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Extraordinary and Invasive Artificial Mummification On Two Blesseds of the Medieval Catholic Church (Central Italy, 14th Century)
15 Pages Posted: 25 Jul 2024
More...Abstract
In the church of Saint Augustine (13th century) in Montefalco (Umbria, Central Italy) the bodies of two blesseds of the Catholic Church, Illuminata (1291-1320) and Chiarella († 1345), are preserved and displayed together. Both were Augustinian nuns and disciples of Saint Clare from Montefalco (1268-1308); Illuminata was a lay-sister while Chiarella was an abbess. The recognition of the bodies revealed evidence of artificial mummification. Both skulls showed posterior craniotomies and the spine and the sacrum were interested by a sagittal cut. Fabrics and vegetables like filling were present inside the skulls and the thorax of Chiarella. Additionally, stitches used to reassemble the body were observable on the skin of Chiarella’s back. Similar procedures were described only for Saint Clare from Montefalco. Her biographer wrote that Clare’s artificial mummification was performed by her sister nuns on the same day of her death. Given that Illuminata was a contemporary of Clare, it is very likely that one or more of the "elderly" sisters could have performed these procedures on her body and later on Chiarella’s. The treatment resembles butchery practices and appears to have been carried out by relatively inexperienced individuals within the same monastic environment, where the nuns were used to follow all the stages of animal food processing. These afterlife practises, which are not documented in the historical sources relating to the blesseds, are extraordinary due to their invasive nature and localization involving breaking bones. They suggest a desire to preserve the bodies of the blesseds prevailed over the risk of excommunication. The body treatment was in fact performed despite the Pope’s prohibition and it was carried out in secrecy and remained undiscovered for centuries, until their recognition in 2021.
Funding: Carifol Foundation.
Declaration of Interest: We declare no competing interests.
Keywords: Italian Church Mummies, Bioarcheological Investigations, Craniotomy, Posterior Cut, Evisceration
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
