Identity of the Remains of Two Persons Found During Excavation at the Notre-Dame de Paris Stuns Scientists
In 2019, authorities began the reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral after the devastating fire. During the restoration, researchers uncovered two lead sarcophagi under the nave of the establishment, stated The Guardian. Since the discovery, experts have been trying to figure out the identity of the two sets of remains. In 2022, they achieved partial success in their pursuit.
The tombs were found alongside several sculptures, statues, and parts of the cathedral’s original 13th-century rood screen. All of them were stashed underneath the floor of the transept, which crossed over at the cathedral's heart. Both the deceased individuals belonged to different classes of society, the researcher claimed after looking at their tombs. One of the tombs possibly belonged to a high priest, who died in 1710. The priest appears to have lived a sedentary life. The other individual's identity came to light in 2024, stated The Art Newspaper. The way he was buried, indicated to researchers he was a young and wealthy man.
The unidentified man was first examined by specialists in Toulouse, as per The Guardian. The team determined that the man was in his 30s at the time of his death. Researchers labeled the individual "Le Cavalier" because his pelvic bones suggested that he was an avid horseman. Nothing could be detected on the name plaque that was molded around the shape of the body. Researchers also observed holes in the lead around the head, which implied to them that the remains had been vulnerable to air and severe deterioration over the years. Scientists found cloth and plant material inside the tomb, which indicated that he had been embalmed, a rare tradition from the Middle Ages. Researchers believe the man belonged to the elite class because he was interred at the foot of the large cross, placed in the rood screen (the ornate partition that separated clergy from the congregation).
Researchers further stated that the young man suffered from a chronic disease, which caused almost all his teeth to fall off. Experts think he must have been in a lot of pain, at the time of his death. The team also observed skull deformation in the man, which possibly happened because of wearing a headdress or headband, during infancy. Christophe Besnier, who headed the scientific team for the dig carried out by France’s National Archaeological Institute, Inrap shared that the age of the remains is yet to be determined.
In 2024, researchers announced that they believed the young man's body possibly belonged to Joachim du Bellay, a 16th-century poet, stated Art Newspaper. "We identified a deceased male between 30 and 40 years old, who had been autopsied and showed bone and meningeal lesions caused by tuberculosis," said Eric Crubézy, a professor of biological anthropology at the University of Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, who studied the body. "These findings form a set of arguments pointing towards Joachim du Bellay. Indeed, individuals buried in the cathedral within this age range were rare, and the probability of finding such lesions was even rarer. All these elements strengthen the hypothesis of an identification with Joachim du Bellay, whose biography we have re-examined."
The priest's identity in the second sarcophagus was confirmed by a brass plaque attached to the remains, stated The Guardian. The remains belonged to Antoine de la Porte, the canon of Notre Dame Cathedral who took his last breath at the age of 83, during the Christmas Eve of 1710. Eric Crubézy, professor of biological anthropology at the University of Toulouse III who was overseeing the opening of the tombs, claimed that even if the two individuals belonged to different social classes, they were important people in the professions. He backs his assertion, by pointing out that both were laid to rest in the cathedral. De La Porte was an influential member of the society, as revealed by his commissioning of several artworks, that now hang in the Louvre.