Mysterious 'horseman' from lead coffin unearthed in Notre Dame Cathedral finally identified

A Mysterious "horseman" found inside a lead-lined coffin beneath the ruin of the Notre Dame Cathedral has finally been identified as the French Renaissance poet Joachim du Bellay, according to forensic experts.

The preserved remains, discovered beneath Notre Dame's nave in 2022, were stored inside a sealed sarcophagus near those of the high priest Antoine de la Porte during excavations that followed the fire at the cathedral in 2019.

An analysis by the Toulouse University Hospital's forensic institute revealed that the skeleton of the man inside showed signs of bone tuberculosis, chronic meningitis and a proclivity for riding horses — earning the man his nickname.

Now, these details have led Dr. Éric Crubézy, a professor of biological anthropology at the University of Toulouse IIIand research director at the France's National Centre for Scientific Research, to hypothesize the man's identity. The findings were announced Sept. 17 in a translated statement by France's National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP).

"He matches all the criteria of the portrait," Crubézy said at a Sept. 17 news conference, per La Croix. "He is an accomplished horseman, suffers from both conditions mentioned in some of his poems, like in 'La Complainte du désespéré,' where he describes 'this storm that blurs [his] mind,' and his family belonged to the royal court and the pope's close entourage."

"He rode from Paris to Rome, which is no mean feat when you have tuberculosis like he did. In fact, he almost died from it," Crubézy added.

Related: Notre Dame is held together by a first-of-its-kind 'iron skeleton,' catastrophic fire revealed