Rennes, Brittany, France. Remains buried in two mass graves in the same cemetery have been identified as medieval soldiers belonging to opposing armies.
Due to extensive battle trauma from various medieval weapons, the skeletons are believed to be soldiers who fought in the Siege of Rennes in 1491. They were found buried in a cemetery outside the Jacobin Convent, and researchers have identified the story behind the discovery by combining historical information, archaeological techniques and genetic analysis.
In this study, scientists have demonstrated that the combined use of different techniques allows startling micro-identification of the individuals, where only one method would not have revealed the key facts. The soldiers who fought at Rennes were Bretons and French. Some were from a broad range of regions according to their DNA (probably mercenaries). One individual grew up far from his birthplace and probably travelled or lived in Brittany when the war began, and all the soldiers sustained injuries to the upper body, most notably the head. Most were probably on the ground when killed, and there is evidence of mutilation - a common practice after medieval battles were over.
After the Siege of Rennes, the wedding took place between the Duchess of Brittany and the King of France, signalling the end of independence in the region. However, it was not until 1547 that the kingdom of France and the dukedom of Brittany were united under one ruler.
Ostia Antica, Lazio, Italy. The close rival of Pompeii without the annoyance of commercialism.
Located in the greater Rome metropolitan area and only thirty minutes from the city centre, Ostia Antica was Rome's ancient port. Today it is a place of great beauty and historical significance, it being one of the best-preserved Roman cities in Italy.
Ostia was once home to over 60,000 people. Its name derives from the ancient city’s position at the mouth of the Tiber River. Ostia in Latin – ostium – means river mouth in English.
The city was one of the first Roman colonies to be built on the banks of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Situated next to salt flats, it supplied large quantities of salt to the Roman Republic, a precious commodity in ancient Roman times used to preserve meat.
Around 400 BC, Ostia became a naval base, and by 150 BC, Rome controlled most of the Mediterranean. At its peak, the city was vital to the empire. Most of Rome’s imports, meat and grain came through Ostia and was transported into the city by horse and cart.
Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, Var, France. The strange remains of ‘Mary Magdelene’ in a local church.
Is this the skull of Mary Magdalene? In the year 1279, excavations of the crypt beneath a small church in St Maximin in France uncovered 1st-century tombs along with a surprising find: a sarcophagus made of marble. Charles II, the Count of Provence who led the excavation, claimed he was spurred on to dig by a dream in which Saint Mary Magdalene appeared to him.
When the sarcophagus was opened, a papyrus note accompanied the skeletal remains found inside. The text read:
The year of the birth of the Lord 710, the sixth day of December, at night and very secretly, under the reign of the very pious Eudes, king of the Franks, during the time of the ravages of the treacherous nation of the Saracens, the body of the dear and venerable St Mary Magdalene was, for fear of the said treacherous nation, moved from her alabaster tomb to the marble tomb, after having removed the body of Sidonius, because it was more hidden.
There was also a wooden tablet covered in wax in the tomb, inscribed with the words ‘Hic requiescit corpus beatae Mariae Magdalenae’, and dating between the 1st and 4th centuries.
A Provence tradition holds that Mary Magdalene, Lazarus, Martha (and a child fathered by Jesus (if you believe the Da Vinci Code) fled to the south of France to avoid persecution in a small boat without sails or oars. Miraculously, they landed on the shores of Gaul at a place now called Saintes Maries de la Mer.
Mary, it is said, eventually retreated to a secluded mountain cave, where she lived in penance until she died. Now known as the grotto, or La Baume of Mary Magdalene, Christians have been making pilgrimages to the site since the 5th century.