The head of Henri IV was found well preserved in a house of a retired man
La tête d'Henri IV a été authentifiée
"Des scientifiques ont authentifié la tête du roi Henri IV, retrouvée après plusieurs siècles de pérégrinations rocambolesques chez un retraité en 2008, une découverte stupéfiante qui pourrait permettre de mettre au jour d'autres reliques royales oubliées. La tête d'Henri IV est "en très bon état de conservation" et comporte des cheveux et des restes de barbe, souligne une étude du British Medical Journal (BMJ), publiée mercredi, qui détaille cette étonnante découverte."
http://www.lemonde.fr/cul...ntifiee_1453513_3246.htmlMultidisciplinary medical identification of a French king’s head (Henri IV)
Since the desecration of the French kings’ graves in the basilica of Saint-Denis by the revolutionaries in 1793, few remains of these mummified bodies have been preserved and identified. After a multidisciplinary analysis, we confirmed that an embalmed head reputed to be that of the French king Henri IV and conserved in successive private collections did indeed belong to that monarch.
Death of “the green gallant”
Henri IV was probably the most popular French king. He was known as “the good King Henry” or, because of his attractiveness to women, “the green gallant.” Despite being admired by his people, he was assassinated in Paris at the age of 57 years on 14 May 1610 by François Ravaillac, a fanatical Catholic.
Identifying the remains of the French king
The human head had a light brown colour, open mouth, and partially closed eyes (fig 1⇓). The preservation was excellent, with all soft tissues and internal organs well conserved. Two features often seen in portraits of the monarch (fig 2⇓) were present: a dark mushroom-like lesion, 11 mm in length, just above the right nostril (fig 3A⇓),1 and a 4.5 mm central hole in the right ear lobe with a patina that was indicative of long term use of an earring (fig 3B). We know that Henri IV wore an earring in his right earlobe, as did others from the Valois court.2 A 5 mm healed bone lesion was present on the upper left maxilla (fig 3C), which corresponds to the trauma (stab wound) inflicted by Jean Châtel during a murder attempt on 27 December 1594.2 Many head hairs and remnants of a moustache and …
http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c6805The picture of the momified head of Henry IV
http://www.laprovence.com...henri-iv-retrouve-sa-tete