PARIS, FRANCE—According to a Live Science report, human remains found in a sealed lead coffin beneath the nave of Notre Dame Cathedral have been identified as the French Renaissance poet Joachim du Bellay, who died in 1560 at the age of 37, by scientists led by Éric Crubézy of the University of Toulouse III and the French National Centre for Scientific Research. Examination of the remains revealed signs of bone tuberculosis, chronic meningitis, and frequent horseback riding. “He matches all the criteria of the portrait [of Joachim du Bellay],” Crubézy said. “He is an accomplished horseman, suffers from both conditions mentioned in some of his poems, like in La Complainte du désespéré, where he describes ‘this storm that blurs [his] mind,’ and his family belonged to the royal court and the pope’s close entourage,” he added. The poet is also known to have ridden on horseback from Paris to Rome, “which is no mean feat when you have tuberculosis like he did,” Crubézy explained. For more on the discovery of the sarcophagus, go to "Update: Notre Dame's Nobility.
