HistoryofScience.com Blog

Friday, December 17, 2010

Who Owned the Head of France's King Henry IV?



I have heard of collecting many things, from the ordinary such as swizzle sticks, to the sublime, such as Rembrandts. I even know one antiquarian bookseller who collects shrunken heads, but until recently I had never heard of owning the head of a deceased monarch.

It seems, however, that ever since the French Revolution a series of French private collectors owned the head of King Henri IV who was assassinated in 1610 at the age of 57. After his death, the king's body was embalmed and he was buried in the Basilica of Saint Denis near Paris, but during the madness of the French Revolution in 1793 royal graves were dug up, remains mutilated, and mixed together in mass graves.

During the disinterment revolutionaries chopped off Henri's IV's head, which was stolen. The embalmed head then disappeared into unknown private collections until it resurfaced in 1919 when an antiques dealer bought it at auction for three francs. It then disappeared once again into secretive private collections until 2010, the 400th anniversary of Henri IV's death. This year the embalmed head with its internal organs intact, was subjected to a great deal of scientific examination using a combination of anthropological, paleopathological, radiological, forensic, and genetic techniques. Results were published in the British Medical Journal on December 14, 2010 in a paper entitled "Multidisciplinary medical identification of a French king's head (Henri IV)." Authenticity of the head having been confirmed, it will be reinterred in the Basilica of Saint Denis next year after a national mass and funeral.

But who deserves the credit for having preserved Henri IV's head over the centuries? It seems that collectors of relics like this don't want publicity, perhaps for good reason. None of the articles published on this bizarre case that I have seen mention the names of any of the collectors who owned the head.

posted by Jeremy Norman @ 6:39 PM   26 Comments

26 Comments:

At October 22, 2017 at 4:17 AM , Blogger ninja said...

fb liker
ShowBox
aptoide

 
At March 3, 2018 at 2:50 AM , Blogger mark said...

PC adaptation of Psiphon is known as Psiphon 3. You can read more about Psiphon underneath in the post. Presently let us check How to download and introduce Psiphon in our Windows 10/8.1/8/7 PC or Laptop. Psiphon makes an intermediary server condition for boundless confinement free Internet Surfing. According to the current refresh, the Psiphon programming is presently authoritatively accessible for Windows Pc and Laptop. That implies you can download and utilize Psiphon in your Windows machine, as well.
Download Psiphon 3

 
At April 11, 2018 at 12:50 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

Read here about terrarium tv app
Download terrarium tv
Terrarium tv app download

 
At April 24, 2018 at 6:51 AM , Blogger eddie007 said...

Hi, friends if you like racing games, then click on play online happy wheels you can play happy wheels games this game is a physics-based racing game. you play without downloading just

 
At November 4, 2018 at 11:31 PM , Blogger Người đưa tin said...

Henry enjoys a top-notch education from the well-trained curriculum ... Henry has a collection of musical instruments; the king used to master
20 inches weave hair
18 inches weave hair

 
At February 25, 2019 at 4:13 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is the main reason why most students search for online assignment help Australia over the internet and choose only the most proficient and trusted academic writing experts. To all those students who are in a constant farrago of queries such as "can anyone write my assignment in Australia?” etc., we can prove worthy with multiple service benefits of ours.

 
At July 22, 2019 at 3:48 AM , Blogger amanda stephanie said...

Interesting blog. Thanks for making it available to us.
Business Law Assignment Help

 
At July 27, 2019 at 1:12 AM , Blogger Assignment Help said...

Thanks for sharing this information. Experience the Best Assignment Writing Services at
assignment help australia

 
At December 24, 2019 at 4:33 AM , Blogger KeiraDoltan said...

Great Blog with useful information.
Experience the Best Assignment Writing Services at
Business Finance Assignment Help

 
At December 26, 2019 at 5:07 AM , Blogger alekhya sweetie said...

showbox
showbox apk
showbox download
showbox for windows
showbox for android
the article that you created is very useful, hopefully thank you also visit my blog.

 
At January 15, 2020 at 11:08 PM , Blogger Online Assignment Help said...

Law students need to take these law case study seriously as these can help them to better prepare for their future as a lawyer. Once you write a Law case study help , you understand the law in both ways, how you can use that and how it can be used against you. Thus, if you ever need to write a law case study and you struggle with it, we suggest you get our law case study help or legal case study help to be able to write a perfect law case study assignment. We have a huge team of lawyers and professional academic writers who provide the best legal case study help at most affordable prices. They are available 24X7 to help students write better papers so they can score better marks.

 
At February 17, 2020 at 1:38 AM , Blogger William Shell said...

Hey, Your blog is very informative. It is nice to read such high-quality content. Attractive information on your blog, thank you for taking the time and share with us. The experts of our write my essay for me cheap uk provide solution regarding paper help online within the time that you provide us. Myassignmenthelp delivers high-quality content related to proposal essay topics and research paper help.

 
At May 24, 2020 at 9:05 PM , Blogger Teresa Halminton said...

I really like this topic, I learned a lot of new things. Thank you so much! By the way, I want to share to you guys about 192.168.1.1 - a great website about router login I've just discovered, it helps me a lot.

 
At October 28, 2020 at 2:02 AM , Blogger adriancalf123 said...

Survey Code on your receipt, you can help Moe’s Southwest Grill deliver a better eating experience on your next visit. To thank you for your feedback, you will be given a Moe’s Southwest Grill Coupon Code to redeem.Moe’s Southwest Grill Survey

 
At December 24, 2020 at 1:43 AM , Blogger alsha cafe said...

Hey Fellows!!! If you have visited the Bankers Box Center, then you have a moment to share your Bankers Box Location experience with Bankers Box Shop to let them know that how was your pleasure level after touring the store.

Bankers Box Shop

 
At May 6, 2021 at 11:49 PM , Blogger Sarah Winget said...

Guardians consistently expect the best training for their wards and subsequently the assistance guarantees that quality homework is conveyed by them. Our homework administration comprises of capable and experienced specialists who are experts of the subjects. The specialists are gifted individuals who have adequate information about the subject so they can compose the homework in a straight forward and clear language that is justifiable programming assignment help
assignment help

 
At June 1, 2021 at 5:18 AM , Blogger Henry Jones said...

These things are normal and people are following also with the pace that is not normal these days. With the advancement of this, one thing which I have noticed about the people is getting assignment help services along with the plagiarism checker tools that are free but people are still confusing themselves to know how to deal with the situation to get it more easily without even looking for the assignment help Canada services which is not same as the simple custom assignment help but most needed one like this information being shared in the blog.

 
At July 18, 2021 at 10:41 PM , Blogger Shivani thakur said...

Great Post, checkout this:- orange county tutoring

 
At October 7, 2021 at 3:49 AM , Blogger Toasty Toad stool said...

During the disinterment revolutionaries chopped off Henri's IV's head, which was stolencustomer survey

 
At November 14, 2021 at 9:53 PM , Blogger Heath Trivett said...

slick and elegant Custom Entertainment Centers Anaheim California

 
At June 2, 2022 at 3:15 AM , Blogger Anupanand said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At June 20, 2022 at 6:08 AM , Blogger motorcyclesspecs said...

Here in this article, I am going to share with you the 2022 Honda GROM ABS Motorcycle

 
At September 6, 2022 at 7:05 AM , Blogger Essien said...

Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you writing this article and the rest of the website is also very good. I enjoy reading through your article. - police cbt past questions and answers

 
At September 7, 2022 at 4:10 AM , Blogger Cristina Parker said...

The team at Acadecraft offers plenty of curriculum development services and the required consultation for the same. We cater to all subjects taught at schools, colleges, or even universities. It may be related to marketing, arts stream, engineering, mathematics, business, medicines, language, computer science, networking, or literature.
content development services online

 
At September 13, 2022 at 5:55 AM , Blogger Cristina Parker said...

Documents are very crucial for any legal or educational procedure. Proper documentation is the first step in starting any institutional procedure. Since the world today is fast moving towards digitization of all aspects, documents are also no exception. Documents are required to be handy with you in a digital form. While there are many document digitization services, Acadecraft guarantees safe and reliable document digitization.
typesetting and formatting services

 
At September 17, 2022 at 4:45 AM , Blogger Essien said...

This blog article is fantastic; this blog consists of remarkable and genuinely excellent stuff for readers. Thank you for sharing.- mcat past question pdf

 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home


back to top