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Accessibility statementSkip to main content Democracy Dies in Darkness SubscribeSign in Democracy Dies in Darkness worldEuropeWar In UkraineAfricaAmericasAsiaMiddle East worldEuropeWar In UkraineAfricaAmericasAsiaMiddle East LOST FOR 450 YEARS, FAMED POET’S GRAVE FOUND AT NOTRE DAME, SCIENTISTS SAY The discovery came during a massive restoration project at the cathedral, which was severely damaged in a 2019 fire. 4 min 32 A 16th-century lead sarcophagus discovered in the floor of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 2022. (Julien De Rosa/AFP/Getty Images) By Praveena Somasundaram September 18, 2024 at 9:41 p.m. EDT For years, he did not have a name. When archaeologists excavated two lead sarcophagi from Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral in 2022, they identified one of the bodies from an epitaph on its coffin, but the second did not yield its identity so easily. Subscribe for unlimited access to The Post You can cancel anytime. Subscribe That left researchers with a more-than-450-year-old mystery — which they now believe they’ve solved. The remains in the second sarcophagus are probably those of the French Renaissance poet Joachim du Bellay, France’s National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research, or Inrap, said in a report published Tuesday. It’s the latest development in the archaeological work that began one day after a fire ravaged the cathedral in April 2019, causing its famous spire to collapse and engulfing its entire roof in flames. As the cathedral has been rebuilt over the past five years, archaeologists have excavated areas inside and outside the monument, which officials expect to reopen in December. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement Before his death in 1560, du Bellay had worked in Paris and Rome, writing a defense of French as an artistic language that would become a rallying cry for other French Renaissance poets. 🌎 Follow World news Follow “With the political context of Joachim du Bellay, you can write the history of part of France and Italy at this moment,” said Eric Crubézy, a professor at Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, who worked on the identification. Du Bellay wrote seminal works of the French Renaissance era, but his career was short, spanning about nine years, said Paul White, a professor of classics at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. He died in his late 30s, and some of his last works were reflections of his deteriorating health, White said. Story continues below advertisement Scholars long believed du Bellay was buried at Notre Dame, as the poet’s family requested him to be laid to rest beside his relative Jean du Bellay, who was a high-ranking clergyman. But Joachim du Bellay’s physical tomb had never been found. Advertisement Many other tombs were excavated in the wake of the devastating fire, as part of a massive restoration project launched afterward. Archaeologists discovered more than 100 graves and excavated 80 of them. Half of the graves were for members of the clergy, the other half church members, Inrap said. In 2022, researchers discovered two lead sarcophagi buried at the crossing of the cathedral’s transept, where no other intact tombs had been found, Crubézy said. Story continues below advertisement The remains identified from the epitaph were those of Antoine de la Porte, a canon of the cathedral who died in the early 1700s around the age of 80. Upon examining the second set of remains, researchers found several notable elements that led them to believe they were those of du Bellay. The remains were from a person who died between the ages of 30 and 40, one of only a few of those buried at the cathedral who were so young, Crubézy said. Researchers also found signs of tuberculosis and meningitis — maladies that du Bellay probably suffered near the end of his life. Advertisement The remains also showed that an autopsy had been performed, Crubézy said. After du Bellay’s death, an autopsy was done of his body as well, Crubézy said, citing archival records researchers found. Story continues below advertisement Questions persist about why he may have been buried apart from nearly all of the other graves at the cathedral, including Jean du Bellay’s. Crubézy and his team have two theories: that he had been transferred to rest beneath the transept in 1569 after his final works were posthumously published, or that the site had been intended to be temporary but the coffin had never been moved. Still, Crubézy said, the identification has probably brought research surrounding the poet’s life and death a long way since the 1758 excavation when his relative was found but he was not. “Where was he?” Crubézy said. “It was a mystery since the 19th century. We knew that he was in Notre Dame, but we didn’t know where.” Share 32 Comments NewsletterAs news breaks World News Alerts Breaking news email alerts for major happenings around the world. Sign up Subscribe to comment and get the full experience. 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