Dutch archaeologist arrested for keeping “d’Artagnan’s” bones

A Dutch archaeologist who thinks he may have discovered the grave of French musketeer d’Artagnan in a church near Maastricht, was arrested on Wednesday after refusing to hand over some of the bones to the city council.

Wim Dijkman, who has since been released, was picked up by police after personally fetching a portion of an arm bone and the remains of two teeth from researchers in Germany earlier in May.

He claims Maastricht council, which technically owns the bones, had asked for them to be sent back from laboratory tests by post, a decision which he said was far too risky.

In March, archaeologists said they may have discovered the skeletal remains of Charles de Batz de Castelmore, otherwise known as the fourth musketeer d’Artagnan, at the church.

D’Artagnan, the leader of King Louis XIV’s elite corps of gentlemen, died in battle in 1673 during the French siege of Maastricht, probably from a wound in the chest caused by a musket bullet.

The find may also prove a theory put forward by French historian Odile Bordaz in 2008, that d’Artagnan could have been buried “quickly as was usual in times of war” in the church adjacent to the French military camp in Wolder.

The burial was not registered in the church archives and no other proof was ever found. But in February, the floor of the church collapsed, revealing a skeleton, with what was left of a musket bullet at chest height, and a French coin.

DNA taken from the skeleton’s teeth is currently being compared with that of a descendant of a De Batz family member. As yet, there is no word on the results.

According to De Limburger newspaper, Dijkman has now handed over the bones – which were being kept by a friend – to council officials and been released from custody.