French king Henry IV reclaims his head

FRENCH king Henry IV has been confirmed as the owner of a 400-year-old severed head.

FRENCH king Henry IV has been confirmed as the owner of a 400-year-old severed head.

The discovery opens the way for his other desecrated relatives to return to the royal crypt, forensic scientists revealed yesterday.

Know as le bon roi Henri (good king Henry), he became one of France's most adored monarchs for promoting religious tolerance.

He died on May 14, 1610, at the age of 57, after a Catholic fanatic slashed him twice in the throat during a procession.

A second ignominy came in the French Revolution. In 1793, a mob of revolutionaries ransacked the royal chapel at Saint-Denis, north of Paris, hauled the ancient kings from their tombs, mutilated their remains and tossed them into a pit. For the next couple of centuries, a severed head, presumed to be that of Henry IV, led a peripatetic existence, bought and sold at auctions or kept in secretive private collections.

The findings were published yesterday in the British Medical Journal.

Radiocarbon dating yielded a date of between 1450 and 1650, which fitted neatly with the king's lifespan, from 1553 to 1610.

The red-and-white head hairs, remnants of a moustache and beard, and missing teeth corresponded with historical accounts.

AFP