The mandible of Saint-Louis (1270 AD): Retrospective diagnosis and circumstances of death.

Introduction: Recent paleopathological cases have shown the usefulness of interdisciplinary odontological studies in the investigation of historical figures.

Observation: A macroscopic examination of the mandible of Saint-Louis (13th c. AD), conserved in the cathedral of Notre-Dame (Paris, France) was carried out, and compared with biographical data about the life and death of the King, and contemporaneous cases of infectious/inflammatory diseases. We found post-mortem tooth loss associated with moderate signs of infectious and inflammatory diseases, which precise diagnoses are discussed facing historical chronicles and sources: main diagnosis is scurvy, potentially associated with bacterial infection.

Discussion: Our results support the identification of the relics, and improve the knowledge about the saint's circumstances of death related to metabolic deficiencies and infections.