Mummified head is skull of Henri IV, say historians

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Thu December 16th, 2010, 12:32 am

[quote=""Michy""]Is Eleanor of Aquitaine's skull still intact? Or has it been destroyed at some point? If not, then I wish they could do this reconstruction with her. Although it would entail exhuming her skeleton, so I'm sure that's out. And it still wouldn't answer the burning question of what color her hair really was.

I would be fun to see to see Henry II, too, and also Richard the Lionheart.[/quote]

My psychic friend Alison sees Eleanor as being tall with 'burnished hair' with a definite gold or blond tint and sea-coloured eyes. She did have an ancestor known as William Towhead - circa 962, so who knows.

michellemoran · Post by **michellemoran** » Thu December 16th, 2010, 2:32 am

Oh wow! Sea-colored eyes... beautiful.

Another interesting recent example of forensic work reconstructing the likeness of a historical figure was Mount Vernon's development of three life-size figures of George Washington at different stages of his life, using his life (or death? not sure) mask, denture sets, clothes, etc. They are very realistic and anyone in the DC area should check it out.

I went to see that exhibit, Matt - it was great!!! They also had Martha as a young woman, although not in wax or life-sized...

annis · Post by **annis** » Thu December 16th, 2010, 6:14 am

Posted by Margaret

Gosh, doesn't Henri look anxious!

I guess not knowing where the next assassination attempt is coming from will do that to a person

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Thu December 16th, 2010, 4:13 pm

I had no idea men pierced their ears that long ago...

A gash above the lip, a beauty spot and a pierced ear were among key features that helped identify the well-preserved head as that of the "Gallant Green" king, stabbed to death by a Catholic fundamentalist in 1610.

Jean-Pierre Babelon, France's leading Henri IV scholar told The Daily Telegraph he and the other experts were "99 per cent sure" of their findings.

Full Story

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Thu December 16th, 2010, 4:44 pm

[quote=""michellemoran""]
I went to see that exhibit, Matt - it was great!!! They also had Martha as a young woman, although not in wax or life-sized...[/quote]
The coolest thing, I thought, was the large face of George Washington carved into the wall, that looked at you no matter from which angle you viewed it. I took pictures of it from both sides to prove it! I would love to know the "scientific" explanation for how that works.......

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Thu December 16th, 2010, 5:04 pm

I found two threads going so I merged the original posts under chat to news.

LoveHistory · Post by **LoveHistory** » Thu December 16th, 2010, 9:12 pm

[quote=""Michy""]The coolest thing, I thought, was the large face of George Washington carved into the wall, that looked at you no matter from which angle you viewed it. I took pictures of it from both sides to prove it! I would love to know the "scientific" explanation for how that works.......[/quote]

There are dolls that do that too so it must not be too complicated a technology.

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Fri December 17th, 2010, 3:19 pm

[quote=""Rowan""]I had no idea men pierced their ears that long ago...

[/quote] The practice of ear-piercing (for men and women) goes way, way, way back. Although I think it has gone in and out of popularity in different eras.

Jemidar · Post by **Jemidar** » Sun January 30th, 2011, 9:42 am

This is just so cool

.

It is great that through forensics we can identify historical figures and solve historical mysteries. I just hope that other monarchs and mysteries can be laid to rest in an equally satisfactory way in the future!

The most bizarre aspect of the story for me is not that the mob dug him up and beheaded him (this has happened right through history, there was even a decomposing Pope dug up and put back on his throne at one stage!) but that the head was passed around from collector to collector. Two things about that bother me; one, who on earth buys and collects human remains especially when they aren't identified? And two, why didn't someone give it a decent burial long before this?!

I really hope that the reburial is telecast internationally as this is something that I would really like to take part in. It would be like going to Henri IV's real funeral and taking part in history, which is something that under normal circumstances we could never have done.

I'm with you CW, I feel very emotional about this.

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Sun January 30th, 2011, 12:12 pm

William Shakespeare is often portrayed with an ear-ring, there's quite a famous picture which is often used.

I think they've given Henri a very feminine mouth, it doesn't sit well with the rest of his features!