TIL in 1981 the body of a man was discovered by a church in St bees, England. He was wrapped in a lead sheet so his nails and stomach contents were nearly perfectly preserved, his skin was pinkish and liquid blood was found in his chest. He was A.De Lucy, a knight who died in the crusades in 1333

Authored by stbees.org.uk and submitted by Ainsley-Sorsby

There followed a period of feverish activity during which emergency funds were raised from the Department of the Environment to engage the services of Dr Eddie Tapp. Dr Tapp was a paleopathologist from Preston who had done much work on Egyptian mummies.

The examination which took place over the next two days made some remarkable discoveries, all linked to the amazing degree of preservation of the body.

The Body had been wrapped in linen impregnated with some resinous substance and this, plus other factors, had resulted in adipocere, a natural process which occurs under certain conditions of cold and dampness; though rarely to this extent. This had preserved the body organs and tissues in such detail that it was possible to determine not only his cause of death, but also his state of general health prior to the injuries that killed him. Details of the findings are described in Dr Todd’s historical paper on this site.

The skin, where not stained by the wrapping cloth was still pinkish. The tissues when cut, were very similar to the appearance seen in similar examinations of the recently deceased, and in the chest cavity, liquid blood was found. The anatomical structures of organs such as the heart, liver and kidneys was completely preserved. Indeed, the entire body, apart from the brain was, anatomically though not microscopically at cellular level, as it would be found in a recently dead body, with no signs of any deterioration.

So what did our St Bees Man die of? Clearly he died a violent death, but whether it was in battle or in a tournament of some sort cannot be known. Also, given the trouble that had been taken to preserve the body, it is likely that he died away from St Bees and was transported back here for burial. The immediate cause of death was almost certainly a haemo-pneumothorax due to fractured ribs. Basically this means that one of his lungs had collapsed due to them being punctured by the broken ribs. This led to air and blood getting into the chest cavity and compressing the lung so that it couldn’t expand. He also had a fractured right jaw, fracture of the hyod (a small bone in the larynx or voice box). Incidental health problems were a severe dental abscess due to a botched tooth removal, and a very large hydrocoele.

Following the examination, he was reverently re-buried at the chancel aisle where he originally had lain.

Stubbly_Poonjab on September 12nd, 2020 at 18:32 UTC »

The immediate cause of death was almost certainly a haemo-pneumothorax due to fractured ribs. Basically this means that one of his lungs had collapsed due to them being punctured by the broken ribs. This led to air and blood getting into the chest cavity and compressing the lung so that it couldn’t expand. He also had a fractured right jaw, fracture of the hyod (a small bone in the larynx or voice box).

owwchies

Brad_Brace on September 12nd, 2020 at 18:29 UTC »

You fools! The lead sheet was there to protect us! The lead sheet was there to protect us...

GunplaGud on September 12nd, 2020 at 17:42 UTC »

I'll admit I didn't look super hard, but what about being wrapped in lead helper preserve the body so well? I can't find anything notable on the anti-bacterial nature of the material.