The Radziwiłł Mausoleum
in Nesvizh.
Research

How fast we are going to grow and how tall we are going to become depends on a lot of factors and circumstances. Genes, growth hormones, the psychological and social environment, nutrition are factors “responsible” for our height, and cumbersome diseases can slow down our growth. The height of each individual is determined by the peculiarities of biology and life, and reflects them to a certain extent. We can even speak about the link between historical periods and an individual’s height. Premature deaths and infectious diseases were widespread in Europe before the 14th century; so it goes without saying that this had an impact on the height of a body – people were short. In the 14th century Europe was struck by one of the most devastating epidemics in human history – the Black Death (also known as the Great Plaque), which claimed the lives of around 60 per cent of Europe’s population. There was, however, a positive side to it too: resistance to the Black Death itself strengthened and there was an increase in food supply, which contributed to greater survival rates. As a result that Europeans were getting taller. However, soon everything seemed to have reverted back to how it used to be and in the 17th and 18th centuries the height of people reached its lowest level, i.e. they were shorter than before. Probably it was caused by the urban growth and diseases. It is believed that this trend developed among the nobility too. In the 17th and 18th centuries the average height of men was 167 cm, and women were even smaller and shorter – 158 cm¹Richard H. Steckel, “New Light on the “Dark Ages”: The Remarkably Tall Stature of Northern European Men during the Medieval Era”, Social Science History, 2004, vol. 28, no. 2, p. 211-229.. The interesting thing is that the height of the rural population was close to that of the representatives of the elite. This is related to the fact that being members of an agrarian community they had access to more stable food supplies and their diet was more diverse. Meanwhile, the city dwellers experienced food supply disruptions, shortages of food, which led to their lower average height²Werner Rösener, Valstiečiai Europos istorijoje, Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 2000, p. 155-163..

In 2016-2017, eleven remains were investigated in the Radziwiłł family crypt in the Corpus Christi Church in Nesvizh³Information and generalisations in the present text are presented on the basis of research material on 11 burials (sarcophagi) in the crypt of the Corpus Christi Church in Nesvizh conducted in 2016 and 2017. Sarcophagi No 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 14, 15, 17, 19, and 72 were studied. The 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].. Two of them were female remains, and they were believed to be those of Elżbieta Eufemia Radziwiłł and Urszula Franciszka Radziwiłł, who died in 1596 and 1753, respectively. They both were around 155 cm in height, hence, close to the height of the Europeans of that time. There were more variations in height among the men. The tallest man was found in sarcophagus 72 – his height was 178 cm. This burial dates back to the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. Hence, this Radziwiłł belonged to another epoch and his height could reflect the lifestyle and environment of that time. The height of the “Egyptian mummy” found in sarcophagus 2 was also similar; the length of its body was 173 cm. The height of four Radziwiłł men was about 170 cm, and the height of other three men, including Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł Rybeńko (1702-1762) and his brother Hieronim Florian (1715-1760) were only a little taller than 160 cm. The shortest man was found in sarcophagus 1 – his height was 153 cm.

The difficulty arose in determining the height of the adolescent found in sarcophagus 5. His shin-bone and foot bones were not discovered. True, somebody “compensated” for this deficiency by putting the femurs of another adolescent into the sarcophagus. The question why it was decided to replace one person’s bones with the bones of another person and who did that and when it was done, as well as who those femurs belonged to, remains unanswered up to the present day.

Justina Kozakaitė