The mystery behind one of the bodies found buried beneath Notre Dame in Paris after the devastating fire in April 2019 may finally be solved.
Remains found in a lead sarcophagus unearthed in April 2022 likely belong to Renaissance poet Joachim du Bellay, scientists announced this week, according to AFP.
Du Bellay was one of the founders of the literary group La Pléiade. He died at the age of 37 on or about 1 January 1560 and is believed to have been buried near a relative in a chapel at Notre Dame, although his actual tomb has never been found.
Their bones probably came to light two years ago, when excavators from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) unearthed two sarcophagi beneath the transept in the heart of the cathedral. The world.
A team of about 50 archaeologists has been working at Notre Dame since the 2019 fire that devastated the medieval structure, La Croix International highlighted.
Fourteen different projects at the site have examined just 10% of the floor of the massive cathedral, but have unearthed pieces of history dating back more than 2,000 years, the outlet said.
One of the sarcophagi had an epitaph and its occupant was quickly identified as Antoine de La Porte, a canon of the cathedral who died in 1710.
Although the identity of the second body remains unknown, scientists determined that the bones belonged to an adult male with a unique femur structure indicating he had ridden horses from an early age.
The examination carried out at the Forensic Institute of the University Hospital of Toulouse also revealed that the man suffered from bone tuberculosis and chronic meningitis.
Du Bellay hinted at both rare conditions in his poems “The Complaint of the Despairing,” suggested Éric Crubézy, a professor of biological anthropology in Toulouse.
“He meets all the criteria for a portrait: he is an accomplished horseman, he suffers from both conditions mentioned in some of his poems, such as in 'The Complaint of the Desperate', where he describes 'that storm that clouds (his) mind', and his family belonged to the royal court and the Pope's close circle,” he said.
However, some experts said the official identity of the mystery man was still under debate.
“Some elements do not support this hypothesis: isotopic analysis of the teeth indicates that the individual lived in the Paris region or in Rhône-Alpes until he was 10 years old. However, we know that Joachim du Bellay grew up in Anjou,” explains INRAP archaeologist and excavation leader Christophe Besnier.
“Moreover, the fact that his tomb was not found during the 1758 excavations in the Saint-Crépin chapel does not mean that his remains were not there,” he added.
The remains will undergo further testing, including an analysis to more precisely determine the exact age of the deceased.
However, without comparative DNA, formal identification is impossible, and both scientists and historians will have to content themselves with their best guesses.
More than five years after it was nearly destroyed by flames, restoration projects at Notre Dame are said to be in their final stages as the cathedral prepares to reopen on December 8.
