It is time for me to talk about heart burial, specifically the story of a real and very yucky-looking human heart, which has been floating about in formaldehyde for over 200 years.
Yuck. yuck. Yuck.
It is a relic of a dead prince deeply (and controversially!) entwined with the story of independence in Brazil, which is why it was recently in 2022 transported from Portugal to Brazil via airforce jet, in a pressurised container in a passenger seat, welcomed with a ceremonial reception, driven by Rolls Royce to a ceremony in the presidential palace and taken to meet the president of Brazil!
Not bad for a 200-year-old heart.
The whole article is actually pretty fascinating, and can be read here.
Also interesting is the practice of heart burial in the first place, and the reason this prince’s heart was kept as a relic in a church in Portugal, while the rest of him lay in the ground in Brazil!
‘Though unusual today, heart burial was once an accepted practice. In the Middle Ages, the hearts of saints were worshiped separately from their bodies, and the hearts of dead Crusaders were occasionally the only part sent back home, since they were easier to transport than the whole body.’ — Atlas Obscura full article here.
The above is taken from one of my older newsletters, so sign up to my newsletter below, if you like this sort of very weird thing! (I also talk about books and writing too!)PJ Nwosu
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PJ Nwosu writes dark mystery novels set in epic fantasy worlds.
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