Invasive Preservation Practices and Bioarchaeological Study in Two Blessed Nuns from Fourteenth-Century Central Italy

Abstract

This study examines two rare cases of artificial mummification of Augustinian cloistered nuns, Blessed Illuminata (†1320) and Blessed Chiarella (†1345), who were venerated in Montefalco, Umbria (central Italy). Despite their differing roles, one as a lay sister and the other as an abbess, their bodies have long been venerated and exhibited together in the Church of Saint Agostino. Following their canonical recognition in 2021, a bioarcheological assessment of the mummified remains of the two Blessed was sanctioned. The examination revealed previously undocumented invasive preservation methods, including organ removal via cranial and dorsal incisions and fractures, insertion of fabrics and plants, and rough wound suturing. These procedures reflect a rudimentary form of mummification involving unrefined techniques. This process was likely conducted by individuals without formal medical training from the cloistered monastic community. The practice of body manipulation was officially banned by Pope Boniface VIII in 1299. Despite this prohibition, the mummification of these two nuns occurred in secrecy, representing a rare and unauthorized continuation of body treatment in an ecclesiastical context. The motivation for mummification may have been to ensure body incorruptibility for devotional purposes, even at the risk of contravening the papal law. The mummification of the two Blessed challenges conventional assumptions about medieval attitudes toward the body and sanctity, illustrating how religious communities redefined the corpse as material culture embodying holiness, collective memory, and local identity.