In the aftermath of the partial destruction of Notre-Dame cathedral in the fire of 2019, an intriguing discovery was made in the form of two lead-lined sarcophagi 65 feet below the cathedral’s floor.
The decision was made to open the sarcophagi, and, perhaps not surprisingly, both contained skeletal remains. One of these was soon identified from the epitaph on the coffin as Canon Antoine de La Porte, a member of the clergy from the 17th century, but the other was difficult to assign, and remained described as a ‘unknown nobleman’.
After further investigations by University of Toulouse III/CNRS and Professor Eric Crubézy in a multidisciplinary approach, this person has now been identified. All the evidence points to it being the body of Joachim du Bellay, a celebrated French Renaissance poet born in Liré, western France in 1522.
The INRAP report discloses how this conclusion was reached:
“The anonymous individual died of chronic tuberculous meningitis in the 16th century in his fourth decade, an age that is rarely represented among the burials of important people in the cathedral. This unknown person, autopsied and embalmed, is intriguing because he lies in a specific area where, apart from Antoine de La Porte, no other intact tomb has been discovered. Research suggests that he may have reoccupied a tomb that had hosted two well-known people in their time, but without somewhat exceptional religious titles. Our attention was focused on Joachim du Bellay, a distinguished horseman and tubercular poet who died in 1560, whose autopsy revealed signs of chronic meningitis.”
A Somewhat Surprising Find in Paris
Finding the remains of a priest buried at the most sacred spot in Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral, and all of medieval France, seems a predictable discovery. And a nobleman is also unremarkable, but one with a seemingly elongated skull adds to the intrigue. That will soon be explained.
The foundation stone of Notre Dame Cathedral was laid by Pope Alexander III in 1163 AD, but in 2019 a fire almost entirely destroyed it. After having spent the last two years securing its foundations, work began on repairing the oak spire that was first unveiled on August 18, 1859. This 19th century spire reached a height of 315 feet (96 meters), which was 59 feet (18 meters) higher than the original 12th century spire, but it came crashing down in the aftermath of the 2019 blaze.
It was directly beneath the spire that researchers identified several tombs containing hundreds of fragmented hands, feet, faces, and plants from stone statues. It was among these shattered artifacts that two well-preserved lead sarcophagi were also discovered, buried at what represents the holiest site in all of medieval and Renaissance France.
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The 2019 fire that engulfed the cathedral indirectly led to the discovery of these Notre Dame sarcophagi (Wandrille de Préville / CC BY SA 4.0)
Unearthing the Canon and the Knight
In April 2022, Professor Christophe Besnier, the leader of the scientific team, told The Guardian that this discovery was both “extraordinary and emotional.” Ancient Origins reported at the time that Dominique Garcia, the head of the National Institute of Archaeological Research, speculated that one of the lead sarcophagi “probably belonged to a dignitary from the early 14th century.” With the evidence to hand, this was a good guess, although it now seems it was two centuries too early.
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Buried at the Heart of the Cathedral
The fragmented statues and two lead coffins were discovered beneath the floor of the transept crossing. The transept of a church separates the nave from the chevet (choir), belonging equally to the main nave axis and to the transept.
Dr Eric Crubézy, professor of biological anthropology at the University of Toulouse III, said the two men were “clearly important in their respective eras to have been buried in such prestigious tombs at the heart of the cathedral”.
Described as of “remarkable scientific quality,” both burials were found during a speculative subterranean dig before the installation of the 98 foot (30 meter) high, 600-ton scaffold that was being used to replace the cathedral’s fire-damaged spire.
A report in The Guardian stated that one of the bodies belonged to a priest who, after leading a sedentary life, died in 1710 AD. The second lead coffin contained “a young, wealthy, and privileged noble.”
Joachim du Bellay. (Public Domain)
Buried one meter deep, the holy man was found with a brass plaque confirming he was Antoine de la Porte, the canon of Notre Dame Cathedral, who died on Christmas Eve 1710 at the age of 83. De la Porte was a clever, influential, and rich old priest who commissioned several works of art that are now in the Louvre.
The second coffin was found to contain the remains of a man ‘between 25 and 40’ (Du Bellay was 38 when he died).
Dr Crubézy notes, as reported by the Daily Mail:
‘[This] age is rarely represented among the burials of important people in the cathedral.’
The researchers say his pelvic bones suggest he was an experienced horseman; hence he was thought to be a knight. Although known more for his poetry than chivalry, Joachim Du Bellay was a keen horseman.
The forensic examination matched other physical evidence from the remains to the life of Joachin du Bellay, found in his own writing and historic literature. Evidence of bone tuberculosis and chronic meningitis were found, both afflictions he speaks of in his poetry.
Du Bellay was interred at the foot of a large cross that was once displayed on the now-destroyed rood screen that separated the chancel and nave (clergy and choir) from the congregation (poor people with diseases). Cloths and organic plant materials discovered in this burial suggest he was embalmed, which the archaeologists say was “a rare practice in the Middle Ages.” Moreover, he was buried with a crown of flowers.
Du Bellay was from the upper echelons of the 16th century French elite, and from this we come to the explanation for his “skull deformation,” better known as an elongated skull.
Headbanding for Power, All Over the World
The nobleman had a “deliberately deformed skull,” resulting from having had a tight cloth band tied around his head during his first three months of life, inducing the shape change.
In the 1920s, Peruvian archaeologist Julio Tello, the “father of Peruvian archaeology,” uncovered hundreds of elongated Paracas civilization skulls dated to between 750 BC and 100 AD, and they have since been unearthed across the Middle East and Asia, and even Scandinavia.
Elongated skulls, like the one discovered in the Notre Dame sarcophagus, were characteristic of the Paracas Culture, Peru. (Didier Descouens / CC BY SA 4.0)
It is generally agreed that cranial banding and the resulting elongated skulls were symbols of power practiced among controlling families in different countries. However, long after the practice died out in Peru, it continued up to the early 20th century in the region of Deux-Sèvres in western France. Here, too, the practice was a symbol of power among social elites, but it was also practiced among poorer families who tried to align their children with higher social classes.
As well as these two burials, in the last two years of excavation, more than 100 other burials have been uncovered in other locations, all withing the cathedral, and 80 have been excavated.