Murder of Saint Belina

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Saint Belina was a young woman who was murdered and made into a saint. In 1203 she was canonized by Pope Innocent III and was venerated in Troyes. Some of her relics were lost during the French Revolution, but some of her bone particles and her head are stored in a bust at the Mores Abbey in Launderville. Her feast day is February 19th. She is known both as Belina of Troyes, and Belina of Launderville due to the location of her murder. 

 There is little known about her life, but she was born to religious serfs of John Paterne, the Lord of Pradines and D'Arcy in Landerville, France. It was unknown when she was born. She was known as a gentle soul caring for others. In 1153 she was engaged to another young man of similar rank in the village. 

Her parents would ask Lord Paterne for his blessing. He would reject the proposal. He was also interested in having a beautiful girl. It was said that Belina rejected him and was disgusted with that idea. She wanted to marry the man she loved. She was not interested in the Lord or his position of power. 

Sometime after Belina would be tending to her father's sheep. This was when Lord Paterne would show up surprising her. He would try to force himself on her, but she would fight back and defend herself. During the struggle, Lord Paterne would bring out his sword and beheaded her. He would leave her body in the field.

It's not stated how the people knew it was known that it was him, but there was a revolt. The peasants were so outraged that they rose up against him. They would burn down his castle. He would escape with his life as he had disguised himself.

He however did not escape unfazed. Pope Anastasius IV excommunicated him and took away his titles. The king confiscated his land, and the French parliament condemned him to permanent exile.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Catholic Readings

Catholic Online

The Meenybradden Woman

 

On May 3, 1978 turf cutters in Meenybradden Bod near Ardara, Ireland would find the body of a woman. It was found that the remains were of historical means. Her body would be kept in Dublin's city morgue and stayed in a freezer where the body was damaged. In July 1985 the body would be shipped to the British Museum and examined further.

It's believed that the woman was around 25 to 30 years old and died 1050-1410 CE. It is unknown how she died, but she didn't die violently. She was buried about a meter deep into the bog. It was strange that she was wrapped in a cloak dated by textile typology to the 16 to 17th centuries. However, the cloak was not carbon-dated and it's possible that it was from around the time she died. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Mummipedia

Agnaiyaaq or Little Girl

 

In 1994 Coastal Erosion exposed the body of a little girl at Ukkuqsi in the old whaling village of Utqiagvik in Alaska. The little girl was between 5 to 8 years old and lived and died between 800 and 1200. She was a member of the Thule people. Her name was lost, but she is known now as Agnaiyaaq or Little Girl. 

The little girl was loved in life. She was chronically sick in her short life. It was found that she had lung damage due to emphysema, and a rare congenital disorder, alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency. Though she was chronically sick her body and burial showed signs that she was well-loved. 

She had evidence in her lungs that she spent much of her life by fire and being cared for and chewing on leather trying to soften them. A little girl helping her family. She however only had clay, leather, and fur in her stomach. It's not believed that she was intentionally starved, but that she and her clan were starving at the time of her death.

With a mixture of her illness and starvation, the girl would pass away. She would be laid to rest carefully. She was buried with a small toboggan made of whale bone likely used to help move her and wrapped in her fur parka. She was then buried in a cold cellar. 

After her scientific look at her body, she was then laid to rest by the Inuit people in Barrow, Alaska. 

SOURCES:

Jstor

Mummipedia

Seattle Times October 1995

Lemon Grove Girls

 

photo

In 1966 a couple of teenage boys were obsessed with archeology. They heard of how in Mexico people were buried or mummified in caves. The boys would spend over a month exploring the caves of Chihuahua, Mexico for a discovery. They were successful in doing so as they discovered a pregnant mother and her child. In order to not be caught they would smuggle the remains over the border to Lemon Grove, California. The boys could not show off their discovery or turn the bodies over to a museum because what they had done was illegal. 

When the two were drafted they asked a friend if they could store the box in their garage. More than likely it was unknown to the friend what was inside the box. In 1980 the friend's mother opened the box while cleaning the garage. She was horrified at the sight and called the police. Where everything was discovered.

The remains were discovered to have lived and died between AD 1040 and AD 1260. The bodies were then donated to the San Diego Museum of Man and the Mexican Government decided to grant the U.S.  custody of them.

The mother was estimated to be around 15-years-old and was around 7 months pregnant and close to giving birth. The infant girl was around 1. It's not stated if the two were related. It's not believed that they were purposly buried. The teenage girl laid with her arms over her head.

One refrence states that a CT scanof the young woman revealed a dislocated shoulder, ossified hematoma on the back of the head, indicating blunt force trauma, and a dislocated hip. These injuries are similar to a fall, and she had died soon after.

Another refrences don't mention their deaths, but that it was suspected from their positions that they may have died in their sleep. 

SOURCES:

Atlas Obscura

Ancient Orgins

The Lemon Grove Mummies

Mumipedia

Murder of 12th/13th century Archer

Archeologists were investigating the historic Kirk Ness, which was the site of a church and cemetery in North Berwick, Scotland. The dig was organized by the Scottish Seabird Centre and latterly supported by Historic Scotland. It revealed structural remains including stone tools, lead objects, ceramic material, and butchered bones of seals and sea birds. This suggests that it was once a settlement.

One discovery was that the skeletal remains of a young man from the 12th or 13th centuries were found. He was over 20-years-old with a slightly better build than average. He had worn to his shoulder that suggests that he might have been an archer.

His death was brutal and seemed to have been professional. He had been fatally stabbed four times in the back, twice in the left shoulder, and twice in the ribs. The injuries suggested that the weapon used was a dagger-like weapon with symmetrical lozenge-shaped sections with sharp edges and at least 2.75 inches long. This suggests that the weapon may have been a dagger that was a specialist military weapon carried mainly by military men. With the weapon and the accuracy of the stab wounds pots towards a degree of professionalism and arguably a degree of calculation.

SOURCES:
Archeology Magazine

BBC February 21, 2014

The Herald February 21, 2014

The Mirror February 21, 2014

The Courier and Advertiser February 22, 2014