On Tue, 10 Dec 1996, Thomas Izbicki wrote:
> In this line, is the story of the heart of Robert the Bruce being taken
> to the Holy Land documented?
>
> tom izbicki
>
Whether or not it ever was actually taken there, it ultimately came to
rest in a Scottish Abbey (I have forgotten precisely which for the moment)
where it was supposedly the only heart ever interred. When the site was
excavated earlier this century a conical metal heart coffin was found and
"reverently re-interred" in a new wooden casket inscribed with a suitably
noncomittal inscription. It was recently reported in the British Press
that the relic had been once again disinterred; a photograph of the metal
container accompanied the article. I may still have the relevant issue of
whatever paper reported the rediscovery, but will have to wait to find out
until after I return to Toronto from the holidays.
In any case the identification rests upon the supposition that nobody
else's heart was ever buried in this particular abbey, which strikes me as
something that might be extremely hard to document. But apparently no
other heart containers were uncovered during excavation.
John Parsons
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