Hi everyone
Welcome to my chanel French Possum :)
What is French Possum?
It’s a channel on which I talk about topics related to the French culture,
such as gastronomy, current affairs or (as today) History.
In a previous French Possum video,
I already talked about the Man in the Iron Mask – about who he really was.
Today, I’ll talk about someone who lived at the same time he did,
a man who inspired Alexandre Dumas to write his story – or rather his novel – “The Three Musketeers”.
Who was the real D’Artagnan? Because D’Artagnan actually existed.
Together, let’s travel back in time and find out more about this historical figure.
The real name of the hero was “Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan”.
He was born at his family’s castle, in Gascogne (Bay of Biscay) around 1611.
D’Artagnan was not noble-born but he was the first cousin of a marshal of France
so he decided to try his luck by going to Paris and he joined the French Guards,
which at the time were the capital’s main military school.
A relative of his mother, M. de Tréville (whom you may know about if you have read the novels written by Alexandre Dumas)
sent him to Fontainebleau before he joined several military operations.
D’Artagnan then joined the King’s Musketeers until the dissolution of the company two years later.
After that, during the period named “La Fronde”,
which was a time of confusion in France when several nobles revolted against King Louis XIV,
D’Artagnan met the King, who was just a child at the time,
and who entrusted him with more and more important and secret missions.
The protection of the King and Cardinal Mazarin helped advance his career until 1657, when the Musketeers’ company was re-established.
D’Artagnan then joined the company with a very good promotion.
D’Artagnan married a rich widow with whom he had 2 children who both had a military career.
Unfortunately, the relationship broke down following D’Artagnan’s infidelity and the couple separated after 6 years.
D’Artagnan really became famous when he arrested Fouquet, the King’s rival, on the King’s orders.
He then travelled with his prisoner from prison to prison until they arrived at the Pignerol prison.
If you remember well, we already talked about this prison in a previous video.
Indeed, it’s the prison where the tragedy of the Man in the Iron Mask was unfolding.
If you would like to know more about this enigmatic figure, don’t hesitate to click on the link in the video… on that tiny question mark.
After his role as a jailor, D’Artagnan went back to the army.
He was made governor of Lille before being asked to participate in the war against Holland that Louis XIV had started.
And it was there, on the battle field, that D’Artagnan was killed on June 25, 1673, by a bullet that pierced his throat as he was charging with his company.
The brave and loyal musketeer was buried in an unknown place, perhaps near Maastricht where he fell.
Many streets and statues pay homage to D’Artagnan
but it’s the trilogy by Alexandre Dumas about his adventures with the three musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis, that made him famous all around the world.
What in the book differs – or rather is true and corresponds to reality?
The novelist keeps the correct Gascon roots of the character as well as the date and place of D’Artagnan’s death.
Other historical figures appear in the books, such as Cardinal Mazarin and King Louis XIV.
The bond of trust between Louis XIV and D’Artagnan
is key to the story of the third book by Alexandre Dumas on the three musketeers, “the Vicomte de Bragelonne”.
Nevertheless, Dumas takes a lot of liberties with historical facts
and he starts his story 15 years before the real birth date of D’Artagnan.
The hero’s friends, Athos, Porthos and Aramis are also historical figures, but this is a tale for another day!
Thank you very much for having watched this video, I really hope you liked it.
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Let’s meet again next week for another video.
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See you next week, bye bye.