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~NEW! RALPH NEVILL, ENGLISH TRANSLATOR OF MEMOIRS OF D'ARTAGNAN, FROM 1898~

There have been three distinctive d'Artagnan's in the past . . . . is that correct? Yes, but perhaps not in the way that you are thinking. There is, of course, the d'Artagnan from actual history, who lived somewhere from around 1615 or 1620, until he died in 1673 A.D. (which makes one); then there is the half-fictional, half-non-fictional d'Artagnan that we find developed by the pen of author Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras in 1700 A.D., in his rare work: "Memoirs of d'Artagnan" (which makes two); and, finally, there is the total fictionalized d'Artagnan that was developed by the master-storyteller: Alexandre Dumas in 1845 A.D., in his famous novel: "The Three Musketeers." 

Seemingly three different men, yet only one fascinating character!

To see how this life worked, I am providing a timeline that will illustrate the usage of the Three d'Artagnan's in history, along with other interesting history.

As seen above, we will set these three characteristics aside from each other by providing the letters a) for the real d'Artagnan, b) for Courtilz's d'Artagnan, and c) for Dumas' d'Artagnan . . . . please enjoy!

1595:           
c) Birth of Athos, according to Dumas, in a province other than Gascony. Courtilz has him being a Gascon, as the real Athos was.

1595?-1600?
c) Birth of Porthos, according to Dumas, in a province other than Gascony. Courtilz has him being a Gascon, as the real Porthos was. Courtilz also has Athos, Porthos and Aramis being brothers, but they were not.

1595?-1600?
c) Birth of Aramis, according to Dumas, in a province other than Gascony. Courtilz has him being a Gascon, as the real Aramis was.

1600
King Henri IV. of France employs a personal bodyguard  for his protection. Arming them with firearms called carbines, they become known as Carbineers; they are an elite group of soldiers for their king. This begins a golden era for France.

1610
Young Louis XIII, after his father died, became king in France.

1610
Under Louis, the company of Carbineers are handed Muskets instead of Carbines, and then for the first time in history this bodyguard company becomes known as the famous King's Musketeers (Mousquetaires du Roi), being a separate elite unit of soldiers from the ordinary infantry foot soldier who also, in times of war, weild a musket firearm, and who are known simply as a musketeer (a soldier carrying a musket).

1607
c) Birth of D'Artagnan, in Gascony, according to Dumas

1610-20?
Birth of Armand de Sillegue d'Athos d'Auteville (Athos), in Gascony, according to history. Athos is related to both Aramis and Monsieur de Treville, captain of the Musketeers for Louis.

1610-20?
Birth of Henri d'Aramitz (Aramis), in Gascony, according to history

1610-20?
Birth of Isaac de Portau (Porthos), in Pau, Gascony, according to history. The real Porthos has no family relations with any of his friends. Though he did come from a town close to one that d'Artagnan came from. They two, more than likely, really were excellent friends in real life. They were both Guards at the same time, and both entered into the Musketeers almost at the same time. Athos and Aramis were already Musketeers at the time that d'Artagnan and Porthos were Guards.

1615?
a) Birth of Charles de Batz, Castelmore D'Artagnan, in Gascony. The real d'Artagnan - according to history and Courtilz.

1615
Birth of Nicolas Fouquet, future superintendant of France for King Louis XIV.

1619
Birth of Cyrano de Bergerac, in Gascony, according to history

1624
Cardinal Richelieu becomes the first Prime Minister of France at age 39.

1625-28
c) The Three Musketeers By: Alexandre Dumas. d'Artagnan's first adventures at age 18 with his three friends, Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Athos is revealed as the fictional Comte de La Fere.

1627
The seige of La Rochelle, of which the d'Artagnan of Dumas participates. The real d'Artagnan was too young for such an enterprise.

1630
c) D'Artagnan, the Sequel to the Three Musketeers. By: H. Bedford Jones. Immediately following Dumas' novel, d'Artagnan, as Lieutenant of Musketeers, helps Athos get a child, who turns out to be the Vicomte de Bragalonne. Aramis and Porthos are also in tow. Athos, with child, now leaves.

163?
c) D'Artagnan, the King Maker. By: Henry L. Williams. More adventures of D'Artagnan, now alone.

Sept 5, 1638
King Louis XIII and Anne of Austria have a son, whom they also name Louis: he is to become the future Louis XIV. - France's greatest king. The real as well as the fictional d'Artagnan is to become a lifelong personal bodyguard to this new king.

1638-40
a) The real d'Artagnan enters Paris to find his fortune.

1640
b) The Memoirs of D'Artagnan. By: Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras. Translated into English by: Ralph Nevill. Part I: The Cadet. The supposed memoirs of d'Artagnan, written by his own hand, and edited by Courtilz. Possibly fake memoirs, yet with some astonishingly accurate material.

1640?
b) When D'Artagnan was young. By: Lucien Pemjean. Follows the memoirs of d'Artagnan, claiming to be the actual events of the real d'Artagnan's life.

1640
Cyrano de Bergerac, Acts I-IV. By: Edmund Rostand. Cyrano's first BRIEF meeting with d'Artagnan. D'Artagnan congradulates Cyrano on a well fought duel. "Who is that?" asks Cyrano to his friend, after d'Artagnan has already left. "Oh, d'Artagnan." he simply replies.

164?
b) The King's Passport. By: H. Bedford Jones. Follows along with the memoirs of d'Artagnan. This time, as history proves, d'Artagnan is now younger than Cyrano. As an answer to Paul Feval's "The Mysterious Cavalier," H. Bedford Jones has Cyrano and d'Artagnan fight a duel in the dark, with the roles reversed (see "The Mysterious Cavalier"). Cyrano has his sword in a sheath while dueling with a young d'Artagnan. Cyrano wins this duel; whereas, according to Paul Feval, d'Artagnan was the victor.

1642
Cardinal Richelieu recommends his protege Mazarin to the king as a good candidate for the position of Prime Minister just before Richelieu dies. Louis complies.

Dec 4, 1642
Cardinal Richelieu dies at age 57.

1641?-42
c) The Years Between Series: D'Artagnan against Cyrano. By: Paul Feval and M. Lassez. Part I: The Mysterious Cavalier. In here, d'Artagnan fights Cyrano in the dark, after having caught Cyrano off guard. Cyrano angry, fights with d'Artagnan, as d'Artagnan's sword still is in its sheath, for he promised the new Cardinal Mazarin that he wouldn't draw his sword in a duel.  This causes Cyrano to really dislike d'Artagnan. This is what sparked H. Bedford Jones to write a similar situation in "The King's Passport." Also, everyone wants to know who the  mysterious cavalier is, a young man of about 16 years, and who becomes good friends with Cyrano. Part II: Martyr to the Queen. The young mysterious cavalier continues his adventures, still trying to learn who he is. Part III: The Secret of the Bastille. The mysterious cavalier is placed in prison; they apply a name to him in the registers: The Cavalier Ningun, meaning NOBODY in Latin. Part IV: The Heir to Buckingham. Finally, it is revealed who the mysterious cavalier is.

164? .
b) The Memoirs of D'Artagnan. By: Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras. Translated by: Ralph Nevill. Part II: The Lieutenant. Covers the years of d'Artagnan's service to Mazarin: he became known in history as "Mazarin's Creature." Courtilze gives his ideas (claiming them as to being d'Artagnan's ideas) of how that title came about.

May 14, 1643
King Louis XIII dies, aged 41, leaving an heir to the throne (Louis XIV), who was aged 4 years. Anne, at the request of Louis, becomes Queen Regent, until the boy king is of age to rule.

1643
Louis XIV, aged 5, is announced King. Anne will be Regent for some years to come.

1648-49
The first Fronde (Civil War) in France is launched. It is the Princes (Louis XIII's brothers, Conde, d'Orleans, Beaufort), against Mazarin and the Queen. Both sides claim to be fighting for the boy King, but in reality, the Princes wanted him out of the way.

1648-50?53?
c) Twenty Years After (Twenty Years After the events of The Three Musketeers). By: Alexandre Dumas. Covers the Civil Wars in France (the Fronde) and the Civil War in England, which took place at the same time. D'Artagnan reunites with his three musketeer friends, and they are faced with a surprising new enemy. Mazarin is now Prime Minister.

1650
Beginning of the second Fronde.

Sept 8, 1651
Louis XIV, aged 13, announces his mother is no longer Queen Regent, and he takes the reigns of government himself.

1653
End of the Second Fronde. Louis XIV, aged 14, marches triumphantly into Paris.

165?
Cyrano. By: H. Bedford Jones

1649-55
c) Comrades at Arms and A Salute to Cyrano. D'Artagnan and Cyrano reconciled (now friends). By: Paul Feval. Finally, d'Artagnan and Cyrano becomes friends (we all wanted it to happen!) These final stories by Paul Feval are well written (like his first four novels). In these stories, d'Artagnan incredibly meets up with the Man in the Iron Mask, years before he meets him again in "Le Vicomte de Bragalonne." 2 parts in English ("Comrades in Arms" and "A Salute to Cyrano"), 3 parts in French, as follows: part I: 1649-50; part II: 1651-52; part III: 1653-55. Ending with the death of Cyrano de Bergerac, as also witnessed in:

1655
Cyrano de Bergerac, Act V (The death of Cyrano). By Edmund Rostand.

1660-64
Le Vicomte de Bragalonne (or Ten Years Later: being Ten Years Later after Twenty Years After). By: Alexandre Dumas. The story of how young Raoul (the vicomte, and being the son of Athos) spends his few years upon this earth. We first met him in "D'Artagnan, the sequel to the Three Musketeers," and met him again in "Twenty Years After." Now he is grown up, and we see his struggles to try and keep his love alive between him and Louise de La Valliere, whom we also met in "Twenty Years After," for she, at this time, has eyes for young Louis XIV, who is also of age now. This follows the declining years of the four friends, and ends in dramatic and sorrowful deaths of Athos, Porthos and d'Artagnan. Only Aramis then remains. in 3 or 4 parts in English, as follows: part I: Le Vicomte de Bragalonne; part II: (sometimes) Ten Years Later; part III: Louise de La Valliere; part IV: The Man in the Iron Mask.

March 9, 1661
Cardinal Mazarin dies, but tells Louis before dying not to have any other Prime Minister, but to rule himself, and to keep only a panel of advisors. Mazarin's protege, Colbert, becomes an  excellent advisor to the young king. Upon Mazarin's death bed, Mazarin tells Louis, "Sire, I owe everything to you; but I pay my debt . . . by giving you Colbert."

Sept. 5 1661
Nicolas Fouquest, superintendant of finances, was accused of embelzzelment, the real d'Artagnan was ordered by Louis XIV. to arrest him, and he was guarded by d'Artagnan for sixteen years, until the former finance minister's death.

Sept. 1661
Colbert becomes the new Finance Minister. And in years to come, he would almost have the rank of a Cardinal. He was as close to Louis XIV as Mazarin was, and as Richelieu was to Louis XIII. His advancements of many posts was quick, for Louis had all the confidence in the world in him.

1667
a) The real d'Artagnan becomes Captain of the King's Musketeers

1667
b) The Memoirs of D'Artagnan. By: Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras. Translated by: Ralph Nevill. Part III: The Captain. Follows his career as Captain of the Musketeers; also focuses on his governorship in a small French town near the end of his life. This ends similar to The Man in the Iron Mask with the very same battle that d'Artagnan died in, as the real d'Artagnan died in.

1667?
b) Captain d'Artagnan. By: Lucien Pemjean. Follows part III of d'Artagnan's memoirs.

1673
The Death of D'Artagnan. As seen at the end of The Man in the Iron Mask and as seen in the last part of the Memoirs of d'Artagnan, and in real history.

167?
c) "The Son of Porthos", or sometimes referred to as: "The Death of Aramis." By:Paul Mahalin. Aramis, being the only one of the four friends to live, discovers that Porthos had a son, whom he takes under his wing. In this story, Aramis finally dies - yet this was not the author's intention, seeing as he wrote another book with Aramis that never made it to an English translation. The English translators took it upon themselves to kill off Aramis prematurely in this English version.

1615-73
a), b), c) D'Artagnan, the Ultimate Musketeer. A Biography. By: Geoffrey Hall.

1700
Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras writes the Memoirs of d'Artagnan.

1715
King Louis XIV dies, ending a golden era for France.

1845
Alexandre Dumas writes the Three Musketeers, based upon the Memoirs of d'Artagnan by Courtilz.

1846
Alexandre Dumas writes Twenty Years After, still using the work of Courtilz.

1850
Alexandre Dumas completes Le Vicomte de Bragalonne, which takes him several years to complete. These three works ("Three Musketeers," "Twenty Years After," and "Le Vicomte de Bragalonne") makes d'Artagnan a superstar in the world's eyes. There is a renewed interest in the Musketeer that spreads the world over.