Spanish and Italian forensic researchers have demonstrated that blood on a handkerchief stored in a decorated gourd is that of executed French King Louis XVI (1754-1793). They accomplished this by comparing DNA from the bloody handkerchief to DNA from the severed head of an earlier French king and ancestor, Henry IV (1553-1610).
Louis XVI (pictured left below) was king of France from from 1791 to 1792, before his deposition and execution at the age of 38 (along with his wife Marie Antoinette) during the French Revolution. One tradition during this period was that those who attended the executions of the French elite dipped their handkerchiefs in the blood as a souvenir. One such hankie was stored in commemorative gourd depicting the portraits of French Revolution leaders Georges Danton, Jean Paul Marat and Camille Desmoulins.
On one side of the gourd, which was owned by an Italian family for more than 100 years, there is a text box, the English translation of which reads: “Maximilien Bourdaloue on January 21st dipped his handkerchief in the blood of the king after his beheading”. The blood on the handkerchief was but, without a known blood relative for comparison, researchers could not prove that the sample really derived from king Louis XVI.
In 2010, a mummified head was identified as belonging to king Henry IV of France (pictured left below).
After he was assassinated in 1610, Henry's remains were embalmed and buried at the Saint Denis Basilica. In 1793 however, the Basilica was desecrated and ransacked by revolutionaries who stole the head, which was passed among private collectors until it was found in the attic of a retired tax collector in January 2010.
A DNA sample from Henry's mummified head (pictured right below) was with the bloody handkerchief presumably bearing a blood sample from Louis XVI. The DNA analysis confirmed that the two individuals were related through the paternal line and shared a "rare genetic signature." These findings provide additional evidence to the authenticity of both the mummified head and bloody handkerchief.
