Archeologists may have discovered the skeletal remains of Charles de Batz de Castelmore, otherwise known as the fourth musketeer d’Artagnan, at a church near Maastricht.

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 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.

“The skeleton was found where the altar used to be,” deacon Jos Valke told L1Nieuws. “Only royals or other people of rank were buried there”, he said. DNA taken from the skeleton’s teeth is currently being compared with that of a descendant of a De Batz family member.

Archeologist Wim Dijkman, who was sceptical about Bordaz’s theory at the time, said “so far nothing contradicts the fact that this may be him.”

“But I will await the results of the DNA test,” he told the paper.

D’Artagnan was Louis XIV’s right-hand man for matters of espionage, secret missions and personal protection.

When news of his death reached the king he told his wife Marie-Thèrese “J’ai perdu d’Artagnan en qui j’avais la plus totale confiance et qui était bon à tous” ( I lost d’Artagnan who I trusted completely and who could do anything).

He became world famous when Alexandre Dumas wrote The Three Musketeers in 1844 in which he figures as the fourth musketeer, along with Aramis, Porthos and Athos.

D’Artagnan has a statue in Maastricht as a symbol of “courage and friendship”.