The 1790 desecration of John Milton's bones, hair and teeth in a London church
Christen, A.G.; Christen, J.A.; Milton, J.
Journal of the History of Dentistry 60(1): 33-36
2012
ISSN/ISBN: 1089-6287 PMID: 22662619 Document Number: 656425
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.