton beneath where the altar table had stood 200 years ago.
"We became quite silent when we found the first bone," he said, adding that there were several pointers indicating that the skeleton belonged to the Sun King's right-hand man.
"He was buried on sacred ground below where the altar was; we found the bullet that put an end to his life and we found a coin from 1660 in his grave, and it was from the bishop who attended Mass for the Roi Soleil."
Stichting 6213HLThe skeleton was found directly beneath where the altar table used to sitThe archaeologist who took part in the excavation is more cautious.
"I'm a scientist, but my expectations are high," Wim Dijkman told regional public broadcaster Omroep Limburg, adding that he preferred to wait for DNA confirmation of the skeleton's identity.
A sample has been taken from the remains and is currently being analysed in Germany, while some of the bones have been taken to the Dutch city of Deventer to assess the skeleton's age, where it is from and whether it is male or female.
"I've already been researching d'Artagnan's grave for 28 years. This could be the highlight of my career," said Dijkman.
D'Artagnan is believed to have been hit in the throat by a musket ball as Louis XIV sought to capture Maastricht.
The French army decided that as it was mid-summer they would bury him locally, and their camp had been set up close to the church in the Wolder area in what is now the south-west corner of Maastricht.
Although d'Artagnan was modelled on a historical figure, the three musketeers were fictional characters who may have been inspired by three members of an elite corps who provided protection for the king and took part in military action.
DeAgostini/ Getty ImagesAn illustration of d'Artagnan from an 1849 edition of the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas 
