Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
Richard the Lionheart’s heart

Richard the Lionheart’s heart

Last updated on: March 7, 2013 at 5:30 am by Gene Veith

0 Comments

Richard the Lionheart’s heart 2013-03-05T20:18:28-05:00 Gene Veith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In more medieval forensic archaeology, researchers have found the mummified heart of Richard the Lionheart (1157-1199), which had been buried separately from the rest of his body. Nothing is left of it but a brown powder, but tests show that he was NOT poisoned, as some have thought, and that the embalming methods used spices associated with the burial of Christ. King Richard I ruled England beginning in 1189 and was a hero of the Crusades. (See the heart after the jump.)

From BBC:

When the English monarch, nicknamed Richard the Lionheart, died in 1199 his heart was embalmed and buried separately from the rest of his body.

Its condition was too poor to reveal the cause of death, but the team was able to rule out a theory that he had been killed by a poisoned arrow.

The researchers were also able to find out more about the methods used to preserve his organ.

The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The medieval king became known as Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a courageous military leader.

He was central to the Third Crusade, fighting against the Muslim leader Saladin.

Although he ruled England, he spent much of his time in France, and was killed there after being hit by a crossbow bolt during a siege on a castle.

After his death, his body was divided up – a common practice for aristocracy during the Middle Ages.

His entrails were buried in Chalus, which is close to Limoges in central France. The rest of his body was entombed further north, in Fontevraud Abbey, but his heart was embalmed and buried in the cathedral of Notre Dame in Rouen.

The remains of his heart – now a grey-brown powder – were locked away in a small lead box, and discovered in the 19th Century during an excavation.

But until now, they had not been studied in detail.

To find out more, a team of forensic specialists and historians performed a biological analysis.

Dr Philippe Charlier, a forensic scientist from Raymond Poincare University Hospital, in France, said: “We carried out exactly the same kind of analysis that we would perform on an exhumed body for forensic purposes.

“We did a microscopic examination, toxicological analysis and also a pollen analysis.”

The heart was too badly decomposed to confirm exactly how the king died – most historians believe gangrene or septicaemia from his wound would have been the cause.

However, another, less widespread theory put forward in a medieval chronicle is that Richard I may have been killed by an arrow coated in poison.

But Dr Charlier said his tests revealed that this probably was not the case.

“Our toxicological analysis showed no presence of any arsenic or any other metals, so we haven’t found any proof of any contamination during the end of Richard the Lionheart’s life,” he explained.

“We have no confirmation that he would have been poisoned: there is no argument for this.”

The team found pollen in the sample, including grains from poplar and bellflower. This suggests that Richard I died at the end of April, May or the beginning of June, as these plants are in flower then. In the history books, his date of death is given as 6 April 1199.

The analysis also revealed much more about the techniques that were used to preserve his heart – providing an insight into medieval religious rituals.

Dr Charlier said: “The spices and vegetables used for the embalming process were directly inspired by the ones used for the embalming of Christ.

“For example, we found frankincense. This is the only case known of using frankincense – we have never found any use of this before. This product is really devoted to very, very important persons in history.”

The heart, which was wrapped in linen, also had traces of myrtle, daisy, mint and possibly lime.

The scientists think these would have been used for their smell, to give the King an “odour of sanctity”, which would be “similar to Christ”.

They also found mercury, which would have been used stop the heart from decomposing.

Dr Charlier said that during the post-mortem, they used up as little material as possible.

He explained: “We wanted to conserve it for the future generations.

“These are not only samples, they are also human remains and we have to respect them.”

via BBC News – Richard the Lionheart’s mummified heart analysed.

Remains of King Richard I's heart

History

archaeology

historical forensics

Richard the Lionheart

Previous Post

March 6, 2013

Drugged driving

Next Post

March 7, 2013 Historic preservation for modernism

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"I know wired earbuds are making a comeback (I never stopped using them as I ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

"VCRs, tape decks, and cassette players are all having a revival among a segment of ..."

Tom Hering

Luther on Tools

"As a (retired) lawyer I see potential liability from sharing things like power or sharp ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

"I am not sure the items you mentioned, though disused, discontinued, discarded, could be considered ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category America Apologetics Art baseball Bible Blog Christ Church crime Culture Economics Education Ethics Family Food Football Government History Holidays Holy Week Humor International Islam Language Law Life Issues Literature Media Medicine Movies Music Nature News Personal Philosophy Politics psychology Reformation Religions Sacraments Science sex Social Science Sports technology television terrorism Theology Uncategorized Vocation war

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said: "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Paul James John Peter

Books by This Author Books by Gene Veith

See All Titles »