Archaeologists are only allowed to excavate under strict conditions. In addition, any intervention in the soil of a national monument such as the St. Peter and Paul Church requires a permit. But according to the municipality, this was not requested and provided for the excavation of any remains of ‘musketeer’ D’Artagnan in that house of worship.
Wim Dijkman, retired city archaeologist from the municipality of Maastricht, who led the first excavation, says that he “first wanted to have some certainty that it could possibly be D’Artagnan.” After all: “You don’t want all kinds of agencies to have to show up for a storm in a teacup.”
Some experts (including Dijkman) had long suspected that the loyal servant of the French King Louis XIV was buried here. D’Artagnan was killed in 1673 during a siege of Maastricht. And Louis, also called the Sun King, had encamped nearby.
D’Artagnan’s biographer pointed me out, so to speak. According to her, I was the man who had to find him
“In retrospect you can also estimate that I should have reported it a little earlier,” Dijkman admits. He acted as advisor to the 6213 HL Foundation, which is affiliated with the church board. D’Artagnan’s death and final resting place have occupied Dijkman for years. “D’Artagnan’s French biographer pointed me out, as it were. According to her, I was the man who had to find him.”
Jos Valke, deacon of the church, previously announced that a subsidence in front of the altar was the reason for the lifting of tiles. Wall remains (probably from a previous church) and bones were discovered. Dijkman was then asked to dig further.
The skeleton that was uncovered could belong to D’Artagnan. A coin on the remains and a bullet in the chest, as also described in the sources, at least seemed to point in that direction. In addition, the skeleton was buried in the holiest place of the old church: the altar – a venerable place for the loyal servant of the Sun King.
Urban archaeologists
The possible discovery became big news at home and abroad after an initial publication by the regional broadcaster L1 on March 25. The municipality provides a written response NRC know that she was first informed by the church board about excavation work on March 5. And on that occasion the current city archaeologists heard about the skeleton found. As proof, they received a photo from the board.
I have neatly exposed the skeleton. If it’s D’Artagnan, he was lying there like he did 350 years ago
The same day, the municipality stopped the unlicensed and therefore illegal excavations. In consultation with the Cultural Heritage Agency, it was decided that it would be useful to further document the grave and extract the skeletal remains. The municipality drew up a program of requirements that further search and work at that location had to meet.
The 6213 HL Foundation received that program on March 9. Taking the requirements into account, he then gave the assignment to the Saxion University of Applied Sciences in Deventer and cultural-historical research agency BAAC Archeology. They started on March 13. The archaeologists from the municipality were also present in the church that day.
Prosecution decision
The municipality has reported the illegal excavation work to the Government Information and Heritage Inspectorate. He does research. Archaeological research without the necessary papers is a crime. It can lead to a fine, community service or even imprisonment. Any decision to prosecute lies with the Public Prosecution Service.
The Inspectorate confirms the report. A spokesperson says he can no longer provide further information about the ongoing investigation.
Dijkman says he looks forward to the results of the research with confidence. “I have neatly exposed the skeleton. If it is D’Artagnan, he was lying there as he was laid out 350 years ago. In the 1980s, more than a hundred graves were documented and then cleaned up for the installation of district heating in the Basilica of St. Servatius in Maastricht. Now that is the destruction of the soil archive.”
Whether the recovered skeletal remains belong to D’Artagnan is still being investigated.
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