St Bees Man was the name given to the extremely well preserved body of a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

man discovered in the grounds of

St Bees Priory St Bees Priory is the parish church of St Bees, Cumbria, England. There is evidence for a pre-Norman religious site, and on this a Benedictine priory was founded by the first Norman Lord of Egremont William Meschin, and was dedicated by Archbi ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, in 1981. His identity was subsequently established with a high degree of probability as that of Anthony

de Lucy de Lucy or de Luci (alternate spellings: Lucey, Lucie, Luce, Luci) is the surname of an old Norman noble family originating from Lucé in Normandy, one of the great baronial Anglo-Norman families which became rooted in England after the Norman ...

, 3rd Baron Lucy, who died in 1368, probably killed on crusade at New

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

, in what is now Lithuania.

Discovery

The late 12th-century monastic chancel, showing the ruined east end of the chancel aisle on the left. St Bees priory effigies

St Bees Man was discovered during an archaeological dig by the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

on the site of

. The 1981 dig examined two areas of the ruined chancel aisle at the west end of the priory. The aisle was built in about 1300 in the Decorated style, and is thought to have fallen into ruin before the

Dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

of the priory in 1539 due to structural failure caused by poor foundations. The body was found buried in a wooden coffin, wrapped in

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

sheet. Despite the lead sheet being damaged at the foot end, the body was in a remarkable state of preservation. The body was wrapped in two shrouds, which are on display in the priory. Since the body's identity was unknown, he was dubbed "St Bees Man". The coffin and contents were examined forensically over the following week. The body was reported to exhibit pink skin and visible irises immediately after being exhumed. An autopsy performed on the body shortly after its discovery indicated that the cause of death was most likely a

haemothorax A hemothorax (derived from hemo- lood+ thorax hest plural ''hemothoraces'') is an accumulation of blood within the pleural cavity. The symptoms of a hemothorax may include chest pain and difficulty breathing, while the clinical signs may incl ...

caused by a direct blow to the torso. Although the body was about 600 years old, his nails, skin and stomach contents were found to be in near-perfect condition. The lead sheet in which the body was wrapped excluded moisture whilst the pine pitch coating of the shroud excluded air.

Identity

The identity of St Bees Man is now almost certain to have been that of Anthony de Lucy, who may have been born in 1332/1333 and was probably killed in 1368, fighting for the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

in the

Northern Crusades The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Christianity and colonialism, Christian colonization and Christianization campaigns undertaken by Catholic Church, Catholic Christian Military order (society), military orders and kingdoms, primarily ...

against the

Lithuanians Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Uni ...

. This was established in 2010 after an osteobiographical approach was taken in identifying the skeleton of the woman who was buried with him, which was still available for analysis using modern methods developed since the remains were found in 1981. It is now thought that after his death the vault was enlarged to take the body of his sister, Maud de Lucy, who died in 1398. It is possible that Anthony de Lucy was sent on crusade in Lithuania by

Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, KG (c. 14 February 131313 November 1369), sometimes styled as Lord Warwick, was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. His reputation as a military leader was so for ...

, who had been appointed to a supervisory role over the Wardens of the Marches in 1367, after de Lucy had caused trouble on the English-Scottish border (raiding Annandale, for example). Warwick had been on crusade to Lithuania previously and probably saw a way to re-direct the troublesome energies of de Lucy away from the

Scottish Marches Scottish Marches was the term used for the Anglo-Scottish border during the late medieval and early modern eras, characterised by violence and cross-border raids. The Scottish Marches era came to an end during the first decade of the 17th century ...

. (Warwick's three sons also travelled with de Lucy.) A letter written by John De Moulton of Frampton to his wife in 1367, confirms that; "Anthony de Lucy and I and all our company make our way towards the parts of Spruz

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

]..." along with Richard de Welby "my companion." It seems that John De Moulton also died at New

, along with a Sir Roger Felbrigg, a Norfolk knight. The Moultons had close family and tenurial ties with the Lucy family. Anthony was the last of the male line, and the de Lucy estates passed to Maud on his death. Maud also inherited considerable estates after the death of her first husband

Gilbert de Umfraville Gilbert de Umfraville (died 1245) was a 13th-century English baron. Gilbert was the eldest son of Richard de Umfraville, Lord of Redesdale. He succeeded his father as Lord of Redesdale and Baron Prudhoe from November 1226 at his seat of Prudhoe C ...

in 1380/81, and probably in a move to ally herself politically with the Percy family, Henry Percy purchased the licence fee on Gilbert's lands and, therefore, the hand of Maud in 1381. Maud's connection with St Bees is proven by an existing stone in the priory belfry which carries the quartered arms of the de Lucy and Percy families. Maud insisted on this quartering as part of the marriage agreement, probably so that the de Lucy arms should be perpetuated.Grant, 2014, p.196

Exhibition

There is an extensive history display in the priory in which the shrouds are exhibited. Effigies thought to be of both Maud and Anthony can also be seen.

References

Further sources

{{cite episode, title=The Knight of Saint Bees, series=Medieval dead, season=2, number=1, credits=Presenters : Tim Sutherland, Helen Goodchild, Ian McAndrew, Chris Robson , station=Yesterday Channel, air-date=2014, minutes=60

External links