But who would you go to to ask permission to dig up a site? And if you only
have a Masters Degree but are not with a University...how likely are they to
let you do such a thing?
I ask because (and I have about as much hope of doing this as winning the
lottery) several popes have been exhumed (i.e. Boniface VIII, d. 1303,
exhumed 1606, Clement II, d. 10-something and exhumed in 1942 in Bamburg
Germany, to name a few) and the Catholic Church is not against exhumation,
and several other popes have been exhumed to find their cause of death (my
memory is a wee rusty at this time of night, so I can't remeber exactly
who), so...and this is on a much grander scale...who would one ask for the
Holy Crowbar to see just what killed Alexander VI (p. 1492-1503)?
I have a vast library with many papal and Borgia books, and they're about
cut right down the middle as far as his death from poison or malaria (VERY
INTRIGUING story about his death, and very suspicious). My dearest wish
(after marrying a cute, rich, single man who loves popes...and winning the
lottery) is to find out how Alexander VI died.
But I wouldn't know who to go to or what credentials I would need. I don't
suspect they at Sta. Maria de Monserrato in Rome (where A6 is buried) would
just say, "Sure, go for it," if I asked them to get a sampling of his
remains. Also, as he was wrapped in an old blanket and pummeled into his
too-small coffin, I suspect that the blanket itself could hold some clues
(wouldn't you love THAT as a tapestry in your living room!!).
I know this question is probably pretty crazy, but if anyone knows what the
proper procedure for exhuming popes would be...I'd love to hear it.
And yes, I am being serious.
Thanks,
Wendy Reardon
> >
. If you are an archeologist and are
> interested in historical furnishing of a particular church, the best thing
> to do is get permission to dig up the premises (gardens, cloisters, ground
> under or near Church, graveyard, etc.), rather than the garbage heaps,
> which were definitely excluded from the possible burial sites for such
> objects.
>
|