Archaeological digs after the fire that devastated Notre Dame Cathedral in 2019 cracked what the French media calls a centuries-old "cold case." The French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research—INRAP—revealed Tuesday that researchers believe they have found the body of Joachim Du Bellay, a Renaissance poet who died in 1560, Le Monde reports. Researchers said the body was found in one of two leaded coffins unearthed when the cathedral's transept crossing was excavated ahead of work to install scaffolding to rebuild the famous spire.
The occupant of one coffin was quickly identified as Antoine de la Porte, a wealthy church patron who died in 1710. His coffin had a plaque, but it took modern methods to identify the body in the other coffin, CBS News reports. Clues included deformation of the iliac bone, a sign the person did a lot of horse-riding. Researchers nicknamed the body "The Horseman." Du Bellay was known as a skilled horseman and once rode from Paris to Rome. The person also died relatively young and had undergone an autopsy, as Du Bellay did after he died at age 35. Signs of bone tuberculosis accompanied by chronic meningitis matched the poet's medical history.
Du Bellay was the nephew of a high-ranking church official, and his family asked for him to be buried in the cathedral's Saint-Crepin chapel.. But the coffin was not found when the chapel was excavated in 1758. One researcher said there are "still some doubts," but INRAP president Dominique Garcia is confident the body is that of Du Bellay. "What more can we have? Find his toothbrush to check that the DNA matches? His age and pathology alone offer remarkable statistical solidity," he said. Researchers said excavations uncovered around 100 other burials in unexpected parts of the cathedral, Le Monde reports. The cathedral is expected to reopen in December. (More Notre Dame Cathedral stories.)
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