Archaeology & History

Mystery surrounding coffin found under Notre Dame has been solved

By T.K. Randall
September 22, 2024 ·  0 comments

Notre Dame is scheduled to re-open to the public in December. Image Credit: PD - Tom S The iconic Parisian cathedral of Notre Dame, which was badly damaged in a devastating fire back in 2019, gave up one of its long hidden secrets a couple of years ago when restoration workers unearthed two mysterious lead coffins that had been hidden deep underneath it.

The occupants, it turns out, were both wealthy men.

The first, who was identified from a plate on the coffin itself, was Antoine de la Porte - an 83-year-old member of the clergy responsible for the cathedral who died on December 24th, 1710.

The other man, however, had remained something of a mystery because there was no accompanying plate on his coffin.

An examination of his remains suggested that he was between 25 and 40 when he died and that he had lost all his teeth in the years prior to his death, indicating that he likely succumbed to tuberculosis.Now, two years on, researchers have finally solved the mystery of who this man was.

In all likelihood, he was Joachim du Bellay - a celebrated French poet who had died in Paris in 1560 at the age of 37.

Born in 1522, Bellay was the co-founder of a circle of poets known as La Pleiade and records show that he was buried somewhere in Notre Dame after serving as a minor clerical official there.

It is thought that his body may have been moved from the cathedral's side chapel to a more prominent location after his works became more famous following his death.

Even today, Bellay is a well known figure in France and his poems are still taught in French schools.

Source: Lad Bible | Comments (0)

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