A fetus in the bishop’s tomb

bishop

The bishop’s mummy in his coffin. (Image: Gunnar Menander)

In 1679 the Swedish bishop Peder Winstrup was buried in the cathedral of the city of Lund – his body was well preserved as a mummy. But when archaeologists recently examined this mummy more closely, they came across a surprising burial object: a dead fetus was lying at the bishop’s feet. Who this child was and how it was related to the bishop has now been investigated by a team of researchers through DNA analysis and a look at the cleric’s family history.

The Protestant Bishop Peder Winstrup, born in Copenhagen in 1605, is a prominent figure in Swedish history, both ecclesiastically and academically. Because the man, who was born as the son of the Bishop of Zealand, initially embarked on a career in both science and theology, during which he also attended universities in Wittenberg and Jena. In 1632 he returned to Copenhagen, where he initially became a professor of physics. In 1638 he moved with his wife Anne Maria Ernstdatter Baden to Lund, which was then still in Denmark, to take up a position as Bishop Scania, Halland and Blekinge.

After the Danish-Swedish war, several eastern Danish areas, including Lund, were surrendered to Sweden. Winstrup was allowed to keep his position and now became the Swedish Bishop of Lund. In the following period he made a significant contribution to founding the University of Lund and became its second chancellor in 1671. When he died on December 28, 1679 at the ripe old age of 74, he was embalmed and buried in the family vault in Lund Cathedral. Because the bishop and other dead were to be reburied in a cemetery outside the church, the grave was opened in 2012 and examined more closely.

Surprising find in the bishop’s tomb

Archaeologists came across something unexpected: “One of the more spectacular finds was the discovery of the remains of a five to six-month-old fetus lying between the bishop’s lower legs,” report Maja Krzewinska from the Stockholm Paleogene Center and her colleagues. “This discovery sparked discussions about how this child could be related to the bishop.” In the late Middle Ages it was quite common to bury dead children in adult coffins. In this case, however, the wrapped fetus seemed to have been pushed under the silk pad rather hastily and without much reverence.

In order to find out more about the fetus and its connection to Bishop Winstrup, Krzewinska and her team have now subjected both dead people to a comparative DNA analysis. “Archaeogenetics can help uncover relationships between deceased people – in this case between the bishop and the fetus,” explains Krzewinska. To do this, she and her colleagues took a sample from the thigh bone of the bishop and the fetus, isolated the genetic material from it and then compared both the mitochondrial DNA inherited through the maternal line and the sequence of the Y chromosome and large parts of the rest of the genetic material.

Related through the paternal line

The analyzes showed that the fetus was male and shared a quarter of its genes with the bishop – that suggests a relationship. But because the mitochondrial DNA of the two did not match, the bishop and child could not be related through the maternal line. But when looking for a possible relationship through the paternal line, which can be determined based on matches on the Y chromosome, the team found what they were looking for. “The genetic data indicate a relationship that corresponds to that of half-siblings, from grandfather to grandson or from uncle to nephew,” the scientists report. Second cousins ​​are also possible.

But which of these relationships was true? In order to clarify this, Krzewinska took a closer look at the family situation of the bishop. “The fact that Peder Winstrup’s only brother died young, unmarried and without offspring, rules out relationships such as uncles, nephews, half-siblings and cousins,” the team said. Although the bishop had four sisters with numerous children, a relationship through female relatives is ruled out because of the incompatible mitochondrial DNA.
(Video: Lund University)

A stillborn grandson of the bishop

The question remained whether the fetus could have been the bishop’s grandson. In fact, Winstrup had a son who was born in 1647. Escaping family tradition, this son, who was also baptized Peder, decided against a theological career and studied the technology of military fortifications in Holland. He married in 1679, but whether he had children is unknown today. It is also not known when he died. It is known, however, that Winstrup’s son was not very successful professionally and was dependent on the alms given by his brother-in-law Johan Gyllenpalm.

When Winstrup junior died, he was also buried in the family vault in Lund Cathedral. Because he had no living offspring, the male Winstrup line ends with him. The dead fetus could, however, have been a stillborn child of the bishop’s son that was subsequently placed in his grave. “It is quite possible that the dead baby was the son of Peder Pedersen Winstrup and therefore a grandson of the bishop,” says Krzewinska. The fetus in the bishop’s tomb would then have been the last male offspring of this family.

Source: University of Lund, Article: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, doi: 10.1016 / j.jasrep.2021.102939

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