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A mysterious " horseman " found inside a tip - lined coffin beneath the ruin of the Notre Dame Cathedral has finally been describe as the French Renaissance poet Joachim du Bellay , according to forensic expert .

The save remains , discovered beneath Notre Dame ’s nave in 2022 , were stored inside a sealed sarcophagus near those of the high priestAntoine de la Porteduring excavations that followed thefire at the duomo in 2019 .

Four scientists in scrubs are in a room with a coffin on a table. The coffin is open and has a skeleton inside.

Researchers at Toulouse University Hospital examine the sarcophagus and skeleton of the “horseman” unearthed at Notre Dame Cathedral. The fact that the human remains — likely of French Renaissance poet Joachim du Bellay — were embalmed with a sawed skull indicates that he was an aristocrat.

An psychoanalysis by the Toulouse University Hospital ’s forensic institute revealed that the skeleton of the world inside showed signs of os tuberculosis , chronic meningitis and a proclivity for riding horses — earning the man his nickname .

Now , these details have ledDr . Éric Crubézy , a prof of biological anthropology at the University of Toulouse IIIand enquiry director at the France ’s National Centre for Scientific Research , to hypothesize the mankind ’s individuality . The findings were foretell Sept. 17 in a read statementby France ’s National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research ( INRAP ) .

" He oppose all the standard of the portrait , " Crubézy said at a Sept. 17 news conference , perLa Croix . " He is an accomplished horseman , tolerate from both status cite in some of his poems , like in ' La Complainte du désespéré , ' where he describes ' this storm that blurs [ his ] judgement , ' and his family belonged to the regal tourist court and the pope ’s close entourage . "

A photo looking down at a human-shaped lead sarcophagus in a burial beneath the Notre Dame floor.

The human-shaped lead sarcophagus was discovered during an excavation of Notre Dame following the 2019 fire.

" He rode from Paris to Rome , which is no mean exploit when you have TB like he did . In fact , he almost died from it , " Crubézy added .

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Born in Anjou in westerly France ’s Loire Valley in 1522 , du Bellay later moved to Paris and Rome where he composed his germinal employment during the FrenchRenaissance , admit arenowned defenseof French as an artistic speech whose literature could touch the " quality and expressiveness " of ancient Greece and Rome . After geezerhood of inadequate wellness , du Bellay died in 1560 at eld 37 .

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However , not every archaeologist involve in the excavation is convinced that the skeleton belongs to du Bellay . Speaking at the press conference , Christophe Besnier , a dig leader and archeologist with INRAP , said that isotope analysis suggested the man grew up in the Paris or Lyon regions , not Anjou . Isotopes , or variations of element with a differing number of neutrons in their nucleus , are consumed through dieting and drinking water , before make their way into people ’s teeth and bones . Crubézy responded that du Bellay grew up populate with Jean du Bellay , who had attend to as the bishop of Paris .

" What more can we have ? " INRAP presidentDominique Garciasaid in an interviewwith Le Monde . " discover [ du Bellay ’s ] toothbrush to check that theDNAmatches ? His long time and pathology alone offer up remarkable statistical solidness . "

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