The mystery surrounding the dead poet of Notre Dame is close to being solved

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A centuries-old mystery surrounding a poet buried in Notre Dame in Paris could be close to being solved thanks to archaeological excavations at the world-famous cathedral, researchers said Tuesday.

The exact location of the grave of Joachim de Bellay, a French Renaissance poet, has puzzled researchers for many years.

De Bellay, a member of a literary group called La Pleiade, died in 1560 at the age of 37.

His family asked that he be buried in the Saint-Crepin Chapel of Notre Dame, but when the site was renovated in 1758, no trace of his remains could be found.

The exact location of his remains remained a secret until 2022, when archaeologists searched the site following the 2019 fire that destroyed large parts of Notre Dame and discovered two tombs at the cathedral's crossing.

Scientists working for the National Institute of Preventive Archaeology quickly identified one of them as that of Antoine de La Porte, a clergyman who died in the early 18th century.

However, they could not immediately find out who was buried in the other grave.

Using modern analytical methods, the researchers found clues to his possible identity. All of them pointed to de Bellay.

A deformation of his pelvic bone told them that he rode a lot.

De Bellay “was an experienced rider, he traveled on horseback from Paris to Rome,” doctor and archaeologist Eric Cubrezy told reporters.

In addition, a saw cut in the corpse's skull and a broken sternum indicated that the body had been autopsied before embalming – just like de Bellay.

The final and most revealing clue was traces of a rare disease, bone tuberculosis, which led to chronic meningitis, which was consistent with the poet's medical history.

French daily Le Monde called the mystery surrounding the missing body an “unsolved case” and said the latest discovery was the “most spectacular result” of the excavations at Notre Dame, which began after the devastating fire in 2019.

The archaeologists themselves preferred to remain cautious.

“There are still some doubts,” says Christophe Besnier, one of the scientists responsible for the excavation site.

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