The enduring mystery surrounding a body found buried in Notre Dame following the catastrophic fire that destroyed the church in 2019 may finally be solved. The Monde And La Croix International reported.
The remains were found inside one of two lead sarcophagi removed from the cathedral in 2022 by a team of around 50 researchers at the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP), who have been working to preserve the site since 2019.
Scientists who have studied the remains believe they belong to the famous Renaissance poet Joachim du Bellay, who died in 1560 at the age of 37. Du Bellay, who founded the literary group La Pléiade, is believed to have been buried next to one of his relatives in a chapel in Notre Dame, but the exact location of his grave has never been determined.
Further examination by the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University Hospital of Toulouse revealed that the man had suffered from bone tuberculosis and chronic meningitis throughout his life. Éric Crubézy, professor of biological anthropology at Toulouse, believes that du Bellay alluded to both conditions in many of his poems.
“He fits all the criteria of the portrait,” Crubézy explained. “He is a talented rider, he suffers from both conditions mentioned in some of his poems, for example in 'Complaint of Despair', he describes 'this storm that blurs' [his] “Zihin and his family belonged to the royal court and the pope's inner circle.”
However, INRAP archaeologist and excavation leader Christophe Besnier disputes this claim. “Some elements do not support this hypothesis: isotope analysis of the teeth suggests that the individual lived in the Paris region or in the Rhône-Alpes until the age of 10. But we know that Joachim du Bellay grew up in Anjou,” says Besnier.
The remains will undergo further tests to determine exactly how old the man died, but experts warn definitive answers will be difficult to obtain due to a lack of comparative DNA.
Only 10 percent of the floors below Notre Dame have been examined, leaving plenty of opportunity for similarly impressive finds. But those will have to wait. The legendary church is entering the final stages of renovation before it finally reopens to the public on December 8.