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5. D "Artagnan

Find in the library


- Monsieur Dumas, where do you get plots for your numerous works? - the writer was often asked.

From everywhere, where I can, - answered the illustrious author.

And it really was. Under his pen, historical chronicles came to life, he knew how to breathe life into ancient legends, resurrected forgotten memoirs written in different eras. In search of a "causative agent of the imagination" A. Dumas wandered through the pages of countless dictionaries, history textbooks, collections of historical anecdotes.

Once - it was in 1843 - Dumas was rummaging through the books of the Royal Library, looking, as he himself says in the preface to The Three Musketeers, for materials about the era of Louis XIV. He slowly sorted through book after book, took dusty volumes off the shelves, skimmed through them, putting aside those that might be useful to him. By chance, he had in his hands three volumes of Monsieur d'Artagnan's Memoirs, published by Pierre Rouge in Amsterdam in 1704. (In fact, such a publisher did not exist, the printers of that time, if necessary, hid their real name.) This was the second edition of three similar ones, but the only one equipped with a portrait of d "Artagnan. The first was published in Cologne in 1700 by Pierre Marteau; the third - in Amsterdam in 1712 at Pierre Koo's - both typographers are fictitious.

A stranger in military armor was looking from an old engraving. A thin, energetic face was framed by wavy, shoulder-length hair. His whole appearance seemed unusual, especially his eyes, piercing and intelligent. With a sly squint, they looked at the reader, as if saying: "Get acquainted with his true biography, and you will be convinced of my exclusivity." This expression was strengthened by a smile of thin lips, above which, like two sharp blades, protruded small elegant mustaches of a favorite of women and a desperate duelist. The writer, by his own admission, decided to study more carefully the four volumes issued by Pierre Rouge. With the permission of the library keeper - his friend the writer Joseph Mery - he took them home and greedily attacked them. The fact that the rarest edition was issued to Alexandre Dumas is evidenced by the library form. But he is silent about the fact that this book never returned to the library shelf. The writer took advantage of friendly relations and did not return a rare copy. However, what so interested A. Dumas in these memoirs? These turned out to be cursory sketches of the events and customs of the past era - the middle of the seventeenth century, made, no doubt, by an eyewitness, although many pictures of the past were presented one-sidedly. The full title of the book was: "Memoirs of Monsieur d" Artagnan, lieutenant commander of the first company of the royal musketeers, containing a lot of private and secret information about the events that occurred during the reign of Louis the Great. Who was this eyewitness, the author of memoirs? Judging by the title - d "Artagnan. However, as the researchers believe, in these "own memoirs" there is not a word written by the musketeer himself. They were composed by a certain Gascien de Courtil de Sandra, and although he knew d "Artagnan personally, this by no means gave him the right to speak on behalf of the musketeer. But Courtil de Sandra did not hesitate to use the big names of his contemporaries, publishing false memoirs. He was prolific and quite clever hoaxer.

Contemporaries quickly figured out the true author of the "memoirs ..." and, without hesitation, told him about the fake. But Curtil de Sandra continued to insist on his own. Without denying that he had something to do with the publication of the Musketeer's notes, he stated that the memoirs were written by d "Artagnan, and he supposedly only edited them.

Painting nail by Alexandre Dumas


The adventures of the musketeer, which Kurtil De Sandra told about, seemed to A. Dumas to be an excellent basis for an adventure novel. He plunged into history, reading the memoirs of other witnesses of the past: Francois de La Rochefoucauld, de La Porte, the valet of Anna of Austria, brought out in the novel The Three Musketeers; her maid, Madame de Motteville; studied "Entertaining Stories" by Talemand de Reo, as well as the book by Lehrer, which collected the intrigues of the French court, in particular, the case with pendants. And soon, under the pen of the writer, history came to life.

Three glorious musketeers, three brave men, three friends appear on the stage - Athos, Porthos and Aramis. They serve in the company of musketeers under the command of de Treville.

All these characters had real prototypes. A. Dumas met their names in the book of Curtil de Sandra. But there they were by no means the heroes of the story, they were only mentioned, it was said that they were supposedly cousins. But in other historical sources, the writer found more detailed information about these persons. For example, in the same preface, Dumas talks about the in-folio manuscript he found of the memoirs of the Comte de La Fere, dedicated to recent years the reign of Louis XIII and the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV.

What do we know about the prototypes of the novel? De Treville, formerly called Arnaud-Jean Du Peyret, was the son of a merchant from Oloron, a town in Béarn, where he was born in 1596. Where did he get his magnificent name - Comte de Treville?

The small estate of Trois-Ville ("Three Cities"), located near Oloron in the Soul Valley, is divided into three equal parts. And today there is a luxurious castle built by the famous architect Monsar.

After Arnaud-Jean Du Peyret bought the castle and the lands around it, he began to call himself as a nobleman, de Troyville, and a little later changed his name to a more euphonious one - de Treville. But his ambition was not satisfied: he dreamed of serving in a company of royal guards. And de Treville achieved this. In 1625, he became a musketeer, and over time (in 1634) took, as they said then, "the most enviable position in the kingdom" - the position of commander of the musketeers and declared himself a count. Now his name was Armand-Jean de Peyret.

His life is full of turbulent events. He participated in the siege of La Rochelle and Soissons, fought at Arras, at the Pont de Sé and Parpilhan. The enemy of Richelieu (here A. Dumas is true to history), de Treville, in the end, at the insistence of the all-powerful cardinal, was removed from the court. However, shortly after the death of Richelieu, in 1643, he received the governorship of the province of Foix. He is mentioned more than once in his diary by Marshal Bassompierre (also an opponent of Richelieu, who was imprisoned in the Bastille on his orders) as the bravest of warriors. De Treville died in 1672. Before the disgrace that befell him in 1642, Treville really enjoyed great influence. Thanks to his patronage, Armand de Sillec was admitted to the number of musketeers in 1640. This young man, married to de Treville's niece, bore the name Signor d'Athos (after the name of a small town, once a Greek colony, near the town of Sovettre-de-Béarn), but when he was not a participant in the adventures, the hero of which was never A. Dumas Just as he was not a Comte de La Fere, and even more so could not leave memories of the era of the reign of Louis XIV, for it is known that he died on December 22, 1643 from a mortal wound.All this "pedigree" is a completely legitimate writer's conjecture.

A relative of de Treville was the Gascon Henri Aramitz. Not far from Laren in the Pyrenees, on a rock, stood his splendid castle, where he retired from military service in 1654 and lived peacefully with his wife and four children.

The second wife of the commander of the musketeers was nee d "Aramitz. The writer changed this surname to Aramis. By the way, Dezessar, the commander of the regiment where the hero Dumas initially serves, is a genuine person (killed in 1645), and he was also related to de Treville.

The third, Porthos, was from the same places as the other two musketeers. The residence of Messire Isaac de Porto was a massive castle in Lanna, overlooking the valley of Bareto.

Isaac de Porto, not at all such a poor man as A. Dumas made him, was familiar with d "Artagnan while serving in the guard. He became a musketeer in the year of Athos's death - in 1643. This means that they hardly fought hand And all four Musketeers could have been together for only a few months in 1643.

Connected them for many years in his novel Alexandre Dumas. When he was reproached for distorting history, A. Dumas replied: “Perhaps, but history for me is just a nail on which I hang my picture.” However, with regard to d "Artagnan, according to his fellow Gascons, he was an even more heroic personality than the novelist could imagine. The facts of his unusual biography, full of adventures and exploits, known to us today thanks to the searches of historians and literary critics, really testify about the exceptional fate of this man.His story, they say in Gascony, is true as fiction, and incredible as life itself.

Castle of Castelmore and the village of Artagnan


Near the Pyrenees is the capital of ancient Gascony - Osh. Not far from the city of Osh, in the town of Lupiak, a man was born who served as the prototype of the famous literary hero- d "Artagnan. To this day, there is the castle of Castelmore, built in the 11th century, where he lived. The castle, strict in form, stands on the banks of the Tenarese. Four towers - two round, more ancient, and two square, rise above the crowns of oaks and elms, covering the building with a ring His old stones are hidden under a green cloak of ivy, which is why the walls merge with the foliage of the Trees and from a distance, from the sunlit hills, are barely visible.

Tradition says that Charles de Batz-Castelmore d "Artagnan was born in the kitchen of this castle in the year 1b20. His parents were Francoise de Montesquieu-d" Artagnan and Bertrand III de Batz-Castelmore. The father came from an old Gascon family, whose castle in the county of Fezensac has survived to this day. Mother was a representative of a more noble family from a neighboring county. Therefore, the sons inherited the more noble name d "Artagnan, retaining the name inherited from the paternal side of Castelmore - with the addition of the name of the county of Fezensac.

A few kilometers from the castle of Castelmore is the small village of Artagnan. The lands around it were part of the baronate of the noble Montesquieu family - one of the oldest in the kingdom. In any case, they belonged to this family since Polon de Montesquieu, the equestrian of Henri d'Albret, King of Navarre, married Jacquemette d'Estaing, a lady from Artagnan.

After the wedding, the young people came to their Gascon estate. The spouse had to enter into the rights of the owner of the estate. This required his presence at the "oath of allegiance" ceremony.

“From now on, Polon de Montesquiou,” read the servant, “swears that he will behave like a true feudal lord, the rest must remember that they are vassals and, in turn, swear to behave in a manner appropriate to their position ...” So the horseman of the king of Navarre became Senor d'Artagnan.

Years passed. A castle grew up on the edge of the village. And invariably men left here to serve in the guard - it became a family tradition.

Cardinal's Servant


The two older brothers of d'Artagnan were already officers when it was his turn to become a warrior. But before that, he, who had never left his native nest, had to get to Paris. What awaited him then? He, in truth, thought little. He had a letter of recommendation in his pocket - this magic key was supposed to open the way to a career for him. But d "Artagnan was not so naive as to fully believe in the magical power of a piece of paper. He knew something else too. Only courage can make your way. Whoever trembles even for a moment may miss the opportunity that fortune provided him at that very moment.

d'Artagnan always remained true to this rule. He did not have to take courage and courage, timidity and indecision were alien to him, as well as cowardice. As for the ability to seize the opportunity and benefit for himself, in this he showed himself a great master.

The life of the true d "Artagnan has long attracted researchers. Almost immediately after the publication in 1844 of the novel by A. Dumas "The Three Musketeers", the search for a prototype began. Very soon it was established that several d "Artagnan brothers lived and became famous at once in the 17th century and their cousins, whose features are somehow focused in a well-known literary image. It is known for sure, for example, that Charles d'Artagnan, the hero of Dumas, had four siblings. Moreover, the eldest was also called Charles, he was born in 1608. The second was Paul (born 1610), who became famous in many wars and lived to a ripe old age When Jean and Arno were born (the first, like the two previous ones, was a military man, the second was a priest) is not known, but they were also older than d'Artagnan Charles the second, that is, the one who interests us.

Most researchers believe that he was born between 1620 and 1623, although some believe that the prototype of the hero of the novel was born between 1611 and 1623. A. Dumas forced him to be born in 1607, apparently so that he could take part in the events described: the capture of La Rochelle in 1628, serve under Cardinal Richelieu, who died in 1642, etc. For the real d " Artagnan, if he was born in 1620, would hardly have been able to succeed almost in infancy.In this, as in many other things, A. Dumas "corrected" the story, using the author's right to fiction.

Accordingly, the prototype of the literary hero came to Paris later, in the year that way in 1640 or a little earlier.

The long way from Osh to the capital was left behind. But the city met the Gascon unfriendly. The letter of recommendation was lost during a road trip. Nevertheless, d "Artagnan managed through Treville (his uncle's comrade, and not his father, as in the novel) to enter the guard as a cadet.

His dream of a musketeer's cloak did not immediately come true. It would be another four years before he was enrolled in the king's personal guard. In the meantime, he is sent to the active army - the best school for a beginner.

From now on, the guardsman d "Artagnan is seen where the cannons rumble, the clanging of blades and the beat of drums are heard, where the French troops are fighting the battles of the Thirty Years' War.

When the all-powerful Cardinal Richelieu died, and after him, not much outliving him, Louis XIII, the dexterous Italian Mazarin, the favorite of the regent, Queen Mother Anna of Austria, took the place of the cardinal. He decided to disband the Musketeers.

D "Artagnan, by that time honored to be a musketeer, that is, a soldier of the king's personal guard, was out of work, albeit temporarily. In some way, unknown to us, he manages to achieve the appointment of Mazarin's special courier. From that moment on, the Gascon for a long time connects his fate with the new cardinal.In the rain, in the cold and snow, sparing neither himself nor the horse, the personal courier of the cardinal must gallop along the roads of France.Mazarin weaves intrigues and needs people who would notify him of the mood in society. the ears and eyes of the cardinal.

But the policy of the cardinal causes discontent among both the townspeople and the nobility. The period of the so-called Fronde begins - the anti-government opposition of the nobles, who took advantage of the discontent of the bourgeoisie. And there are fewer people around Mazarin devoted to him. Only d'Artagnan invariably provides important services to his master. He remains a faithful servant even during the armed uprising of Parisians in August 1648, caused in part by the cruel rule of Mazarin.

Forced to retire into exile, the cardinal settled in the small German town of Brühl, near Cologne. Here he is often seen in the garden, he takes care of the flowers, and it seems that the former all-powerful minister retired, lost interest in intrigues, forgot the taste of power. But it only seems. In fact, the cardinal has no intention of laying down his arms. He recruits new supporters, bribes opponents, gathers soldiers. He has many things to do, and his trusted courier, who is privy to the plans of the exiled cardinal, has a lot of them. D "Artagnan again spends days and nights in the saddle - travels along the roads of Germany and Belgium.

One day at the beginning of 1653, a messenger of the king rode to Brühl on a lathered horse. Louis XIV, who has come of age, invites the cardinal to the capital. d'Artagnan returns with him. Ahead of him, rumors fly about him not only as a skilled warrior, but also as a subtle diplomat and a wise politician.

Not by force, so by cunning


For some time, d'Artagnan stayed in Paris. Then he is in Reims, where, along with other courtiers, he is present at the coronation ceremony of the king. And soon he is seen under the walls of besieged Bordeaux, the last center of resistance of the feudal nobility.

The siege of the city occupied by the rebels dragged on. Only cunning could force the surrender of its defenders. And d "Artagnan will play in this matter leading role. Here he will demonstrate his outstanding acting skills for the first time. He is instructed to deliver a cardinal's letter to the besieged Bordeaux with a promise to pardon everyone who stops resisting. How to smuggle a letter into the city so that it is not intercepted by the leaders of the rebels? I had to resort to a masquerade. D "Artagnan dressed up as a beggar. The soldiers acted out a scene as if they were chasing him. They noticed him from the walls of the besieged city. The gates opened for a moment. The beggar slipped through them. Pale from the fear he had just experienced, he thumped at his feet, humbly kissing the hands of his saviors. And none of them guessed that the cardinal's letter was hidden under the beggar's rags.

In an even more difficult role, he happened to act during the siege of the city of Ardra by the Spaniards. In the documents of those years there is a description of this daring enterprise of d "Artagnan.

The position of the besieged became more and more difficult with each passing hour. Famine raged in the city, food supplies ran out, even horses were eaten. The soldiers could hardly repel the attacks of the persistent Spaniards. The situation was so critical that the city, unable to withstand the siege, could throw out the white flag from hour to hour. It was necessary to warn the besieged that help was close and that it was necessary to hold out until the arrival of the French troops. Delivering this message was entrusted to d "Artagnan.

But how to break through the ring of Spanish soldiers, how to get into the city? D "Artagnan developed a bold and, as always, cunning plan. To implement it, he had to play the show alone in many faces - disguise himself as a merchant, impersonate a servant, pretend to be a weak old man. Deftly deceiving the Spanish soldiers with such a masquerade, he made his way into the city to the besieged to his compatriots. He arrived, I must say, very opportunely. The governor was about to throw out the white flag.

The way back was less favorable for him. This time he decided to play the deserter. However, the very first Spanish soldier who met him on the way suspected something was wrong. The imaginary deserter was taken to the commander of the Spaniards. Here he was identified as a French officer. The decision was quick, and the order was laconic - to execute. But happiness smiled at d'Artagnan this time too. He managed to escape.

Gray Musketeers


Having escaped from a seemingly inevitable death, the brave Gascon reappeared in Paris in order to again put on a wide-brimmed hat with feathers and an elegant suit of a royal musketeer - by that time Louis XIV decided to restore his personal guard and established the same uniform for everyone. For the first time, a court company of nobles called to protect the king was established by Henry IV, the father of Louis XIII. During the time of Louis XIV in his personal protection, there were already one hundred and fifty people. The king himself was considered the captain of the company. In fact, its commander was a lieutenant commander. In addition, the company included a lieutenant, a cornet, two sergeant majors, a quartermaster sergeant, a trumpeter and a blacksmith. The latter played an important role, given that the musketeers were cavalry troops. Usually they served inside the palace, accompanied the king during his trips. Two by two, head to head, an escort of musketeers galloped ahead of the royal cortege. “Truly, these are wonderful warriors,” the newspaper of that time wrote about them, “splendidly dressed. On each - a blue cloak with a silver band and the same galloons. Only a nobleman, a man of exceptional courage, is allowed into their ranks ... ". It should be added to this description that the jackets on the musketeers were scarlet, and the color of the horses was gray. They were called the Gray Musketeers. Later, a second company was created, called the Black Musketeers. They differed not only in the color of the horses, where their name comes from, but also in the color of the camisoles.

At first, the Musketeers lived next to royal palace. But then those that were richer began to settle in other parts of the city, renting housing at their own expense. And not everyone could afford it. Among them were those who, in addition to a long noble name and a sword, did not have a penny for their souls. This had to be content with a salary of 35 sous a day.

Marriage was the way out for many of them. Our hero also decided to take this step. Until now, he was known as an avid heartthrob, however, a very modest income did not allow him to imitate rich friends, owners of estates and solid incomes. Needless to say, the pride of the famous musketeer was wounded. Especially the lack of funds affected now, when he became a lieutenant. And according to the custom established for a long time, the musketeer himself had to take care of his outfit, horse, harness and other equipment. The treasury gave him only a musket.

Remember how puzzled Athos, Porthos and Aramis were when they needed to immediately acquire all the accessories of the equipment of the musketeers. This required a fair amount, and they didn’t have it: friends loitered around the streets and looked at every cobblestone on the pavement, as if they were looking for if any of the passers-by had dropped their wallet. But all was in vain until one of them had the idea to turn to the help of their rich lovers.

Charlotte-Anne de Chenlecy, a lady from Saint-Croix, became the chosen one of d'Artagnan. Louis Bourbon, King of France and Navarre, Cardinal Mazarin, Marshal de Grammont and many other courtiers, their wives and daughters attended the wedding ceremony on March 5, 1659.

Finally, Charles d'Artagnan got rich - about a hundred thousand livres of annual income brought him his marriage to a noble girl. and with the same green curtains.

However, d'Artagnan did not have to stay with his family for long. Soon he leaves his wife and two children for the sake of new exploits.

Important service


D "Artagnan was instructed to accompany the monarch during a trip to the castle of Vaud, the property of the Minister of Finance, Mr. Fouquet. Luxury and splendor, combined with delicate taste and grace, distinguished this estate, unusual for that time. The coat of arms of the owner, a squirrel, flaunted on the gates of the castle, and the motto was carved : "Quo non ascendam" - "Wherever I fit in." These words perfectly characterized the minister. Fouquet really achieved a lot. Unusually dexterous, smart and cunning, Nicolas Fouquet, put at the head of finance under Mazarin, often put his hand into the treasury It is not surprising that he lived in grand style.His castle, built in 1653, which was spent 15 million, was built by the best masters - the architect Levo, the artist Lebrun, the planner of parks Lenotre - this great gardener, as he is called. from myself as a philanthropist and here were frequent guests famous writers Racine, de Sevigne, Lafontaine, Moliere, famous actors and artists visited for a long time. The walls of the castle were decorated with valuable paintings, and the library, numbering more than ten thousand volumes, kept many unique publications. But the wonder of wonders was the park and gardens of the castle of Vaud, which arose long before the beauties of Versailles. Marble grottoes, mirror ponds and canals, noisy cascades and fountains - at that time very rare, bronze and marble sculptures, in a word, such luxury, such wealth that even the king could not afford - adorned the castle of Vaud. Here “tables came down from the ceilings; underground, mysterious music was heard and, what most struck the guests, the dessert appeared in the form of a moving mountain of sweets, which itself stopped in the middle of the feasting, so that it was impossible to see the mechanism that set it in motion, ”writes A. Dumas in his book“ Louis XIV and his century.

This splendor, fabulous wealth aroused envy in Louis XIV. And it is known that she is the sister of hatred. Fouquet dared to surpass the king: the fate of the minister was decided. A dungeon awaited the presumptuous nobleman. The king ordered Fouquet to be arrested and instructed D "Artagnan. The arrest warrant was personally handed over to the musketeer, a man of executive and devoted duty.

D "Artagnan was helped by fifteen musketeers, and the whole operation went off without complications. True, Fouquet, who noticed the unkind, tried to escape in a strange carriage. But d" Artagnan, who did not take his eyes off him, figured out his plan. Without hesitation, he rushed after the carriage in which Fouquet sat down, caught up with her, arrested the minister and suggested that he transfer to a carriage prepared in advance with iron bars. This entire episode, described in the last part of Dumas' novel The Vicomte de Bragelon, acquired a somewhat different look under the writer's pen. With excitement, we follow a kind of competition in nobility between the pursuer and his victim - d "Artagnan and Fouquet.

Under the protection of the musketeers, in the same carriage with bars, the disgraced minister was taken by d'Artagnan to the fortress of Pignerol. For a successful operation, the king offered d'Artagnan the position of commandant of this fortress. To which the musketeer replied: "I would rather be the last soldier of France than her first jailer."

Death of the "bravest of the brave"


The daring courage and resourcefulness, the luck that accompanies d'Artagnan, elevated the desperate adventurer to the pinnacle of court success. From now on, a magnificent court title is added to his name - "caretaker of the royal poultry yard." This flattered the pride of the musketeer. Moreover, his position was purely nominal and did not require absolutely any work and knowledge, but it brought in a fair amount of income. But, apparently, this was still not enough for the conceited courtier. Taking advantage of the favor of the king, d "Artagnan behaved, as they say, not according to rank. But he got away with it. At court, they only pretended not to notice the impudence of the royal favorite. And who would dare to be indignant at the actions of d'Artagnan, when from day to day they expected him to be appointed commander of the king's personal guard, when Louis himself addressed his musketeer only with the words "beloved d" Artagnan.

And finally, as a worthy completion of the way up, d "Artagnan becomes the commander of the musketeers. This was almost the only case when an ordinary soldier rose to the rank of commander of the king's guard.

And soon new war with the Spaniards called d "Artagnan on the battlefield. The commander of the musketeers distinguished himself in the campaign in Flanders in 1667. For participation in the battles of Tournai, Douai and Lille, he was awarded the newly established rank of brigadier general of the army cavalry. Then he received the title of count and was appointed governor of the city of Lille. How did d "Artagnan cope with new, unusual duties for him? According to contemporaries, the rules were fair and honest. True, he did not stay in the post of governor for long. And then another war. And again d "Artagnan in the saddle.

Together with the army commanded by Marshal Turenne, both companies of musketeers set out for Flanders - the so-called Dutch War began. In the summer of 1673, a French army of 40,000 besieged the fortress of Maastricht on Mozol. The musketeers of d'Artagnan also took part in the siege. More than once his soldiers were in action, making their way to the very walls of the city, fighting for the forts covering the approaches to it.

It was especially hot on the evening of June 24th. Fifty French guns lit up the sky with the strongest fireworks. And immediately three hundred grenadiers, two companies of musketeers and four battalions of regular troops rushed to the attack. Despite heavy fire, d'Artagnan's musketeers managed to break into the enemy's trenches and occupy one of the forts.

At dawn, the commander of the musketeers walked around his soldiers, preparing the detachment for a counterattack. But it was not possible to resist, they had to retreat under hurricane fire. Eighty people were killed, fifty wounded. This battle was the last for the commander of the musketeers.

Several volunteers set out to search for his body. Under fire, they crawled to the fort, where until recently the battle was in full swing. D "Artagnan lay among a pile of bodies, he was dead. A bullet from a musket pierced his throat. With great risk, he managed to beat off his body and deliver it to the location of his troops.

Newspapers wrote about the death of the “bravest of the brave”, poets dedicated poems to him, he was mourned by soldiers and ladies, commoners and nobles. Many paid tribute to the brave warrior, but perhaps best of all, the historian Julianne Saint-Blaise said about him: “D" Artagnan and glory rest in one coffin, ”he wrote in the Diary of the Siege and Capture of the City of Maastricht in 1674.

Afterword of history


If we compare the events described in the book by Curtil de Sandra with the narration of A. Dumas, then it is easy to see which historical facts served the writer as a "nail" for his "picture". The “picture” itself was executed in a free manner.

Exact adherence to historical truth was of little interest to the author of the adventure story. The hero of A. Dumas takes part in the events that took place in the infant days of the original d "Artagnan. Not he, but his brother Pierre de Batz-Castelmore (also a very remarkable person) was a participant in the siege of La Rochelle, and not he, but his cousin Pierre de Montesquieu later (in 1709) became a marshal of France. Under the author's pen, the Gascon turns into a hated enemy of Richelieu, participates in many extraordinary adventures associated with this enmity. He receives the rank of lieutenant much earlier than it actually was, etc.

But here's the paradox! It is from the pages of the novels of A. Dumas, and not at all historical chronicles, that the living d "Artagnan rises before us. It is the writer's fantasy, and not the chronological clarity of the document, that makes the legendary d" Artagnan and his friends the favorite heroes of today's readers.

Once upon a time, the young K. Marx, who until the end of his life was fond of the novels of Dumas, wrote to F. Engels about his favorite writer: “He always studies the material only for the next chapter ... On the one hand, this gives his presentation a certain freshness, because what he reports , for him it is just as new as for the reader, but on the other hand, on the whole, it is weak ”as a historical narrative (K. Marx, F. Engels Soch., vol. 27, p. 181). And F. Engels, shortly before his death, wrote that it was impossible “to use the novels of Alexandre Dumas père to study the era of the Fronde”, “to use them as a historical source” (Ibid., vol. 38, p. 366).

And yet history was at the heart of Dumas' adventure novels...

The descendants of d'Artagnan inherited the magnificent titles of their ancestors - counts, marquises, barons and even dukes ... The genus d'Artagnan still exists in France. His last offspring, the Duke de Montesquiou, published the book The Genuine d'Artagnan in 1963. In it, he tries to correct history and prove that the only one who deserves the memory of his descendants is not Charles d'Artagnan, the prototype of the hero A. Dumas, but Pierre de Montesquiou, who became a marshal and therefore supposedly the most famous representative of an ancient family.

In our century, many studies have appeared on the hero of the trilogy by A. Dumas (“The Three Musketeers”, “Twenty Years Later”, “Viscount de Brazhelon, or Ten Years Later”). The most detailed of them was published in 1912 by the Parisian publishing house Calment-Levy and belongs to Charles Samaran. This one is called. the book "D" Artagnan - the captain of the royal musketeers. The true story of the hero of the novel.

The image of d "Artagnan even today attracts historians and literary critics. Some see him as a typical representative of his era, that precious drop in which its most characteristic features are focused. Others are interested in the question of the relationship between truth and fiction in the novels of A. Dumas, they are trying to penetrate psychology of creativity of the famous writer.

The image of d "Artagnan has long attracted artists. Musketeer fans have met their favorite hero more than once - they saw him in plays and operettas, ballets and musicals, on the screen of cinema and television. And those of them who visited his homeland, in the city Auch, could admire the majestic, bronze-cast figure of the valiant Gascon.To be more precise, they can see the statue erected in 1931, which merged the features of a brave musketeer and a literary hero who outlived his prototype for centuries.

d'Artagnan on the pedestal of the monument to Dumas

I like to read historical narratives about famous events. Change artistic perception to something closer to historical truth. Although how it really was there ... Maybe someone else does not know this story, but I will leave it as a keepsake. Reading...

One fine day in 1630, the young Gascon reached the outskirts of Paris. The towers of Notre Dame appeared in the distance, and soon the whole capital opened up before him. The traveler stopped an old horse of indeterminate color, put his hand on the hilt of his father's sword, and looked around the city with an admiring glance. He felt that a new life was beginning. And on this occasion, he decided to take his mother's surname - d'Artagnan.

Yes, the Musketeer d'Artagnan really lived. But was he really the hero of the "cloak and sword"? In Gascony, in the south of France, there are still quite a few people who bear the surname Batz and Debatz. A simple slip of the tongue is enough to turn Debaz into a noble "de Batz". So did a wealthy merchant from Lupiac. And then, in the middle of the 16th century, Arno de Batz also bought the estate of Castelmore with the manor house, proudly called the castle, and added “de Castelmore” to his surname.

His grandson Bertrand was the first of this kind to marry a true noblewoman - Francoise de Montesquiou from the house of d'Artagnan. What if the "Château d'Artagnan" looked like a peasant farm? But the wife had a noble coat of arms, her relatives were noble military men and nobles! Bertrand and Francoise had seven children - four sons and three daughters. Around 1613, our hero was born - Charles de Batz (with the addition in special cases - de Castelmore d'Artagnan). Probably, Charles did not study Latin and catechism too diligently, preferring horse riding and fencing lessons. By the age of seventeen, the "Gascon University" was over, and the chick fluttered out of the family nest.

Estimated portrait of d "Artagnan, painted by van der Meulen

So did thousands of young Frenchmen from the provinces. At home, they could not find service, glory and wealth, so they set off to conquer Paris. Some really grabbed luck by the tail and made a career. Others wandered around the narrow Parisian streets: “chest with a wheel, legs with compasses, a cloak over his shoulder, a hat to the eyebrows, a blade longer than a hungry day,” Théophile Gautier described these fellows, ready to draw a sword for a very modest fee. Thanks to letters of recommendation, Charles at first decided to be a cadet in one of the guards companies. But which of the cadets did not dream of subsequently transferring to the company of the "musketeers of the royal military house", or, more simply, to become the king's musketeer! Muskets - heavy matchlock guns - appeared in shooters French army even in the previous century. It was always possible to recognize the approach of musketeers not only by their heavy tread, but also by their characteristic sound: cartridges with gunpowder hung on a leather sling, while walking they rhythmically knocked against each other. Later, matchlock muskets were replaced by flintlock ones, but still reloading the musket was long and difficult - nine operations! Later, musketeers formed separate companies and regiments. But they were, so to speak, "just" musketeers.


Henry IV / Henry IV King of France./

And in 1600, King Henry IV created an elite company of "those same" musketeers for his personal protection. Only nobles served in it, in the palace they carried guard duty, and in battle they fought on horseback, following the sovereign. Their armament consisted of a shortened rifled musket (it was attached to the saddle with the barrel up so that the bullet did not fall out of the muzzle) and, of course, a sword. In special cases, depending on the nature of the task, the musket was replaced by a pair of pistols. But the real rise of the royal musketeers began under Louis XIII.

Rubens. Portrait of Louis XIII

In 1634, the sovereign himself led the company - of course, formally. The actual commander of the musketeers was Jean de Peyret, Comte de Troyville - that was actually the name of Captain de Treville of the Three Musketeers. We will also call him de Treville. Louis XIII highly valued the musketeers, and their commander could be entrusted with any business. One day the king, pointing to Treville, said: "Here is a man who will deliver me from the cardinal as soon as I want it." It was about the all-powerful Cardinal Richelieu (this is how his surname sounds correctly, by the way, surprisingly eloquent: riche means “rich”, lieu - “place”). But we will henceforth call him habitually - Richelieu. At that time, the royal musketeers were perhaps the most elegant military unit in France. They wore blue capes with a gold border, sewn with crosses with royal lilies on the ends of white velvet, framed by golden flames. High turn-down collars were not only a fashionable decoration, but also protected the neck from chopping blows with a sword. By the way, wide-brimmed hats with lush feathers saved a lot of ears and noses of their owners. Despite their elitism, the royal musketeers were not parquet shufflers: the company participated in almost all military campaigns, and the king's musketeers earned the glory of desperate brave men. Recruits came to the place of the killed comrades. So, two or three years after arriving in Paris, Charles de Batz was enrolled in the company of the royal musketeers - he enrolled in the musketeers under the name

d'Artagnan.
Portrait of d'Artagnan from the frontispiece of Curtil's Memoirs...

However, "the brilliance and poverty of the Musketeers" were known to all. Musketeer salaries were sorely lacking. Money - and a lot of it - was also needed for promotion. At that time, military and court posts in France were bought. The rank was assigned by the king, and the corresponding position, which brought real income, the candidate redeemed from his predecessor. Well, just like a profitable business is being bought up now. However, the king could not approve the candidate, appoint another; he could pay the required amount for a candidate from the treasury; he could, finally, bestow the rank and position for special merits. But in the main, chinoproizvodstvo was put, so to speak, on a commercial basis. Wealthy candidates who served a certain term, distinguished themselves in several campaigns, bought a position - first a standard-bearer, then a lieutenant, and finally a captain. For higher positions and prices were exorbitant. Noble and wealthy gentlemen also met in the company of the royal musketeers. But most of the musketeers were a match for d'Artagnan. Take at least Athos - him full name was Armand de Silleg d'Athos. He was a second cousin of Captain de Treville himself, and therefore easily joined his company around 1641. But he did not wear a sword for long - from it he died in 1643.

Since Athos was seriously wounded not on a campaign, but in Paris, it is clear that this was a duel, or a skirmish of violent fellows, or a settling of scores between opposing clans. Porthos was not richer either - Isaac de Porto, a native of a Protestant family. He began his service in the guard company des Essarts (Desessard in the Three Musketeers), fought, was injured and was forced to retire. Returning to Gascony, he held the position of keeper of ammunition in one of the fortresses, which was usually assigned to the disabled. Such was Aramis, or rather Henri d'Aramitz, cousin of de Treville and distant relative Athos. He served in a company of musketeers in the same years, then for some unknown reason left the service and returned to his native land, thanks to which he lived a rather calm and long (for a musketeer) life: he married, raised three sons and died peacefully on his estate around 1674, when he was in his fifties. These glorious gentlemen were colleagues of d'Artagnan, and nothing more. Francois de Montlezen, Marquis de Bemo, also a Gascon, became a close friend of his. Friends called him simply Bemo. D'Artagnan and Bemo were inseparable on guard and on campaigns, at merry feasts and in dangerous alterations. But in 1646 the fate of the two friends changed dramatically. In 1642, Cardinal Richelieu died, and his trusted assistant, Cardinal Giulio Mazarin, became the first minister. The following year, King Louis XIII also died. The heir was still small, France was ruled by the Regent Queen Anna of Austria, relying on Mazarin in everything.

Bouchard. Portrait of Cardinal Mazarin

Both cardinals appear in historical novels as real villains. Indeed, they had enough vices and shortcomings. But it is also true that Richelieu, with rare tenacity, created a united, strong France and an absolute monarchy, moreover, in a weakened, continuously warring country with a weak king. Richelieu's political line was basically continued by Mazarin, but he had, perhaps, even more difficult - the exhausting Thirty Years' War continued, royal power was practically absent. And they hated Mazarin more than his predecessor, because he was a "Varangian" and warmed up a lot of strangers. Mazarin was in great need of courageous and loyal assistants. By this time, the musketeers d'Artagnan and Bemo had already been noticed, and not only by their immediate superiors. And one day Mazarin called them to an audience. The astute politician immediately noticed that these dashing fighters also had heads on their shoulders. And he invited them to his service for special assignments. So d'Artagnan and Bemo, remaining musketeers, entered the retinue of the nobles of His Eminence. Their duties were very varied, but always required secrecy and courage. They delivered secret dispatches, accompanied unreliable military leaders and reported on their actions, and observed the movements of opponents. Life in constant traveling, almost without rest, soon turned them into living relics. In addition, the hopes of the musketeers for a generous payment did not materialize - Mazarin turned out to be obscenely stingy. Yes, they have not yet won, but they have not lost, like other musketeers - by decree of the king, their company was soon disbanded. The formal pretext was the "heavy burden of expenses" for the maintenance of the elite unit, in fact, Mazarin insisted on the dissolution. The Musketeers seemed to him too violent and uncontrollable part, from which it was not known what could be expected. The Musketeers were despondent, and no one imagined that in a decade the company would be reborn in even greater splendor. In the meantime, d'Artagnan and Bemo rushed around the country and thanked fate for having at least some kind of income.

The news that d'Artagnan brought was so important that his name began to appear either in the Gazette, the first periodical of France, or in the reports of the highest commanders: "Mr. d'Artagnan, one of the nobles of His Eminence, came from Flanders and reported ... "" Mr. d'Artagnan reports that there is information from Brussels about the accumulation of the enemy in Genilgau in the amount of about three thousand people who are preparing an attack on our border fortresses ... "The first minister was responsible in the state for everything, with there were no hunters to share the responsibility, and curses rushed from everywhere. Sometimes the cardinal literally had to plug the hole, and he threw his trusted "nobles" into the thick of it. For example, in 1648, Bemo himself led a detachment of light cavalry of His Eminence, and in this battle an enemy bullet crushed his jaw. Meanwhile, the general hatred of Mazarin resulted in a protest movement - the Fronde (in translation - "sling"). An uprising began in the capital, supported in some provinces. Mazarin took the young Louis out of the city and began the siege of Paris. The Fronde needed leaders, commanders, well-known among the troops, and they immediately appeared - nobles, aristocrats, in fact, striving for a redistribution of higher posts and privileges. The democratic Fronde was replaced by the "Fronde of Princes" (hence the expression "frontier" - to protest, but without much risk). The main leader of the Fronders was Prince Condé.

Egmont. Portrait of the Prince of Condé

During this period, many supporters of Mazarin went over to his opponents. But not d'Artagnan. By that time, the main qualities of his character were fully manifested - exceptional fidelity and unchanging nobility. The royal family soon returned to Paris, but the cardinal remained in exile. D’Artagnan has not left him now, only the Musketeer’s orders have become even more dangerous - he carried out Mazarin’s connection with Paris, delivered secret messages to the king and supporters, in particular, to Abbé Basil Fouquet, one might say, the head of the cardinal administration. It is not difficult to imagine what would have become of our Gascon if his mission had been discovered. After all, on the Pont Neuf in Paris, a satirical leaflet “Tariff of awards for the deliverer from Mazarin” was posted: “To the valet who strangles him between two featherbeds, - 100,000 ecu; a barber who cuts his throat with a razor - 75,000 ecu; to the pharmacist, who, putting him a clyster, will poison the tip, - 20,000 ecu ”... It’s not the right time for thanks, but it was then that Mazarin sent a letter to one of the marshals loyal to him: “Since the queen once allowed me to hope for Artagnan to be awarded the rank of captain of the guard, I’m sure that her position has not changed. At that time, there were no vacancies, only a year later d'Artagnan became a lieutenant in one of the guards regiments. About a year later he fought with the Fronde units. The forces of resistance were fading, Mazarin was gradually regaining power over the country. On February 2, 1653, the cardinal solemnly entered Paris. His cortege with difficulty made its way through the crowds of Parisians who enthusiastically greeted His Eminence. These were the very French who, until recently, were ready to tear him to pieces. Lieutenant d'Artagnan kept modestly behind Mazarin's back.

The ultimate dream of every nobleman was a troublesome position at court. And there were plenty of jobs like that. Well, what duties can be, for example, the "captain-concierge of the royal aviary" in the Tuileries Garden? He occupies a small sixteenth-century castle a stone's throw from the palace and receives his ten thousand livres a year: go bad! Such a vacancy had just opened, it cost six thousand livres. It is unlikely that d'Artagnan managed to accumulate such a sum, but it was possible to borrow against future income. It seemed that the big gentlemen should have disdained such an insignificant position, and yet the lieutenant found competitors. And what! Jean Baptiste Colbert, the left hand of the cardinal (Fouquet was the right), wrote to his patron: "If Your Grace favorably granted me this position, I would be infinitely obliged."

Lefevre. Portrait of Colbert

It was not easy to refuse Colbert, but Mazarin replied: "I have already applied for this position for d'Artagnan, who asked me for it." Colbert, the future prime minister, first took a dislike to d'Artagnan. By the way, Bemo also received a warm place - he was appointed no less than the commandant of the Bastille. The work is also not dusty, only, as mother history teaches, jailers sometimes change places with those who are guarded. So, the poor Gascon nobleman finally healed like a real seigneur. But not for long did d'Artagnan guard his aviary. In 1654, the young monarch Louis XIV was crowned in Reims, d'Artagnan was present at this grandiose ceremony. And soon after that, again into battle: Prince Conde went over to the side of the Spaniards and led their thirty thousandth army. In one of the first battles of this campaign, d'Artagnan with several daring men, without waiting for the main forces to approach, attacked the enemy's bastion and was slightly wounded. A year later, he already commanded a separate guards company, not yet receiving the captain's rank. Damn money again: in order to redeem the captain's patent, I had to sell the court position. To hell with her! By the way, d'Artagnan expressed himself in this way, often not only orally, but also in writing.

His Eminence's personal secretary informed d'Artagnan: "I have read all your letters to the cardinal, however, not in their entirety, because phrases like "damn it" constantly slip through you, but this does not matter, since the essence is good. Finally, in 1659, peace was concluded with Spain. And shortly before that, Louis XIV decided to revive the company of the royal musketeers. The post of lieutenant was offered to d'Artagnan. His joy was overshadowed only by the fact that the nephew of Cardinal Philip Mancini, the Duke of Nevers, a lazy, spoiled young man, was appointed chief, lieutenant commander. It remained to be hoped that he would not interfere in the affairs of the Musketeers. And now d'Artagnan is forty-five (in the 17th century this is already a very middle-aged man), he has achieved a strong position, it's time to start a family. Romantic hobbies and amorous adventures left behind mature people tried to marry ladies of the noble and rich. Most often, both of these virtues were combined in widows. Anna-Charlotte-Christine de Shanlessi, from an ancient Gascon family, who owned the estates of her husband-baron who died in the war, and bought several more estates, became the chosen one of d'Artagnan. In addition, she was pretty, although "already wore traces of inescapable sadness on her face," as the person who saw her portrait, later lost, wrote. However, widows have one more property: they are experienced and prudent. So Charlotte did nothing without consulting a lawyer. The marriage contract resembled a long treatise on property law: clause by clause, conditions were stipulated that would protect the widow from ruin if “Mr. future spouse” turned out to be a spendthrift (as if looking into the water). But the formalities were settled, and on March 5, 1659, in the small hall of the Louvre, in the presence of important guests (the only friend was old Bemo), the contract was signed. Documents of this kind were drawn up "on behalf of the almighty monarch Louis Bourbon" and "the most illustrious and worthy Monsignor Jules Mazarin" - their handwritten signatures sealed this document. It was not often that a lieutenant of the Musketeers enjoyed the warmth of a family hearth. He continued to live in the saddle - either at the head of his musketeers, or on behalf of the cardinal, and then the young king. The wife, of course, grumbled, besides, d'Artagnan, after long years of humiliating poverty, spent money without an account. The couple soon had two sons.

Louis XIV married at the end of that year. This marriage of the French king to the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa promised a long and lasting peace. Cardinal Mazarin did his job and soon retired - to another world. The wedding celebrations were grandiose. Next to the king all the time were his musketeers, led by d'Artagnan. The Spanish minister, seeing the company in full splendor, exclaimed: “If the Lord descended to earth, he would not need a better guard!” The king had known d'Artagnan for a long time, he believed that he could be completely relied upon. In time the commander of the musketeers took that place beside the king-son, which Captain de Treville had previously occupied under his father. Meanwhile, two political heirs of Mazarin, two members of the Royal Council dug under each other. Fouquet, the chief finance officer, was more powerful, but more careless. Colbert was more experienced, he won because he attacked. He opened the king's eyes to Fouquet's numerous abuses, to his luxurious life paid from the state treasury.

Edward Lacretelle. Portrait of Nicolas Fouquet

On August 7, 1661, Fouquet held a celebration in his palace and garden for the royal couple and the entire court. On several stages, performances were played one after another, including the troupe of Molière showed a new play, The Boring. The feast was prepared by the magician Vatel. Fouquet clearly wanted to please the sovereign, but it turned out the other way around. Louis appreciated the art with which the holiday was organized, but felt annoyed. His court was still modest, the king was in dire need of money. Leaving, he said to the owner: "Wait for news from me." Fouquet's arrest was a foregone conclusion. However, this was a very risky undertaking. Fouquet had great connections and influence, he had a fortified military camp with a garrison in constant readiness, he commanded the entire fleet of France, he was finally Viceroy of America! The overthrow of such a giant can perhaps be compared with the arrest of Beria in 1953. In such a case, a loyal and beloved military leader is required. The king without hesitation entrusted the operation to d'Artagnan. The operation was prepared in such secrecy that the scribes who wrote the order were kept locked up until it was completed. To lull Fouquet's vigilance, a royal hunt was scheduled for the day of the arrest. He did not suspect anything and even said to his close associate: "Colbert lost, and tomorrow will be one of the happiest days of my life." On September 5, 1661, Fouquet left the meeting of the Royal Council and got into a stretcher.

At this time, d'Artagnan, with fifteen musketeers, surrounded the litter and presented Fouquet with the order of the king. The arrested man took advantage of the momentary delay to convey the news to his supporters. They decided to set fire to Fouquet's house to destroy the evidence. But they were ahead of them, the house was sealed and taken under guard. Then d'Artagnan brought Fouquet to the Château de Vincennes, and a little later he took him to the Bastille. And everywhere he personally checked the reliability of the premises and the guards, if necessary, placed his musketeers there. Precautions were not superfluous, once an angry crowd surrounded the carriage, and Fouquet was almost torn to pieces, but d'Artagnan ordered the musketeers to push back the townspeople with horses in time. Finally, the prisoner was handed over to the Bastille in the care of a friend of Bemo. D'Artagnan hoped to get away from this unpleasant business, but no such luck! The king ordered him to continue to stay with the prisoner. Only three years later, after the trial and the royal sentence, d'Artagnan brought the convict to the Pignerol castle for life imprisonment and completed his sad mission. It must be said that all this time he behaved with the arrested in the noblest manner. For example, he was present at all Fouquet's meetings with lawyers, was aware of all the affairs of the prisoner, but not a single word went beyond the walls of the prison. A noble lady from among the friends of the defeated nobleman wrote about d'Artagnan: "Faithful to the king and humane in dealing with those whom he has to keep in custody." The king was pleased with the lieutenant of the musketeers. Even Fouquet's supporters respected him.

Only the new quartermaster of finance, Colbert, and his entourage held a grudge: they believed that d'Artagnan was too soft with the prisoner, and even suspected that he was helping Fouquet. D'Artagnan had proved that he was a faithful servant of the king, and now he could show fatherly care for his musketeers. During the ten years of his reign, the number of musketeers increased from 120 to 330 people. The company became a completely independent unit with its treasurer, priest, pharmacist, surgeon, saddler, gunsmith, and musicians. Under d'Artagnan, the company received its own banner and standard, on which the formidable motto of the musketeers was inscribed: "Quo ruit et lethum" - "Death attacks with him." During hostilities, a company of royal musketeers was included in other military units, but one detachment always remained with the king, only this detachment always acted under the banner of the company. Finally, in 1661, they began to build a large barracks "Hotel Musketeers", and before that, the Musketeers lived in rented apartments. D'Artagnan was personally in charge of a set of musketeers, knew everyone well, and baptized some of the children. The same as he once came to him, youngsters from the provinces with recommendations from noble families. The order established by the lieutenant was stricter than under de Treville. The lieutenant not only gave orders, distributed patents to lower positions, petitioned for the nobility and the appointment of pensions; he introduced special certificates of worthy and unworthy behavior in order to stop cases of disobedience and provoking quarrels. All this made the company of the royal musketeers not only an elite, but also an exemplary unit. Gradually, the royal musketeers became a kind of officer academy - the best cadets from the nobility passed the first years of service here, and then were assigned to other guards regiments. Even in other European states, monarchs began to create musketeer companies for their protection and sent officers to study at the “school of d’Artagnan”. When a king has a brilliant army, he wants to throw it to death. In 1665 war broke out between England and the Netherlands. France was an ally of Holland and supported her with an expeditionary force. At the head of a detachment of musketeers, d'Artagnan went north.

During the siege of the Loken fortress, the musketeers showed themselves not only as brave men, but also as war workers: they carried heavy fascines on themselves, filling up a deep ditch filled with water. The king was delighted: "I did not expect less zeal from a company of senior musketeers." Nobody met d'Artagnan in Paris. Shortly before the campaign, Madame d'Artagnan invited a notary, took away all the property belonging to her under a marriage contract, and with two children left for the family estate of Saint-Croix. Subsequently, d'Artagnan traveled there as needed to arrange some domestic affairs. It must be thought, without any pleasure. Over the years, Anna-Charlotte's practicality turned into stinginess, she became a quarrel, suing her late husband's brother, then her cousin ... And d'Artagnan happily returned to his family - the family of musketeers! Immediately after returning from the campaign, three days of maneuvers took place, in which the royal musketeers again showed themselves in full splendor. The king was so pleased that he granted d'Artagnan the first vacant position at court - "the captain of small dogs for hunting roe deer."

Portrait of Louis XIV

Only the court career somehow did not work out, d'Artagnan spent only three weeks fiddling with small dogs and resigned. Fortunately, the king was not offended, and d'Artagnan even won. The post of dog captain was abolished and replaced by two lieutenants. D'Artagnan sold them at retail and improved his business somewhat after his wife's flight. And the very next year, Philip Mancini, Duke of Nevers, finally officially resigned from the post of lieutenant commander of the company of the royal musketeers. Who better than d'Artagnan to take this place! Finally, D'Artagnan bought himself a beautiful house on the corner of Ferry Street and the Quay of the Frog Swamp, almost opposite the Louvre. Around this time, he began to sign himself "Comte d'Artagnan." When signing some documents, he also added a "cavalier of royal orders", which he had never been awarded. What can you do, irrepressible Gascon pride and a passion for conferring titles were his hereditary weakness. D'Artagnan hoped that the king would not exact severely, and in which case he would intercede. During these years, a special commission checked how legally some gentlemen use titles. And, by the way, she requested documents from a certain Mr. de Batz. So, one statement by d'Artagnan that this was his relative was enough for the commission to fall behind. Meanwhile, the beautiful house of the captain of the musketeers was most often empty, and his maid was completely lazy. Her master rarely lived in his Frog Swamp. In 1667 a new war began. Louis XIV demanded from Spain her extensive possessions in Flanders on the pretext that they belong to his wife, the former Spanish infanta, and now the queen of France.

Such a law was in force in the civil law of many European countries, but did not apply to interstate relations, so Spain, of course, refused. But it is known that kings argue not in court, but on the battlefield. In this war, Captain d'Artagnan, with the rank of cavalry brigadier, commanded for the first time an army corps, consisting of his own company and two more regiments. The Musketeers again fearlessly rushed forward. During the siege of Douai, they captured the ravelin under a hail of grapeshot and, without stopping, burst into the city with drawn swords. The king, observing this picture, in order to save his favorites, even sent them an order to “moderate their ardor”. The culmination of the entire campaign was the siege of Lille, the most powerful fortress in Flanders. The attacks of the "brigadier d'Artagnan", as the reports said, "set the tone." But on the day of the assault, only 60 people from his brigade entered the forward detachment, and the brigadier himself was ordered to remain at the command post. By evening, his patience snapped, he rushed into the thick of the fight and fought until he received a slight concussion. Even the king did not condemn him for this unauthorized act. Frightened by the desperate onslaught, the citizens of Lille themselves disarmed the garrison and surrendered to the mercy of the winner. By a strange coincidence, in 1772, d'Artagnan was appointed governor of this city and at the same time received the rank of major general (or brigadier general). Musketeer was flattered, however new service he didn't like it. Garrison officers are not at all like real warriors. D'Artagnan quarreled with the commandant and the engineers, got tired of fending off slanders, answered them passionately and stupidly. He spoke with an indestructible Gascon accent, but the letter came out with a solid “Damn it!”. In a word, he breathed a sigh of relief when a replacement was found for him and he was able to return to his musketeers.

The best way to restore peace of mind for an old soldier is to smell gunpowder again. And so it happened. In 1773, the king at the head of the army went to besiege the Dutch fortress. The assault detachment, which included the royal musketeers, was commanded by a major general from the infantry de Montbron. On July 25, the musketeers completed their task - they captured the enemy's ravelin. But this was not enough for Montbron. He wanted to build additional fortifications so that the enemy would not recapture the ravelin. D’Artagnan objected: “If you send people now, the enemy will see them. You risk that many people will die for nothing. Montbron was senior in rank, he gave the order, and the redoubt was erected. But then the battle for the ravelin broke out. The tired French were overturned and began to retreat. Seeing this, d'Artagnan did not wait for anyone's order, gathered several dozen musketeers and grenadiers and rushed to help. A few minutes later the ravelin was taken. But many attackers were killed. The dead musketeers continued to clutch their bent swords, covered in blood up to the hilt. Among them was found d'Artagnan, shot through the head. Musketeers under heavy fire carried their captain out of the shelling. The whole company mourned. One officer wrote: "If people were dying of grief, I would be dead already." Louis XIV was very sad about the death of d'Artagnan. He ordered a funeral service to be served for him in his camp chapel and did not invite anyone to it, he prayed in mournful solitude. Subsequently, the king recalled the captain of the musketeers as follows: “He was the only person who managed to make people love himself without doing anything for them that would oblige them to do so.” D'Artagnan was buried on the battlefield near Maastricht. From mouth to mouth passed someone's words uttered over his grave: "D'Artagnan and glory rested together."

If d'Artagnan had lived in the Middle Ages, he would have been called "a knight without fear or reproach." Perhaps he would become the hero of an epic, like the English Lancelot or the French Roland. But he lived in the "Guttenberg era" - the printing press and the emerging professional literature, and therefore was doomed to become the hero of the novel. Gasien Courtil de Sandre was the first to try this. This nobleman began military service shortly before the death of d'Artagnan. But peace was soon concluded, the army was disbanded, and Curtil was left without service and livelihood. From need or from a spiritual inclination, he became a writer. He wrote political pamphlets, unreliable historical and biographical books with a scandalous flavor. In the end, for some harsh publications, Curtil was arrested and imprisoned in the Bastille for six years. Old Bemo, a friend of d'Artagnan, was still the commandant of the Bastille. Curtil hated his chief jailer, and later wrote rather wickedly about him.

It is not surprising that, at his suggestion, Alexandre Dumas portrayed the commandant of the Bastille in the story with the "iron mask" as stupid and cowardly. In 1699 Curtil was released, and in next year published his book "Memoirs of Messire d'Artagnan, lieutenant commander of the first company of the king's musketeers, containing many personal and secret things that occurred during the reign of Louis the Great." There was little historicity in these invented "Memoirs", and the hero appeared before the reader not as a warrior, but exclusively as a secret agent. Intrigues, duels, betrayals, abductions, escapes with dressing up in a woman's dress and, of course, love affairs - all this was stated in a rather ponderous style. Nevertheless, the book was a success. Then Curtil once again ended up in prison for a long time and died in 1712, a few months after his release. The Memoirs of d'Artagnan did not long survive the author and were forgotten for more than a century. Until Alexandre Dumas discovered the book. In the preface to The Three Musketeers, Dumas wrote: “About a year ago, while studying at the Royal Library ... I accidentally attacked the Memoirs of M. d'Artagnan ...” But then he goes into the plural: “Since then we did not know peace, trying to find in the writings of that time at least some trace of these extraordinary names ... ”This is not Dumas's mistake, but an involuntary slip of the tongue. Behind her was Dumas' co-author Auguste Macke, a self-taught historian and a mediocre writer who supplied the patron with plots, scripts and draft texts of some novels and plays. Among the co-authors of Dumas (there are about a dozen established names alone), Maquet was the most capable. In addition to The Three Musketeers, he participated in the creation of other Dumas masterpieces, including Twenty Years Later, Vicomte de Bragelon, Queen Margot and The Count of Monte Cristo.

It was Maquet who brought Dumas a loose and boring essay on d'Artagnan and told about the old book by Courtil de Sandra. Dumas got excited about this topic and wanted to read the Memoirs of d'Artagnan himself. In the library form there is a mark on the issuance of this most valuable book to him, but there is no mark on its return. The classic simply "played" it. The story of The Three Musketeers is a novel in itself. In 1858, 14 years after the first publication of the novel, Macke sued Dumas, claiming that he was the author, not a co-author of The Three Musketeers. The act is difficult to explain, because an agreement was concluded between Dumas and Macke, the author paid the co-author well, Dumas even allowed Macke to release a staging of The Three Musketeers under his own name. The lawsuit made a lot of noise, and earlier accusations of exploiting Dumas in the exploitation of "literary blacks" also surfaced. (By the way, this expression arose precisely in relation to Dumas' co-authors, because he himself was the grandson of a Negro slave.)

Finally, Macke presented his version of the chapter "Execution" to the court, but this "evidence" became fatal for him. The judges were convinced that Macke's text was no match for Dumas' brilliant prose.

On July 12, 1931, a monument to d'Artagnan was unveiled in Paris. And not to the Gascon who actually existed, but to the character of the famous novels by Alexandre Dumas. The historical musketeer is also immortalized. True, not in France, but in Holland, at the place of his death in the city of Maastricht. In a word, the date of July 12 is a great occasion to talk about who the prototypes of Dumas Père's heroes were.

Athos

Athos, the oldest, wisest and most mysterious of the four heroes of the novel, was given the name of a man who lived only 28 years and died like a true musketeer, with a sword in his hand.

Armand de Silleg d'Athos d'Hotevielle (Dautubiel) was born in the commune of Athos Aspis near the Spanish border. Ironically, the parents of the prototype of the high-born Comte de La Fere were not hereditary nobles. His father came from a merchant family who had received the nobility, and his mother, although she was a cousin of the Lieutenant Commander of the Royal Musketeers, the Gascon de Treville, was the daughter of a bourgeois - a respected merchant and elected juror. The original Athos served in the army from a young age, but luck smiled at him only in 1641, when he was able to break into the ranks of the elite of the royal guard and become an ordinary company of musketeers. Probably not last role family ties played here: after all, de Treville was the second cousin of the real Athos. However, they didn’t take anyone into the personal guard of the king even if they had a “shaggy Gascon paw”: the young man was known as a brave man, a good soldier and wore a musketeer’s cloak quite deservedly.

Veniamin Smekhov as Athos in D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers, 1978

On December 22, 1643, near the Paris market of Pré-au-Claire, a fatal battle for Athos took place between the royal musketeers and the cardinal's guards, who were watching for one of His Majesty's best fighters, Charles d'Artagnan, who was heading somewhere on his own business. Some biographers of the famous musketeer generally believe that Richelieu's people sent assassins instead of themselves. The experienced swordsman d'Artagnan put up a desperate resistance, but he would have had a hard time if Athos and his comrades had not been having fun in one of the drinking establishments nearby. The musketeers, warned by the night watchman, an accidental witness to the scuffle, furiously rushed to the rescue. Most of the attackers were killed or seriously wounded on the spot, the rest fled. In this fight, Athos received a mortal wound. He was buried in the cemetery of the Parisian church of Saint-Sulpice, in the registration books of which there is a record of "the transfer to the burial place and the burial of the deceased Armand Athos Dotyubiel, musketeer of the royal guard."

The prototype of Athos lived only 28 years and died like a true musketeer


There is a story according to which d'Artagnan once saved the life of Athos during one of the street fights, and Athos fully returned the debt of honor to him, giving his own for saving d'Artagnan.
It is believed that Alexandre Dumas endowed each of his musketeers with the features of someone close to him. So, in the Comte de La Fere, contemporaries identified the first co-author and mentor of Dumas, the writer Adolf Leven, by origin a truly Swedish count. Restrained and cold in communication, Leven, like Athos, was for Dumas a reliable and devoted friend, educator of his son. It should be added that at the same time the count was known in circles Parisian bohemia as a great drinker - another feature of the famous musketeer.

Porthos

The prototype of the good-natured glutton and naive strongman Porthos is the old warrior Isaac de Porto. He came from a family of Bearn Protestant nobles. There is an opinion that his grandfather Abraham Porto, a poultry supplier to the court of King Henry of Navarre, who earned the court title of "kitchen officer", was a Jew who converted to Protestantism and fled to liberal Navarre from Catholic Portugal, where his brothers in faith and blood were severely persecuted.

Born in 1617 on the estate of Lanne in the valley of the River Ver, Isaac de Porto was the youngest of three sons in the family. Consequently, he had the least chance of counting on the inheritance, so a military career was the best option for Isaac. At the age of sixteen or seventeen, de Porto entered the military. In 1642, he appears in the register of ranks of the regiment of the French Guards of the Military House of the King as a guard of the company of Captain Alexandre des Essarts, the same one in which Dumas began his service in the novel d'Artagnan.

The prototype of Porthos was a Protestant


But whether the real Porthos was a musketeer is a big question. However, the Guards des Essards traditionally maintained friendly relations with the Musketeers, and this unit was seen as a source of potential candidates for the king's close bodyguards.
Isaac de Porto fought a lot and bravely. As a result, the wounds he received in battles made themselves felt, and he was forced to leave the service and Paris. Returning to his homeland, Isaac de Porto, after 1650, held the garrison post of guardian of ammunition of the guard in the fortress of Navarrance and continued to serve France. Subsequently, he also acted as secretary of the provincial states in Béarn.



General Thomas - Alexandre Dumas

Having lived a long and honest life, the real Porthos died in early XVIII century, leaving a modest memory of a well-deserved veteran and a good person in his small homeland. His tombstone in the Saint-Sacrement chapel of Saint-Martin's church in Pau has survived to this day.
In the image of Porthos, Alexandre Dumas brought out many features of his father, a military general of the era of the Napoleonic Wars, who became famous not only for his Herculean exploits, but also for his scrupulous attitude to matters of honor and cheerful disposition.

Aramis

The refined dandy Aramis, who was equally occupied with questions of theology and fashion, was painted by Alexandre Dumas from the real-life musketeer Henri d'Aramitz. A native of Bearn, he belonged to an old noble family that supported the Huguenots. His grandfather became famous during the religious wars in France, fighting bravely against the king and the Catholics, and was promoted to captain. However, Henri's father, Charles d'Aramitz, broke with the family's Protestant past, came to Paris, converted to Catholicism and joined the company of the royal musketeers. So born around 1620 and raised in the family of the king's bodyguard, Henri, God himself ordered to become a musketeer. The piety of this character is also not a fictional trait. Like many converts, Aramis's father was a devout Catholic, and after his dismissal from the guard, he chose the path of church service, becoming a secular abbot in the Bearn abbey of Aramitz. Young Henri was brought up in a Catholic spirit, and, as far as is known, he was really fond of theology and religious philosophy from an early age. However, with no less zeal, he mastered fencing, horseback riding, and by the age of twenty he was considered a master of the blade in his homeland.


Luke Evans as Aramis in The Musketeers, 2011

In 1640 or 1641, the lieutenant-commander of the musketeers de Treville, who sought to equip his company with fellow Gascons and Bearnes, invited the young Henri d'Aramitz, who was his cousin, to serve. The Aramis prototype served in the guard for about seven or eight years, after which he returned to his homeland, married a demoiselle Jeanne de Bearn-Bonnas and became the father of three children. After the death of his father, he entered the rank of profane abbot of the Abbey of Aramitz and held it for the rest of his life. Henri d'Aramitz died in 1674, surrounded by a loving family and numerous friends.

Dumas endowed the literary Aramis with some of the features of his grandfather


Alexandre Dumas endowed the literary Aramis with some of the features of his grandfather, an educated aristocrat, a well-known fashionista and womanizer. Unlike the impeccably noble Athos and the good-natured Porthos, Aramis appears in the cycle of novels about the magnificent four as a very controversial character, not alien to intrigue and deceit. Perhaps the writer could not forgive his grandfather for the illegitimate status of his father, the son of a dark-skinned Haitian slave Marie-Sesset Dumas.

D'Artagnan

As you know, the figure of the daring and courageous d'Artagnan, the youngest of the four, is quite reliable. Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore (later d'Artagnan) was born in 1611 at the castle of Castelmore in Gascony. The origin of the future musketeer in the era of the supremacy of noble titles was more than doubtful: his grandfather was a tradesman who appropriated the nobility after marrying the aristocrat Francoise de Coussol. Considering that titles in the French kingdom were not passed down the female line, it can be said that Charles de Batz was a self-proclaimed nobleman, or was not one at all. Around 1630, the young man went to conquer Paris, where he was hired as a cadet in the regiment of the French Guard in the company of Captain des Essards. In memory of the military merits of his father, King Louis XIII ordered the young guard to be called the noble family name of his mother, Francoise de Montesquieu d'Artagnan, who came from an impoverished branch of an old count's family. In 1632, his father's military merits rendered another service to the cadet d'Artagnan: his father's comrade-in-arms, lieutenant-comrade of the musketeers de Treville, contributed to the transfer of Charles to his company. All subsequent military career d'Artagnan was somehow connected with the king's bodyguards.


The true d'Artagnan, being undoubtedly a brave and diligent soldier, nevertheless possessed a number of less chivalrous talents, which allowed his star to shine brightly among his contemporaries. Despite participating in dozens of desperate street fights with the cardinal's guards, he was by no means impeccably loyal to the king, but he perfectly understood which side the power was on. D'Artagnan was one of the few musketeers who managed to win the patronage of the all-powerful Cardinal Mazarin. For many years, the Gascon served under the Chief Minister of France as a confidant and personal courier, successfully combining with them the service of the young King Louis XIV. The devotion of a savvy, ready to do anything for the sake of fulfilling the will of his master and who knew how to keep his mouth shut, the officer was generously marked by ranks: in 1655, d'Artagnan was promoted to captain of the French Guard, and in 1658 he became second lieutenant (that is, the deputy of the actual commander ) in the recreated company of the royal musketeers. Soon he began to call himself a count.


Coat of arms of d'Artagnan

In 1661, d'Artagnan gained notoriety for his unsavory role in the arrest of the finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet, who was jealous of his luxury and wealth by the vindictive and capricious monarch. Then the brave lieutenant of the musketeers, with forty of his subordinates, almost missed Fouquet and managed to capture him only after a desperate chase through the streets of Nantes. The musketeers of the 1st company for the first time became the subject of malicious jokes and caustic ridicule of the ironic French.

In 1667, Louis XIV appointed the newly promoted lieutenant commander of his musketeers and the self-proclaimed comte d'Artagnan as governor of Lille in recognition of his services in the battles against the Spaniards. The Gascon failed to find a common language with the freedom-loving townspeople, so he was incredibly happy when the Franco-Dutch War broke out in 1672, and he was allowed to leave the governorship. In the same year, d'Artagnan received from the hands of the king his last military rank - the title of "field marshal" (major general).

Marshal d'Estrade on d'Artagnan: "It's hard to find a better Frenchman"


On June 25, 1673, during the siege of Maastricht, during a fierce battle for one of the fortifications, in a reckless attack on open ground, organized by the young Duke of Monmouth, d'Artagnan was killed by a musket bullet in the head. The body of the Gascon was found sprawled on the bloody ground among the bodies of his dead soldiers. The French army sincerely mourned the death of a tried general. "A better Frenchman is hard to find," Marshal d'Estrade, who served under d'Artagnan for many years, later said. The king, on the other hand, saw off his loyal subject with the words: "I lost d'Artagnan, whom I trusted to the highest degree and who was suitable for any service."
The Comte d'Artagnan was buried in the churchyard of the little church of Saints Peter and Paul near the city wall, which he so longed for in his last battle. Now there stands a bronze monument.


Monument to d'Artagnan in Maastricht

After d'Artagnan, there was a widow, Anna Charlotte Christina nee de Chanlesi, a noble Charolais noblewoman, with whom he lived for 14 years, and two sons, both named Louis and subsequently made an excellent military career.

His name was Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, Comte d'Artagnan (Fr. Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, comte d "Artagnan). He was born in 1613, near the castle of Castelmore, Gascony, France, died heroically on June 25, 1673, Maastricht, The Netherlands World-famous Gascon nobleman who made a brilliant career under Louis XIV in the company of the royal musketeers.

The prototype of the protagonist of the famous "Three Musketeers" was born in Gascony, in the family of the nobleman Bertrand de Batz Castelmoro. The boy was named Charles. Old Castelmoro had only one wealth - five sons, distinguished by courage and intelligence. Each of them went to Paris in his own time to become the royal musketeer. In order to make their names sound more noble, at court the young Castelmoros were represented by the surname D'Artagnan - the name of one of the estates in Gascony. But the young Gascons did not have rights to this surname.

Charles de Batz, the youngest son of Castelmoro, arrived in Paris in 1640. On the way to the capital, he experienced many adventures - he was beaten several times, managed to sit in prison, in addition, all his money and belongings disappeared, including a letter of recommendation to the commander of the musketeers, Mr. de Treville. Charles traveled to Paris on foot. In the city, he expected to meet his older brothers, but it turned out that one of them had died, and the rest were at war in Italy.

In one of the taverns, Charles met a young man named Isaac Porto (in The Three Musketeers he turned into Porthos). Charles introduced himself under the name of D'Artagnan and told him about his misadventures. Porto served in a company of guards and also dreamed of becoming a royal musketeer. To do this, he made acquaintances with the right people. So, his friends were close relatives of de Treville - the musketeers Henri Aramitz and Armand de Sillec d'Athos d "Auteville, who later entered the history of literature as Aramis and Athos.

On the same day, Charles met both of these gentlemen, and unlike the ups and downs of the book, the young people immediately, without any duels and showdowns, agreed to take part in the fate of the poor Gascon. The next day, Aramitz and d'Athos introduced young Charles to Monsieur de Treville. He would gladly take D'Artagnan into his company, because his brothers have proven themselves very well in the service of the king. But the musketeers had to buy weapons, uniforms and a horse at their own expense, and Charles did not even have money for food. Therefore, de Treville sent him to the same guard company where Isaac Porto served.

If the beginning of Charles's life in Paris coincides with the adventures of the fictional D'Artagnan, then further events looked very little like a fascinating novel. Having become a guardsman, Charles was not in the midst of royal intrigues, but at the forefront. He participated in many battles, besieged fortresses, visited many countries - and was always there for him. true friend Porto.

In 1643, Louis XIII died, and a new set of musketeers was made. D'Artagnan was not lucky this time either, and Isaac Porto tried on a new uniform. It soon became clear that Charles was not allowed to serve the king by Cardinal Mazarin. D'Artagnan, during his three years of service to the cardinal, showed himself to be a very dexterous and reliable person. And so Mazarin decided to bring him closer to him.

Many of the assignments that the young man performed are still shrouded in mystery, only a few of them are known. So, Aramitz and D'Artagnan secretly traveled to England with letters from the cardinal to the exiled royal family.

Shortly after this order, an assassination attempt was organized on Charles - seven assassins attacked him on a deserted street. D'Artagnan took the fight, killed one of the mercenaries, but he himself was bleeding. Fortunately, several musketeers passed by and rushed to protect Charles. Soon all the killers were dead, but in this battle he died close friend D'Artagnan - Armand de Sillec d'Athos d'Auteville.

Arrival of d'Artagnan. Alex De Andreis

Charles's military service continued, he participated in all the battles that fell to the share of the French army. Among his colleagues, he turned into a legend - from the bloodiest battles he always came out completely unscathed, although he bravely threw himself into the thick of things.

And fate, meanwhile, presented D'Artagnan with a gift - on November 1, 1644, he became the royal musketeer. But Cardinal Mazarin did not forget about his devoted servant. D'Artagnan remained the cardinal's courier and carried out his secret missions. In addition, Charles reported to the cardinal about the attitude towards the cardinal among the people and in the army. That is why D'Artagnan did not suffer from Mazarin's decision to dissolve the royal musketeers, which he took in 1647. Charles remained in the service of the cardinal.

But soon the cardinal himself had to flee from France, along with Anna of Austria and Louis XIV - the Fronde began in Paris. The carriage with the fugitives was accompanied by Charles d'Artagnan.

All the time while the cardinal was in exile, Charles was his eyes and ears - he rode all over the country, collecting information for his master, secretly making his way to Paris. When the Fronde ended, the cardinal still had to leave France - the royal family decided to get rid of him. And Charles again followed him into exile.

The Gascon himself remained as poor all this time as when he had just entered Paris. And at the same time, Mazarin was ready to shower his faithful servant with gifts, jewels and lands, but he himself lost almost everything.

Only in 1652, Louis XIV called Mazarin to himself and the cardinal again received power and money. He gave D'Artagnan the rank of lieutenant and the post of "gatekeeper of the Tuileries" - the royal palace. It was a very profitable place, where they paid a huge salary, but there was practically nothing to do.

But D'Artagnan was not at all bored - he still carried out the most responsible and secret orders of Mazarin. So one day, under the guise of a Jesuit priest, he went to England, where he reconnoitered the plans of Oliver Cromwell. He completed this task so successfully that he soon became the "keeper of the poultry yard" - another highly paid and dust-free position. Many glorious deeds were done by D'Artagnan.

And when Louis XIV decided to restore the company of musketeers again, it was the brave Gascon who took the place of their commander. Charles was subordinate to 250 people, including the king himself. All 250 men had gray horses and gray suits, which is why they were nicknamed the "Gray Musketeers". D'Artagnan himself, finally, by the age of 37 became a rich man.

He lived in a luxurious house and received the title of count. At the same time, D'Artagnan did not curry favor with the cardinal and the king. Once Louis offered Charles the post of commandant of the Bastille, to which D'Artagnan replied: "I prefer to be the last soldier of France than her first jailer." But Charles was by no means the last soldier, but one of the very first - fearless and strong. And he died as a soldier - during the storming of the Dutch city of Maastricht in 1673.

The life of d'Artagnan, richly flavored with various kinds of fantastic episodes, formed the basis of the three-volume Memoirs of M. d'Artagnan, published in 1700. In fact, this text (as well as a number of other pseudo-memoirs) was written by the writer Gascien de Courtil de Sandra; d'Artagnan himself did not write anything, and in general, as his papers show, he was illiterate.

In the 19th century, when Alexandre Dumas père created his cycle about musketeers on the basis of this book (“Three Musketeers” (1844), “Twenty years later”, “Vicomte de Brazhelon”), the fantasticness of “d'Artagnan's memoirs” was already good known. In order to make his books more believable, in the preface to The Three Musketeers, he added facts supposedly proving the reality of the "memoirs". Dumas included in the heroized biography of d'Artagnan a number of already existing semi-legendary plots of the 17th century, which were not initially connected with him (the episode with the pendants of Anna of Austria, an attempt to save Charles I, the legend of the Iron Mask - supposedly the brother of Louis XIV, etc.). Also, d'Artagnan Dumas, between the events described in the second and third books of the trilogy, appears in the play The Youth of King Louis XIV.

Charles also had a famous cousin, Pierre de Montesquiou, Count d'Artagnan, later - Count de Montesquiou (fr. Pierre de Montesquiou d "Artagnan, 1640 - August 12, 1725). Unlike Charles, who never became a marshal as in book by Dumas (he was a "field marshal", according to the modern rank - major general), who received this title.

A descendant of the famous French family of Montesquiou, he was the fourth son of Henry I de Montesquieu, Monsieur d'Artagnan, and his wife Jeanne, daughter of Jean de Gassion. He was the cousin of Charles de Batz de Castelmore, to whom he owes one of his titles - Comte d'Artagnan - and who was the prototype for the hero Alexandre Dumas in the Three Musketeers novels. Montesquiou served twenty-three years as a musketeer in the French Guards before becoming a brigadier in 1688. He was then promoted to "Maréchal de camp" (major general) in 1691 and lieutenant general on 3 January 1696 before becoming marshal of France on 15 September 1709 as a reward for distinguished command at the Battle of Malplac on 11 September, in which he was wounded and three horses were killed under him.

The fictional d'Artagnan immortalized the name of a real Gascon, in whose life there was no loss of his beloved Constance and the insidious Milady did not take revenge on him. Athos, Porthos and Aramis did not walk at his wedding, but the captain of the cardinal's guards was a witness. Married d'Artagnan to a rich widow, concluding with her marriage contract, as befits a bourgeois.


Count Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan (Charles de Batz-Castelmore, comte d'Artagnan) made history at least three times. First, as a real Gascon nobleman, then in the memoirs of Curtil de Sandra written after his death and on his behalf, and, finally, the trilogy of Alexandre Dumas père and its subsequent film adaptations brought him worldwide fame. There is no need to retell the latter, but to recall the real d' Artagnan will have to be briefly discussed, since one rarely finds a biography of the “little man” on the pages of history.

His date of birth is unknown. Some historians place this event in the period between 1611 and 1615, others attribute it to 1620-1623. When George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, took the diamond pendants of Queen Anne of Austria to England, Charles de Batz - not yet d'Artagnan - fought with his peers as a teenager, not with the cardinal's guards. The young Gascon went to conquer Paris no earlier than 1630, and two or three years later he became a musketeer. Entering the company of musketeers, Charles de Batz took the name of his mother.

Historian Jean-Christian Ptifis points out: “To be absolutely precise, one should not say d'Artagnan (d'Artagnan), but Artagnan (Artagnan), or Artaignan (Artaignan), or at least put some title before the surname : Chevalier or Monsieur d'Artagnan". The first document that mentions Charles d'Artagnan is dated March 10, 1633.

However, what d'Artagnan did from that time (i.e., from the moment he entered the company of musketeers) until 1646, we do not know anything. Thanks to the captain of the royal musketeers and his subordinates, Louis XIV received the city of Douai under his scepter in a few days, then Besancon and Dole during the War of Devolution, and also during the Dutch War the city of Maastricht (d'Aligny). It should be noted that Constance Bonacieux from “ The Three Musketeers" has as its prototype not a real woman, but the landlady of d'Artagnan in the Rue d'Artagnan from the Memoirs of M. d'Artagnan, written by Courtille de Sandra.

His plot, unlike Dumas, is devoid of any romanticism and the slightest hint of tragedy. What happened is more like vaudeville. The former infantry lieutenant, with his frequent absences, gave his half time for love tricks, but once he found her in bed with her lover. When the jealous innkeeper, armed with a pistol and a dagger, burst into the bedroom, d'Artagnan jumped out the window in one shirt and landed on the merchant's apprentices. fried meat who "took advantage of the beautiful moonlight to steal their own meat."

Invented Courtille and "Milady", pursuing a frisky Gascon because he once, under cover of night, dared to impersonate her lover, the Marquis de Wardes. She does not have a brand on her shoulder in the form of a lily. Dumas and his co-author Auguste Maquet made her a branded prostitute, drawing this detail from other, but also fictitious, “Memoirs of Count Rochefort” by the same Curtil.

With his future wife Anna-Charlotte-Christine de Chanlesi, the daughter of a rural nobleman from an ancient Charolais family. On the coat of arms of her father, Charles Boyer de Chanlecy, Baron de Sainte-Croix, “an azure column studded with silver drops was depicted on a golden background” and the Latin motto Virtus mihi numen et ensis (“my name and essence is virtue”) is inscribed.

In October 1642 Anne-Charlotte, who received the most primitive education, married the noble lord Jean-Leonor de Dame, baron de La Clayette, Clessis, Benn and Tremont, whose family, one of the oldest in Burgundy, dates back to the 11th century. Soon he was called to the active army and the captain of the cavalry in the regiment of Yuxell died during the siege of Arras. They did not have children in marriage. Anne-Charlotte's father had died many years before and left her numerous estates in the province. “In addition, she had an IOU for 60,000 livres, for which the principal amount of the debt was to be paid in the form of an annuity appointed by the Duke d’Elbeuf, and 18,000 livres received from her uncle,” writes Ptithis. - To these riches should be added the beautiful furnishings of the castle, estimated at 6,000 livres.

The younger offspring of the Gascon family, who did not have a penny for his soul, it was difficult to expect such a party!” From the description of wealth, let's move on to the appearance of the widow, who turned out to be so supportive of the musketeer. A portrait of the Countess d'Artagnan has been preserved: “She was young, but already wore traces of inescapable sadness on her face. Her deep-set black eyes faded with tears, and an even, matte pallor washed over her face. At the same time, she was beautiful, but rather the beauty of grace than the beauty of form.

The marriage contract between d'Artagnan and Anne-Charlotte was concluded on March 5, 1659. According to it, the common ownership of all income and property acquired by the spouses was established, which left the Barony of Sainte-Croix in full possession of the widow of Captain Dame. The prudent Madame d'Artagnan insisted on mentioning in the supplement to the contract that the joint matrimonial household should not depend on debts made before marriage. A small number of fairly significant people came to congratulate the newlyweds. And all from the side of the bride. Even the brothers Paul and Arno and Uncle Henri de Montesquieu, the king's lieutenant in Bayonne, did not come to congratulate d'Artagnan. Just as there was no inseparable trinity of Athos, Porthos and Aramis. At the church ceremony, which took place a month later in the church of Saint-Andre-des-Arts, there was only one witness - the captain of the guard of the cardinal and the commandant of the Bastille. The author of the biography of the Gascon Jean-Christian Ptifis notes that love was out of the question: “Becoming a widow, Madame de Chanlesi dreamed of leaving her remote province of Bres and settling again“ in the world ”.

As for our musketeer, who could not continue his bachelor life indefinitely, he, in addition to wealth, acquired a prosperous position in society. The couple had two sons. The first was born in early 1660, possibly in Paris. The second was born in July 1661 in Châlons-on-Saône. It is not known for what reason, but the children of d'Artagnan were baptized only in 1674 after his death. The couple, apparently, often quarreled. The baron's daughters were not comfortable with the vagabond life and the legendary extravagance of the Gascon.

It is likely, as Courtille wrote, that the musketeer was running after other people's skirts. The biographer reports on the musketeer's family misadventures: “In all the documents preserved in the archives of that time, Ms. always insisting on their rights. One can understand that with such a wife, d'Artagnan did not have to fight with himself, choosing between his professional duties and the hearth.