What the heroes of the most famous novel by Alexandre Dumas actually looked like

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The heroes of the novel "The Three Musketeers" are known and loved all over the world. One of the attractive things about this book is that virtually all of the protagonists are historical figures. It is known that Alexandre Dumas, embellishing and slightly misinterpreting history, nevertheless usually kept “close to the text” of reliable facts. Since almost all of his heroes belonged to the top of the nobility of the 17th century, today we can find out quite reliably how they really looked, thanks to the preserved portraits of that era.

Anna of Austria

The epithet "Austrian" went to the daughter of the Spanish king Philip III as a sign of belonging to one of the most influential royal dynasties - the Habsburgs. Almost everything is true about the details of the royal couple's family life in the famous novel. This dynastic marriage was concluded when the young were only 14 years old, and he was not happy. True, it is worth noting that Louis XIII was not the only one to blame for this. Young Anna of Austria, no less than her spouse, was prone to betrayal, intrigue, and constantly tried to support Spain, so she fully deserved the discontent of the experienced politician Richelieu.

By the way, here is a portrait of her famous friend Marie Aimé de Rogan-Montbazon, Duchess de Chevreuse, who was indeed removed from the royal court for many political intrigues and crimes, including connivance at the alleged connection of Anne of Austria with the Duke of Buckingham. Historians do not consider this novel a historical fact. Most likely, Anna of Austria rejected the encroachments of the English dignitary.

Louis XIII the Just

Having become a ruler at the age of 8, this king was not an outstanding historical person for France. His bad character is known from many historical sources. So, for example, François de La Rochefoucauld in his "Memoirs" gives the king the following characterization:

But also information about the great musical and dramatic talent of the king has been preserved. From the age of 3 he perfectly played the lute, and later - the harpsichord and hunting horn. Louis XIII sang remarkably, danced and designed costumes for performances. By the way, his music sounded in that very "Merlezon Ballet", and he himself willingly played noble and grotesque roles in palace productions.

Jean-Armand du Peyret, Comte de Treville

The fate of a poor aristocrat in the first generation, who conquered Paris with his courage and loyalty to the king, is generally described in the novel correctly. Since 1634, he was indeed a lieutenant-commander and de facto company commander of the royal musketeers, which was just incredible luck for the son of an arms dealer.

Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke de Richelieu

One can talk for a very long time about the achievements and merits of this really prominent statesman of his time. Alexander Dumas himself, bringing him to the pages of the novel as a character opposed to the main characters, notes the talent and merits of the Duke de Richelieu and considers him at that time the most influential person in the kingdom. After the death of the great cardinal, one of his principal opponents, François de La Rochefoucauld, wrote an almost laudatory ode about him:

Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle

It is this lady-in-waiting and chamber-maid of honor of the Queen of England that is considered one of the reliable prototypes of Lady Winter in Dumas' novel. Contemporaries admired her beauty and wit, and the famous English poets of that era sang this cute image more than once in poetry. However, in any royal court, simpletons and guardians of morality clearly did not get out to the top, and Countess Lucy was no exception. She took part in many political intrigues and was the mistress of several prominent English figures, including the first minister of England, the Duke of Buckingham. True, he soon abandoned her, and the vexed aristocrat became, in revenge, the agent and spy of Cardinal Richelieu.

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

This famous conqueror of women's hearts really appears in the portrait by Rubens as a very interesting man. Modern tolerance and the desire for objectivity force us to mention one more historical fact, which Alexandre Dumas kept silent about. The fact is that this wonderful public figure won the hearts of not only ladies. His rapid career growth from a poor nobleman to the first dignitary of the kingdom and in fact the ruler of the country is explained by the ardent passion of King James I. There is a lot of evidence of this connection, including frank letters from the aged monarch. After the death of one king, the Duke of Buckingham becomes the favorite of his successor Charles I, but now, apparently, on a friendly basis.

Historians assess the importance of the government of this statesman extremely negatively - the result was several failed military campaigns, an empty treasury and hatred of the people. Therefore, his death at the hands of a former military man, offended by the duke, from the point of view of his contemporaries, was a fairly natural ending. British officer John Felton was twice promoted to the position of company commander, but both times he was refused. Then he submitted a petition to Buckingham, where he said that he could not live without the rank of captain. The Duke replied that in that case he could order him to be hanged. Felton bought a knife in a shop for 10p, entered the hallway of the Duke's headquarters and, seizing the moment, stabbed him in the chest. After that, he himself gave himself up to justice and was sentenced to death.

D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers

The four main characters of the famous novel are also historical figures and indeed each of them at different times served in the royal company of musketeers. It is known that de Treville, when recruiting a company, preferred his fellow countrymen, the Bearnais and Gascon nobles, among whom were his distant relatives - Henri d'Aramitz and Armand d'Atos, as well as Isaac de Porto and Charles de Butz de Castelmore, who under named d'Artagnan made a brilliant career and later led a company of Musketeers under the next king - Louis XIV. Unfortunately, no reliable portraits of them have survived, except for a few alleged images of D'Artagnan.

On the main square of the city of Condom, which is considered the Musketeer capital of Gascony, there is a monument to the heroes of the novel by Dumas. It's nice that these bronze musketeers bear a portrait resemblance to the cinematic images we have known since childhood.