The Good King Henry
After waging his religious war, he followed through with his promises to the Protestant French, persecuting Catholic French people across the nation. He was made a popular target for assassination attempts, allegedly dodging twelve attempts on his life! “Le Bon Roi Henri” was remembered for his concern for the welfare of his people, and for being a King who worked to protect the interests of the state, promote agriculture, eliminate corruption and encouraging education.
Due to his tolerance, he was an unpopular king among his contemporaries, though did gain more status after his death. For this reason, researchers chose to recreate his face using modern technology. The same team which worked on bringing Robespierre back to life, including forensic pathologist Philippe Charlier and facial reconstruction specialist Philippe Froesch, also worked on showing the modern world the face of the “Good King.”
The Lord of Sipán: Put Back Together
This life-like reconstruction of the Lord of Sipan forms part of an exhibit at the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum, Peru. Researchers believe the man was 35-45 years of age when he died, and was not just a common man. It makes sense with all the treasure he was buried with! But it wasn’t just the treasure – this man was wearing incredibly ornate jewelry, imbued with precious stones and set in rare metal.
He was also buried with two warriors. Bodyguards for the afterlife? The creepier part is the fact that their feet were amputated... please let’s hope they weren’t buried alive with their feet cut off so they couldn’t leave!! Gruesome stuff.
King Henry IV
At the age of 19, Henry IV became the King of Navarre, before being swiftly married just two months later! At the time, there was a religious war between the Catholics and the Protestants. Henry IV was the only French king to ever follow the Protestant faith! But the fighting was absurd – for the event of Henry IV’s wedding, thousands of Protestants came to Paris to enjoy the celebrations and spectacle, but this was to end catastrophically.
What is remembered as the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, took place on the very day of his wedding, with the same Protestants being killed by Catholic fanatics. Henry barely escaped with his life. After five years he escaped, and raised an army to fight in the “Wars of Religion.” In 1589, he marched right into Paris. His counterpart Henry III was assassinated, and he became the King of France.
Maximilien de Robespierre: The Accomplished
Despite a short reign as head of state of France during the late 1700s, Maximilien de Robespierre is one of the best known and most influential figures, due to his association with the French Revolution. An accomplished lawyer and politician, he was an outspoken advocate for the right to petition. He campaigned for the abolition of both celibacy AND slavery in the French colonies.
He helped establish the feared Committee for Public Safety after King Louis XVI and his cake-enthusiast wife Queen Marie Antoinette was executed by the famous guillotine! A brutal regime, Robespierre was behind who was, and who wasn’t executed – by the same method as the former King and Queen – yeah, the guillotine. It was also a time of great religious persecution – he tried to make the French national religion “The Cult of the Supreme Being.”
Just The Tip of The Robespierre?
Clearly, the myth behind the man was so great that it intrigued forensic pathologist Philippe Charlier, and led him to join forces with facial reconstruction specialist Philippe Froesch to re-create the face of the mad French statesman. The pair used his actual death mask to help to construct the image that we see today. Now Robespierre’s actual responsibility for what occurred in France during that pivotal time is a hotly debated topic among historians.
Some believe he was the “incarnation of Terror” whereas others see him as more of an ideologist, who brought democracy to France. Following the massive amount of executions held during the French Revolution, even Robespierre came under scrutiny. He found out what it was like to experience the guillotine. Here we see Philippe Froesch (French head of Visualforensic) presenting the reconstruction of the formidable Frenchman.