Abstract

John Milton (1608-1674), England's epic poet and a champion of civil and religious liberties, has gone down in history as one of the world's greatest philosophers, scholars and authors. Although by age 44 he had become totally blind, he steadfastly continued to write and eventually composed his poetic masterpieces, "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Regained." In 1674, John Milton died of kidney failure at age 66. He was buried in the "chancel under the clerk's desk" in the parish church of St. Giles-without-Cripplegate (London). Exhumed 116 years after his burial, Milton's corpse received "obscene and scandalous treatment", as portions of his bones, hair and teeth were removed, examined and indiscriminately dispersed to others.

Authors

Christen AG, Christen JA

Institution

Indiana University School of Dentistry, USA. achriste@iupui.edu

Source

Journal of the history of dentistry 60:1 2012 pg 33-6

MeSH

Corpse Dismemberment
History, 17th Century
History, 18th Century
London
Poetry as Topic

Pub Type(s)

Biography
Historical Article
Journal Article
Portraits

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22662619