The Radziwiłł Mausoleum
in Nesvizh.
Research

Until 2016 at least two sarcophagi of possible eternal rest place of Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł Sierotka (1549-1616), the benefactor of the church and the crypts, were known, i.e. sarcophagi 1 and 72¹The numbering of the sarcophagi is hereinafter referred to in accordance with the Inventory carried out by the Department of Cultural Heritage (Lithuania) in 1999, see [Gintaras Kazlauskas, et al.], Kunigaikščių Radvilų mauzoliejaus inventorizacija: [the manuscript; preserved at the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture (Lithuania)], 1999, p. [18] [the scheme].. They were recorded in the inventory documents and this information was given to the visitors to the crypt. To discover the traveller “lost in” a large crypt presented the greatest challenge to research carried out in 2016.

Anthropological research could be based on the following two facts: firstly, Mikołaj Krzysztof died in his sixties; secondly, he suffered from a venereal disease (See more: Historical research report. 2016 (Martynas Jakulis); Nesvizh. Diseases: They Nonetheless are Human Beings) for many years. Having in mind the fact that at that time syphilis spread in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, it is not excluded that Mikołaj Krzysztof also suffered from this disease for 47 years. If neglected, syphilis can distort a human body beyond recognition (saddle nose – due to destruction of the nasal septum, the loss of the front teeth) and other disorders (during tertiary stage of disease small rashes and wounds turn into bleeding and weeping ulcers, damaged joints prevent people from walking, they might become deaf and go blind). Syphilis was easily recognised. Drastic measures were taken to treat this drastic disease. One of the measures was treating it with mercury. It is not in vain that the following saying emerged: “A night with Venus, a lifetime with Mercury.”²Venus is the Roman goddess of love. The term “venereal diseases” derived from it. Mercury is the god of trade, commerce, financial gain, messages and communication, famous for his rapidity and liveliness “like mercury”. In English, the word mercury means “mercury”. In the 15th-18th centuries, people who travelled a lot (merchants, soldiers) and city dwellers were most likely to contract syphilis. The first cases of syphilis in Lithuania and Poland were recorded in 1493 and within the first five years the disease reached its epidemic level³Rimantas Jankauskas, “Syphilis in Eastern Europe: Historical and Paleopathological Evidences”, L’origine de la syphilis en Europe: Avant ou après 1493? / The Origin of Syphilis in Europe: Before or after 1493?, eds. Olivier Dutour, et al., Toulon: Centre Archéologique du Var, Paris: Editions Errance, 1994, p. 237-239.. Unfortunately, we have no accurate data about venereal disease Mikołaj Krzysztof suffered from. If it was really syphilis, 47 years of illness had to leave at least the slightest changes in the body of the deceased.

What did the research reveal? The remains of men were found in both above-mentioned sarcophagi. Sarcophagus 72 contained the remains of an elderly man. The remains were badly decomposed (soft tissues covered the bones in some places only). It was determined that the man suffered from rheumatic arthritis, and due to his old age he died without any teeth. However, the assumption that the remains belonged to Mikołaj Krzysztof was rejected because articles of clothing and burial items (See more: Historical research report. 2016 (Martynas Jakulis); Nesvizh. Diseases) were attributed to later centuries, not to the period when he died, i.e. the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Sarcophagus 1 contained a mummy (See more: Findings research report. 2016 (Vytautė Lukšėnienė); Nesvizh. Clothing). Without radiological examinations it was impossible to determine the exact age of the buried. The traces of neck arthritis and great tooth wear show that a person died having reached maturity. No signs of a severe and long-term disease were detected. However, it cannot be ruled out that the disease simply did not leave any significant changes in the body of Mikołaj Krzysztof. The prince was under constant supervision and care of the medical staff, and systematic treatment could have slowed down the progression of the disease. Besides, we cannot rule out the fact that Mikołaj Krzysztof suffered from another sexually transmitted disease.

Mikołaj Krzysztof was not the only Radziwiłł who could have suffered from syphilis. Although the sources do not directly mention it, specific hints suggest that Mikołaj Krzysztof’s offspring Prince Hieronim Florian (1715-1760) was infected with gonorrhoea⁴Martynas Jakulis, Istoriniai duomenys apie XVIII a. palaidojimus Nesvyžiaus Dievo kūno bažnyčioje. Ataskaita: [the manuscript; preserved at the Faculty of History of Vilnius University], 2017, p. 9.. It was supposed that Barbara Radziwiłł (around 1522-1551, buried in the crypt of Vilnius Cathedral) also had this disease. However, the examination of medical records denied such suppositions and currently the hypothesis that she had cancer sounds most convincing. The sources indicate that the patient was in a fever, lost much weight, weeping ulcers appeared on her stomach, her irritability increased and she suffered anxiety attacks. All the more so, not a single measure used at that time to treat syphilis was applied to her (or at least was not mentioned in any sources). It is doubtful that doctors of that time could not have been able to diagnose syphilis⁵For more see Gintautas Česnys, et al., “Queen Barbora Radvilaitė: Review of Remains and Reconstruction of Documentary Portrait”, Acta medica Lituana, 2001, vol. 8, suppl. 8, p. 18-24; Raimonda Ragauskienė, et al., “Mitai ir klausimai apie karalienės Barboros Radvilaitės (apie 1522–1551) sveikatą. Istorinės žinios”, Lietuvos akušerija ir ginekologija, 2015, vol. 18, no. 4, p. 290-300..

Justina Kozakaitė