Open AccessProcedures and Frequencies of Embalming and Heart Extractions in Modern Period in Brittany. Contribution to the Evolution of Ritual Funerary in Europe
Author(s) -
Rozenn Colleter,
Fabrice Dédouit,
Sylvie Duchesne,
Fatima-Zohra Mokrane,
Véronique Gendrot,
Pascale Gérard,
H. Dabernat,
Éric Crubézy,
Norbert Telmon
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0167988
Subject(s) - embalming , coffin , secularization , the renaissance , ancient history , period (music) , spouse , history , phenomenon , classics , sociology , religious studies , anthropology , art , archaeology , art history , philosophy , aesthetics , epistemology
The evolution of funeral practices from the Middle Ages through the Modern era in Europe is generally seen as a process of secularization. The study, through imaging and autopsy, of two mummies, five lead urns containing hearts, and more than six hundred skeletons of nobles and clergymen from a Renaissance convent in Brittany has led us to reject this view. In addition to exceptional embalming, we observed instances in which hearts alone had been extracted, a phenomenon that had never before been described, and brains alone as well, and instances in which each spouse's heart had been placed on the other's coffin. In some identified cases we were able to establish links between the religious attitudes of given individuals and either ancient Medieval practices or more modern ones generated by the Council of Trent. All of these practices, which were a function of social status, were rooted in religion. They offer no evidence of secularization whatsoever.