Everything that the skeletal remains of the Counts of Urgell explain
Two of the men had consumption, and the remains of the youngest were slaughtered.
BarcelonaThe results of the first phase of the study of the skeletal remains of the Counts of Urgell exceed all expectations. A week ago, technicians opened the two bear cages in the church of the monastery of Santa Maria de Bellpuig de les Avellanes., located in Os de Balaguer (Noguera), with the aim of carrying out an anthropological study to deepen the knowledge about Ermengol X, his parents, Álvaro I and Cecilia de Foix, and his brother Álvaro II.
Although the history of these bear dwellings is quite tortuous, the remains have a high degree of preservation and the biological profile is compatible with what is known from documents about the counts. At the moment, it has been possible to corroborate that among the skeletal remains are those of four adults: three males and one female. There would be two men and a woman between 30 and 40 years old, and another man who would be between 55 and 65 years old. The latter would surely be Ermengol X, who died at the age of 63. The men were quite tall: over 1.80 meters.
Ermengol X's skeleton shows bone alterations at the ends of the long bones, with porosity and thickening of the outer layer. These are two peculiarities that are normally associated with chronic lung pathologies. In fact, documentary sources indicate that both Ermengol X and his father may have suffered from consumption.
The youngest, emaciated
The skeleton of one of the young men had numerous incisive marks in various places, consistent with excision and disarticulation performed shortly after death. This skeleton would be that of Alvaro II, who died in the War of the Sicilian Vespers, the conflict for dominion over the Kingdom of Sicily and naval control of the Mediterranean that took place between 1282 and 1303. In the Middle Ages, it was not easy to transport a whole body from abroad. It was quite unhygienic, and the wealthier and aristocratic classes chose to separate the tissue from the bones.
Fragments of wood and sheets of zinc have also been found in the ossuaries. The explanation could be found in everything that happened in the 20th century. In 1906, the entire Bellpuig monastery was put up for sale and was acquired by the Lleida banker Agustí Santesmases for 27,000 pesetas. Santesmases sold his tombs to the Rockefeller Foundation, which donated them to The Cloisters Museum in New York. The skeletal remains did not interest all these businesses and ended up in a hole in the Bellpuig sacristy. They were later collected and placed in a zinc-lined wooden box in the church of Vilanova de la Sal. In 1967, a commission from the Os de Balaguer City Council and representatives of the Catalan nobility took the casket and, under a notary seal, reburied it in the church of Santa María de Bellpuig de les Avellanes.
Bone remains of other individuals have also been found in the bear pits. With the confiscation of church property by the liberal minister Mendizábal in 1835, the ecclesiastical community abandoned the monastery, and the historical and religious assets were put up for sale. From that moment on, there were various alterations, transfers, and manipulations that could have affected the disposition and original state of the bodies.
With all these results, the technicians have decided to continue the investigation. They will perform a detailed analysis of the incised and paleopathological lesions; radiocarbon dating of the four skeletons; a genetic study to determine the degree of kinship between the individuals; a radiological study to identify specific pathologies; and genetic analysis to detect the presence of tuberculosis bacteria.