In fact, more than 40 years ago, we were astonished by the discovery of the almost perfectly preserved body of a medieval man encased in a leaded wooden coffin. Known as the St Bees Man, researchers believe they now have a pretty clear idea of who this prestigious individual was.
The mysterious find was recovered from a cache under a ruined church at St Bees Priory in Cumbria, northern England, in 1981. Next to the lead coffin, archaeologists found the skeleton of a woman whose soft tissues had been completely destroyed over the centuries.
Because of the age of the remains, archaeologists were hoping to open the coffin and find another skeleton. Surprisingly, it contained an incredibly well-preserved body, tightly wrapped in a shroud. The body was probably preserved in pristine conditions thanks to a lead-lined coffin, an ancient method of preserving the bodies of the dead.
Researchers concluded that the man was probably buried between 1290 and 1500 AD. He was about 40 years old (plus or minus five) when he died in a terrible way. At the time of his death, he had suffered multiple cuts, a broken jaw, and a punctured lung, likely from an act of war or violence. The main cause of death was hemopneumothorax, a condition in which both air and blood are present in the chest cavity. Most likely, this condition was caused by some serious trauma.
The man’s identity was initially a mystery to scientists. His expensive burial meant that he had a high social status, but no written records could confirm who he was or why he was so revered.
One leading theory is that he was a knight named Anthony de Lucie, who died in present-day Lithuania in 1368 during the Northern Crusades. Beginning in the 12th century, Christian rulers of Western Europe launched a wave of military campaigns against the pagan Baltic, Finnish, and West Slavic peoples in an attempt to convert the regions to Christianity.
“There is some evidence that a British party was used to attack a fort built at Kaunas and ‘three men were killed from within the walls.’ Anthony de Lucie’s injuries, his broken jaw and punctured lung, are consistent with this. The three killed were Anthony, John de Moulton and Roger Felbrigg, the most likely date being 16 September 1368,” writes Chris Robson on the St Bees Village History blog.
The identity of the companion woman is less clear. Anthony de Lucie’s wife later remarried and died in London in her seventies, so it is unlikely that it was him. The most likely suspect is his sister Maud de Lucie, who inherited most of his fortune after his death and was clearly closely related to her missing brother. Source
Source: Port Altele
