In Search of the Musketeers

From the Ottawa Citizen:

"A five-year quest to locate the tomb of d'Artagnan -- the inspiration for Alexandre Dumas's novel The Three Musketeers -- has led to a small Dutch church where new research suggests the swashbuckling hero is buried.

Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan died during the Siege of Maastricht on June 25, 1673, and, according to a leading French historian, was laid to rest only few kilometres away at Saint Peter and Paul Church in Wolder."

Dumas wrote The Three Musketeers in 1844 after reading about d'Artagnan's exploits in Les Memoires de Monsieur d'Artagnan, which was published almost 150 years earlier. Although he brought the action forward by 15 years and invented much of the storyline, the main characters are rooted in history."

Okay, now I have read "The Man in the Iron Mask" by John MacDonald (and highly recommend it for those with a interest in the period).  It is an indepth research into 17thC France and the secrecy surrounding the identity of the Mask. Apparently all four Musketeers were real - and the man in the iron mask was not Fouquet as is popularly believed. There were three other important "political prisoners" jailed with Fouquet - one of which was the Mask.  Whilst 17thC France is not my forte, this makes for very interesting reading.

Musketeer Reading:

The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas

Twenty Years After by Alexander Dumas

The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexander Dumas

Louise de Valliere by Alexander Dumas

The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexander Dumas

17th Century France - Novels:

The Oracle Glass by Judith Merkle Riley

Gardiner to the King by Frederic Richaud

The Courtier's Secret by Donna Russo Morin

To Dance with Kings by Rosalind Laker

Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland

Emilie's Voice by Susanne Dunlap

17th Century France:

Mirrors of Infinity: the French Formal Garden by Allen S Weiss

French Literature of the 17th Century eds: Frederic P Miller, Agnes F Vandome, John McBrewster

The Four Musketeers: the true story of D'Artagnan, Porthos, Aramis & Athos by KL Maund & Phil Nanson

The Days of the Musketeers by Pierrie Miquel

Louis XIII the Just by AL Moote

The Institutions of France Under the Absolute Monarchy 1598 - 1789 by Roland Mousnier

Seventeenth century Europe: state, conflict, and the social order in Europe by Thomas Munck

Richelieu: A Tale of France in the Reign of King Louis XIII by GRP James

Richelieu and the councillors of Louis XIII: a study of the secretaries of state and superintendents of finance in the ministry of Richelieu, 1635-1642 by Orest A Ranum