Bodies of Evidence
Case studies
St Clare of Montefalco
How did St Clare cheat decomposition?
St Clare of Montefalco was one of a cluster of Italian saints who lived
in Tuscany and Umbria between the late-13th and mid-15th centuries, and
whose bodies were 'incorruptible' – they did not decompose after
death.
Born in 1268, Clare joined a religious order as a young woman and led
an extremely austere life. When she died in 1308, a cross was found imprinted
above her heart and her body did not decompose. Incorruptibility was believed
to be a sign of sainthood and, nearly 600 years later, in 1881, Clare
was canonised by the Pope.
Pathologist Ezio Fulcheri has discovered that many of these saints were
actually mummified by their followers using substances and techniques
that might have been brought by early Christians to Rome. Some of these
substances, such as frankincense, were used for mummification by the ancient
Egyptians and so, Fulcheri believes, the tradition passed from Egypt to
Palestine and from Palestine to Europe.
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