In Disney's version of The Three Musketeers was not very accurate in a historical sense, but did have some historical background. The king that the musketeers defended, King Louis the XIII of France was indeed a real king. He succeeded his father, King Henry the IV. The movie also mentioned Louis' wife being of Austrian heritage, and his wife was actually Anne of Austria. Anne was not the devoted wife as portrayed in the movie, rather, she was neglected by her husband and well known for her flirtations, especially the Duke of Buckingham. She was also very loyal to France and had a strong Catholic background, which made her suspect during the Thirty Year's War.
The movie portrayed the cardinal as the bad guy that wanted to take over France when it was actually Louis' mother, Marie de' Medici who wanted control over France. In 1617, Louis the XIII arranged for the assassination of his mother's trusted advisor, Concino Concini, and forced his mother to retire.
The young King Louis XIII was only a figurehead du...
Although a Catholic clergyman himself, Cardinal Ri...
Louis XIII on horseback, with Cardinal Richelieu a...In 1622, the King reconciled with his mother and entrusted France to her protégé, Cardinal Richelieu. Richelieu basically ran France. When Marie sided with the Habsburgs and plotted against Richelieu, Louis the XIII exiled her.
There was also a war. However, it didn't occur until Louis was much older. It was the 30 years war against the Holy Roman Empire, not England. France allied with the Netherlands and the protestant states. Although Cardinal Richelieu didn't live to see the Peace of Westphalia signed, the result was victory for France, the Netherlands, and the protestant states and the decline of the Habsburgs. Also, according to http://www.hoboes.com/html/FireBlade/Dumas/Musketeers/, the characters D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis were actual people. Their names however, were pseudonyms.
The characters and the plot in The Three Musketeers seem very typical...