Uncovering Secrets: What the Exhumations of Iconic Figures Have Exposed – Escaping the Mundane!
Exhumations is a term that doesn’t sound very pleasant, and it refers to the disturbing act of removing a dead body from its resting place in the ground. Let’s put aside modern day detective tales, the permits needed, autopsies, and other formalities. Here at Which Way Out of Boredom, our main focus is on historical studies involving figures from the past who have long since passed away. We dig into their remains and investigate what we can learn from these discoveries. Using various methods, we can uncover details that our ancestors were unable to figure out themselves. For instance, we might find out what kinds of injuries King and Emperor Charles IV sustained, how the notable St. John of Nepomuk actually met his end, or whether the giant Josef Drásal from Haná was really 242 centimeters tall. Interestingly, though he was recognized as the tenth tallest European of his day and the fourteenth tallest man in history, he was never officially measured during his lifetime.
Eliška Rejčka (+1335) and Henry of Lipá (+1329)
You might come across the Czech queen Eliška Rejčka here and there on Kudy z boredom. She was a widow of two kings and spent her final years in Brno with Henry of Lipá. She established the Old Brno Monastery, where, according to tradition, they were both laid to rest in the main part of the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary located in Mendel Square. It is said that her tomb is marked with an “E” beneath a distinctive white and grey floor. But is this true?
In 2023, marking the seventh anniversary of the monastery’s establishment, experts began a new investigation. Though Eliška’s grave has been opened in the past, with the most recent excavation happening 120 years ago during a floor restoration, the details from that time aren’t very useful according to today’s scientific measurements. The archival records state: “By the light of a lantern with a burning candle, the lid of the coffin was opened, revealing a beautifully shaped skull surrounded by a wreath of silk flowers strung on silver wire; among the flowers were very fine white pearl lilies,” according to the old documents. However, neither the coffin nor the burial items were original, as the Cistercians had previously opened Eliška’s grave and moved her bones from a decaying wooden coffin into a copper sarcophagus.
Experts identified the precise location of the Queen’s resting place using GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) technology, which led to an unexpected finding: the stonemason miscalculated; the symbolic tile was laid two rows off from where it should have been. As a result, Eliška’s grave is slightly out of alignment. And it’s also complicated with the remains of Henry of Lipá, who once ruled over the entire Bohemian kingdom during the time of the Luxembourg dynasty. Archaeologists opened his grave in 1966 while installing steam heating under the basilica’s floor. They moved Henry’s remains into a box, but it turned out that this box held the skeletal remains of Henry along with those of two or three other individuals. Furthermore, while exploring the area beneath the church floor, researchers discovered another empty burial chamber that was never completed, and it’s still unclear to whom it was meant to belong.
Charles IV (+1378)
The circumstances around the death of King and Emperor Charles IV are well-known, yet there’s been a lot of speculation about him being poisoned around the year 1350. However, this was not the case: extensive anthropological studies on his skeletal remains started in 1977 by Professor Emanuel Vlček and facial surgeon Associate Professor Jiří Ramba revealed that the thirty-five-year-old king faced a grave injury during a tournament in Italy. A blow to the jaw broke Charles’ chin and injured both joints of his lower jaw, while his heavy helmet pressed down on and bruised the back of his neck and cervical spine. Most individuals from that time wouldn’t have survived such trauma, but Charles was fortunate to have well-trained Italian doctors at his side. Although he ultimately survived, his recovery took a long time, which he used to focus on strengthening his Carolingian identity.
The effects of his serious injuries marked him for life and are visible in his skeletal remains. Surprisingly, he didn’t lose any teeth during this episode, but from 1351 onward, he kept a beard to conceal the scars on his face and was unable to straighten his posture properly ever again. Interestingly, the remains of Charles’s nephew, Margrave Josht of Moravia from the Luxembourg dynasty, provided interesting insights. Scientists found a new bacterium from his femur, later named Rhodococcus jostii after him.
Jan Žižka (+1424)
While we know a good deal about Jan Žižka, many aspects of his life still remain a mystery. This strategic warlord passed away in 1424 during the siege of Přibyslav, and there’s a memorial, known as Žižka’s cairn, marking the spot of his death. Even back then, there was talk about the possibility of him being poisoned, and in 1911, Professor Josef Thomayer suggested that Žižka might have succumbed to a condition called carbunculus, which is known to cause painful symptoms and fever. This leads to the question: Was Žižka poisoned after all? Recent experts have examined some of his remains, particularly focusing on the skull, which would show traces of arsenic if he had been poisoned. They indeed detected it in the bones, but not specifically in the skull. Thus, we still don’t have a clear answer to whether the Hussite leader was poisoned at Přibyslav.
According to accounts, Žižka was buried in Hradec Králové due to the influence of the priest Ambrož from the Church of the Holy Spirit. Eventually, his remains were moved to Čáslav, where in 1910, an archaeological dig at the Church of St. Peter and Paul uncovered a skull. This skull, called Čáslavská kalva (kalva meaning cranial vault), is displayed in Žižka Hall and has undergone research repeatedly for over a century. Experts identified it as belonging to a man who sustained a cut above his left eye in his youth. He died between the ages of 60 and 65, and around that time had healed from a more severe injury over his right eye, which might have caused partial or complete blindness. However, whether this skull actually belonged to the Hussite commander cannot be fully established.
Ladislav Pohrobek (+1457)
The mysterious death of the Czech king Ladislav Pohrobek (1440-1457) sparked much speculation right when he passed away. At just seventeen years old, he suddenly began showing signs of head and stomach pain as well as swollen lymph nodes in his groin. He died three days later, which led many to believe that the land administrator and his successor, Jiří of Poděbrady, might have had a hand in his untimely death.
It wasn’t until an exhumation led by Professor Emanuel Vlček in 1984 that a thorough examination of the young king’s skeletal remains was performed. More than 500 years later, it was discovered that his death was not due to the plague or a poisoned apple, but rather a rare, acute form of leukemia. This rare illness led not only to his death but also to large, painful bruises similar to those seen in plague cases.
Tycho Brahe (+1601)
Tycho Brahe’s passing in Prague on October 24, 1601, gave rise to many myths. The most notorious story claims that during some elaborate dinner party, he held his urine so long that it caused his bladder to burst, as he believed it would be rude to get up from the table.
However, modern investigations in 2010 revealed the truth after experts examined the tomb of the renowned astronomer and his wife Christina in Týn Cathedral. It appears that the actual cause of death was acute kidney inflammation, which aligns with accounts and symptoms noted at the time. His identification was made easier due to the discovery of a prosthetic nose, which he wore for much of his adult life after losing the tip of his nose in a youthful duel.
Jan Franz Löw of Erlsfeld (+1725)
The eminent Baroque physician and nobleman Jan František Löw of Erlsfeld (1648-1725) was undoubtedly one of the most significant figures in Czech Baroque science, having served as a four-time rector at Charles University, personal doctor to Prince Jan Adolf I. of Schwarzenberg, and was even the author of the first Czech forensic medicine textbook titled Theatrum medico-judicorum. He completed his studies in Prague and Rome, where he earned a doctorate in law, and took on roles such as spa doctor in Karlovy Vary and played a key role in the exhumation of St. John of Nepomuk’s remains in 1719. After his death, Jan František Löw of Erlsfeld was buried alongside his wife and son in the Church of Our Lady of Victory in Prague, where the famous statue of the Little Jesus of Prague was already installed by the time he passed away.
Years later, more than 250 years after his burial, the name of this Baroque physician came back into the spotlight in scientific laboratories. Anthropologists from the National Museum, together with the Criminalistics Institute of the Police of the Czech Republic and experts from the Central Military Hospital, made a groundbreaking discovery: they successfully identified his remains. This identification was achieved through a reassessment of skeletal material at the museum, which had been collected back in 1971. At that time, Professor Emanuel Vlček attempted to determine the remains but lacked the proper methods available today.
The recent study employed a combination of osteological analysis and advanced forensic techniques, allowing for a comparison between the skull and contemporary portraits. The findings confirmed not just the anatomical connections but also health issues that Löw had recorded in his diaries. Furthermore, researchers discovered funeral medallions, or cellules, among the remains, which indicate he was of noble birth and not a religious figure.
Thus, the identification of Löw of Erlsfeld marked a significant completion of Professor Vlček’s efforts after more than fifty years, providing a fresh understanding of the life and contributions of one of the most prominent Czech medical figures of the 18th century. That this achievement happened in 2025, coinciding with the 300th anniversary of his death and the 100th anniversary of Emanuel Vlček’s birth, creates a meaningful conclusion to this entire narrative.
Franz von Trenck (+1749)
Recent digital and sculpting techniques have managed to bring back the likeness of one of the most notorious inmates of Brno’s Špilberk, Baron František Trenck. In his case, no exhumation was needed since the baron has been resting in a glass-lidded coffin in the Capuchin crypt in Brno for several hundred years. The investigation, employing CT scans alongside the latest forensic anthropology and medicine methods, provided numerous new insights. Trenck had unusually long, strong fingers, a dented chest, heel spurs, a cleft sacrum, and bullet fragments embedded in the tissue beneath his skin. The researchers also determined his remarkable height; while the average male height in the 18th century was around 169 centimeters, Trenck towered nearly 20 centimeters taller, which even exceeds the average height for men today. The information gathered from this research resulted in the creation of not only Trenck’s facial reconstruction but also a full digital model depicting his entire body. This digital representation was developed in 2019 and even features animation.
Bedřich Smetana (+1884)
Composer Bedřich Smetana’s life was marked by numerous health issues, including painful rheumatic toothaches, weak immune responses, allergies, non-healing wounds, frequent tonsillitis, skin rashes, agonizing trigeminal nerve pain, balance issues, and ultimately loss of hearing. For many years leading up to the end of the 20th century, the prevalent belief was that syphilis caused these issues. However, following the exhumation of his body at Vyšehrad Cemetery, conducted by Professor Vlček and Associate Professor Ramba, new findings showed that the right side of his skull was smaller and had a deformed eye socket, cheekbone, and jaw. This growth abnormality was not due to syphilis, but was linked to a long-term infectious inflammation. Dr. Ramba discovered through his examination of old journals and records that, at the age of eleven, Smetana had an accident while playing with explosives in Jindřichův Hradec, which caused it to explode. Shards from the bottle injured his face, causing Smetana to temporarily lose his hearing. His friends quickly helped him clean the blood with water from a nearby pond, which unfortunately mixed with dirt and manure, leading to a severe infection. This infection stunted his facial growth and caused chronic issues that plagued Smetana for his entire life.
Exhumations and Diseases of the Famous
To learn more about exhumations and research surrounding the remains of notable figures, check out works by doctor and author Ivan Lesny, including his writings on Czech historical personalities, Reports on Illnesses of Important Figures, Second Report on Illnesses of Important Figures, and the second report focusing on celebrity ailments, as well as Jíří Ramba’s books, Famous Czech Skulls and Secrets of Charles IV.
