The Digital Ark: Early Modern Collections of Curiosities in England and Scotland, 1580-1700
Frenchman's Finger [ARK00069]
Attached People: Collector (major) - Bargrave, John (1610-1680)Location(s): Current location at - Canterbury Cathedral Library and Archives (Library and/or Archive) -> Canterbury Cathedral (Institution)
Annotation:[Canterbury Catalog: Mummified human finger from the Franciscan monastery of Toulouse in France. The local geology and soil conditions preserved the bodies of the men and women buried there. Bargrave wrote that he was shown the corpses of various people which "you may take it (the corpse) and place it standing upright against a wall". Bargrave also documented the rigor-mortis of one soldier in particular who succumbed to a stab wound to the chest and was buried with his hand resting over the injury: "I pulled the hand away several times, and the nerves and tendons were so strong that the hand returned with a lusty clap upon the wound".] (approx early - mid 17th cent)