St Apollonias Tooth

St Apollonia’s tooth - IN BRIEF • Presents a virtually unknown relic and

explains its importance to Christian and GENERAL ethnomedical tradition. a relic in the cathedral • Uses a paleodontological approach in an attempt to scientiﬁ cally evaluate this treasury in Rab (Croatia) relic phenomenon.

A. Skrobonja,1 V. Rotschild2 and T. Culina3

Aim To anatomically identify and describe the changes on the tooth of St Apollonia which is kept as a relic in Rab (Croa- tia). Sources and methods Reviewing relevant literature, macroscopic examination of the tooth in the reliquary, photographing and further examining the enlarged photos. Results The tooth in question is the fi rst upper right premolar. Observed pathological change is type II enamel lesion, ie cervical or gingival caries. Other discovered characteristics are enamel fracture on the distoaproximal surface, shallow fracture on the occlusal third of the crown and two enamel forma- tions, a cluster of smooth and shiny enamel surfaces. Conclusion Attention is drawn to a relic that was previously virtually unknown. It is presented how important this relic is for Christian and ethnomedical tradition. Additionally, anatomical determination and the description of pathoanatomical changes are used to affi rm the anthropological approach as one of the prerequisites in the attempt to scientifi cally evaluate the relic phenomenon.

INTRODUCTION and in 1543 the highest church authorities Kvarner region, in Rijeka’s Cathedral there Christians have been keeping and vener- stipulated that every relic should also have is the head and bones of St Viktor, a fi nger ating relics of their saints since the time a special seal (autentica).1,2 of St Vitus and about ten bones of mar- of the Roman Catacombs (used c.200-900 tyrs,6 and in the Sanctuary of the Mother AD). Afterwards, this tradition was taken RELICS OF RIJEKA ARCHDIOCESE of God at Trsat a reliquary with the powers from Rome and spread throughout the IN WESTERN CROATIA of 36 saints is kept, among other things.7 entire Christian world. In the expansion of It came about that most of the relics of In Bakar the powers of St Ursula are Christianity, graves of the saints became Christian saints were gathered and pre- revered, and in the cathedral in Senj there especially appreciated and they also served in Rome and other Italian cities. rests the body of St Formoza with several became the object of pilgrimage. However, However, even though less known, one of smaller reliquaries...8 since for a variety of reasons, especially for the most abundant parts when it comes Searching thereon in the sacred collec- Barbarian attacks, the graves outside city to the number of preserved relics and to tion of the Cathedral of Mary’s Assumption walls were commonly diffi cult to visit, the the tradition of relic venerating is western in the town of Rab on the island of the earthly remains of the saints started to be Croatia, or, to be more exact, Istria and the same name, we have found, in addition exhumed and then taken all over Mediaeval Kvarner region, ie Rijeka Archdiocese. to the old church’s inventory, several Europe, as a whole or in pieces. Thus Encouraged by this knowledge, the other interesting votive items shaped as brought to the cities, the relics were stored authors pursued relevant bibliographic human organs (hands, legs, stomach…) in churches which were typically renamed sources and did fi eldwork within a sci- and we identifi ed three relics. Apart from for the purpose, or erected honouring the entific project entitled ‘Medical ele- the most distinguishing piece, Skull of St martyrs whose relics they were proud of. ments in the religious tradition in Rijeka Christopher (the town’s patron), there is an In these transactions fraud often occurred, Archdiocese’ and determined that the unidentifi ed femur (it could belong to St incredible number of 270 relics of various Christopher as well) and a reliquary of the saints and several completely preserved Venetian provenance from the sixteenth/ 1*Rijeka University School of Medicine, Department of non-decomposed bodies of saints and the seventeenth century with highly unusual the History of Medicine, Rijeka, Croatia; 2Private dental practice, Rijeka, Croatia; 3Teaching Institute for Public blessed are included in the collection of relic, ie the tooth of St Apollonia, which Health in Rijeka, Croatia the parish church of St Blaise in Vodnjan.3,4 hasn’t yet been described nor mentioned in *Correspondence to: Prof. Ante Skrobonja, Rijeka Uni- versity School of Medicine, Bace Branchetta 20, 51000 In Buzet there are thirty-something bones the literature. According to a local priest, Rijeka, Croatia of anonymous saints preserved as well as we do not know when or how the relic Email: [email protected] nine named saints. In Rovinj, Bale and came to Rab, and we weren’t able to fi nd Refereed Paper Pula three saints are preserved. Various the answer in one of the major papers Accepted 25 August 2009 DOI: 10.1038/sj.bdj.2009.1012 saint relics are still kept in: Porec, Pican, dealing with the history of the town of ©British Dental Journal 2009; 207: 499–502 Labin, Umag, St Lovrec and Pazin.5 In the Rab and the local church.

Fig. 1 St Apollonia in a picture from an unknown author from the seventeenth century. The church of St Peter and Paul in Fig. 2 Reliquary with a tooth of St Apollonia. Treasures of the Cathedral of Assumption of Krsete (Istria) (Photo by Ante Skrobonja) Virgin Mary in Rab. (Photo by Ante Skrobonja)

Since unobtrusive and yet visible auten- were pulled out with pincers. According to half of the upper jaw. This is indicated by tica guarantees that the relic is authentic, another legend, all her teeth were broken the characteristic fi rst upper premolar – and since by careful examination of the by fi st blows and sharp stones, whereas inverted symbol of angle and arch, palatal literature and the electronic media we were yet another account refers to decapita- cusp is lower than buccal cusp, and the able to fi nd only some 15 relics ascribed tion in punishment for having distributed chewing surface is kidney-shaped. The root to St Apollonia, we determined that this all her family wealth to the poor. Later is single-canalled with more pronounced relic deserves not only to be registered but accounts refer to an infuriated brother who grooves both medially and distally. also to be processed from the paleodon- punished his sister for breaking a forced On the distal surface of the tooth, in the tological point of view, all the more so betrothal agreement. zone of enamel-cementum junction, below because no previously registered case had The word of her resolution and cour- the tooth equator, clinically, we observe such description. age in sticking to her faith in the face type II enamel lesion, cervical or gingi- Before presenting the tooth itself, let us of torture swiftly spread throughout the val caries, ie smooth approximal surface remind ourselves of the basic hagiographic Christian lands. caries. The caries in question has been data on St Apollonia. They will tell us why In Mediaeval Europe, Apollonia was fi rst arrested. The lesion occurred in a physi- she arose of teeth and toothache patron- worshipped in Flanders and England, then ologically unclean spot which was cleaned age, and why she later became the patron in Spain, Portugal, Italy and other coun- due to the loss of a neighbouring tooth or saint of dentists organised in guilds. tries. She was canonised by Pope John XXI for some other reason. Demineralisation (1215-1277).9-11 was stopped, and there are pigment depos- A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY Unlike the legends on early Christian its in the damaged spot. OF ST APOLLONIA saints such as St Lucy, St Blaise, and St Since St Apollonia was tortured in her The earliest reliable record of the saint- George, taking root among Croats as early youth, the tooth colour and shape can to-be is that of the bishop and historian as the tenth century, St Apollonia came to be corroborated by historical data of Eusebius of Caesarea (267-340 AD). This these parts from Germany and Bohemia a Dionysius, the Archbishop of Alexandria, letter describes savage persecutions of little later, quite likely in the fi fteenth cen- who described the persecution of Christians during the rule of Emperor Philip tury. Her oldest representations from that Christianity and the sufferings of ‘the the Arab from 244 to 249 AD when most period are found in Istria from where they beautiful girl of Apollonia’. But, in the Christians fl ed Alexandria, save for a few, spread to Dalmatia and the rest of Croatia. circumstances, a full scientifi c dating of including the local deaconess Apollonia Most representations of the saint date back the relic is not possible. Specifi cally, the who preached and converted many to to the seventeenth century (Fig. 1).12-13 enamel on the occlusal edges is bluish- Christianity. According to one legend white. The tooth colour is not considerably which draws from this story, the Romans THE TOOTH OF ST APOLLONIA different in medial and cervical third due fi rst threatened to burn the girl alive, AS A RELIC to yellow dentine. The cusps are well pro- unless she bowed to heathen idols. As she Morphologically, the tooth in ques- nounced, uneroded, the cementum of the refused, she was tormented, her face and tion is the fi rst upper premolar (Fig. 2). tooth root is yellow. These characteristics jaw received heavy blows, and her teeth Topographically, it belongs to the right are typical for younger people.

Enamel fracture on the distoapproximal and this relic is kept in the cathedral in hand in toothache, and, subsequently, the surface indicates traumatic damage. Along Porto, Portugal.16 patron of dentistry. with the enamel infraction, on the occlusal The relics of St Apollonia which couldn’t third of the crown there is a shallow frac- be anatomically defi ned are further men- CONCLUSION ture with pigment deposits. tioned in one of the largest relic collec- The remains of St Apollonia undisputedly On the distal surface of the tooth root tions, in the renowned cathedral in El deserve our maximum attention since they there are two enamel pearls, a cluster Escorial, Spain.17 are relics of the ‘fi rst-class’, and their value of smooth and shiny enamel surfaces. The relics of saints have further been increases because of their rarity. Incidence of enamel pearls has not been distributed (sold?), which is confi rmed Two goals have been attained with this entirely clarifi ed. According to available by examples from the USA where there presentation. A virtually unknown relic data these pearls are quite rare. are recent references in the chapel of St has been presented to the wider public, Mary’s College, in St Mary’s, Kansas,18 especially to religious people; and its DISCUSSION and the church of St Joan of Arc, importance for the Christian and ethno- Aiming to assess the importance of the Powell (Ohio).19 medical tradition has been pointed out. previously described relic from the cathe- While it is probable that a lot more rel- With the help of a paleodontological dral in Rab in the context of other famous ics were preserved in the past, with time approach ie anatomical determination and relics ascribed to St Apollonia, the authors they got lost, as is the case with the rel- description of pathoanatomical changes, examined available data from the elec- ics from the church in Auchy-les-Mines the anthropological approach has been tronic media, relevant bibliographic ref- in France. After the plague, from 1188 affi rmed as one of the prerequisites in erences and personal information obtained to the Revolution, 1798, there had been the attempt to scientifi cally evaluate this from the competent persons of the church pilgrimages organised for the relics of St relic phenomenon. and revealed that there are 15 relics in Apollonia as an acknowledgement of sal- The authors would like to give special thanks to Europe and the USA, and there are also vation, and thereupon every trace of the Mr Mladen Mrakovcic, the priest from Rab, for several references to questionable relics of relics is lost.20 his guidance and direct help with researching and photographing the relic as well as with publishing St Apollonia being revered. What is most certainly the most spectac- the pictures in this paper. In one of the oldest attempts to clas- ular relic-venerating ritual kept to this day Big thanks goes to Dr Ado Dorosev, Mrs Catherine Vanden Broecke and Mr Jean-Luc Dubart sify the relics of Christian saints, in 1897, is the procession, which has traditionally from Tournai for information on how St Apollonia William S. Walsh mentioned eight cities been held since the ninth century every is honoured in their parts. This work is part of research within the project and ten churches that hold the relics of St other Sunday in September, in the old by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Apollonia. Consequently, in Rome, in the Belgian city of Tournai. On this occasion, Republic of Croatia entitled ‘Medicinal elements in the religious tradition in Rijeka Archdiocese’. former church of St Apollonia, a major part ‘bras-reliquaire’ (hand-reliquaries) with the of her relics was preserved, but evidently, powers of St Apollonia and several other 1. Grgic M. Relics. In Badurina A (ed). Lexicon of iconography, liturgics and symbolism in western they were distributed to other parts in the saints are taken out from the church of St Christianity. (In Croatian). Zagreb: Sveucilisna nak- Brice by reconnoiters.21,22 lada Liber, Krscanska sadasnjost, Institut za povijest meantime. They were probably sent to umjetnosti, 1990., str. 507–508. nearby churches such as Basilica di Santa In a written announcement by a 2. Sanders T. Relics. (In Croatian). In Glazier M, Helwig renowned expert of local church his- M K (eds). The modern Catholic encyclopedia. Split: Maria in Trastevere, where the head of this Laus, 1998: 833. saint is kept, to Basilica di San Lorenzo tory, Jean-Luc Dubart, a century-old tra- 3. Skrobonja A, Ivinic M. A contribution to anthro- dition of venerating of St Apollonia is pological study of the relics of St Sebastian and fuori le mura, where her arms are kept, and St Barbara in the church of St Blaise in Vodnjan to the church of St Basil, where parts of confi rmed, both in the city of Tournai, (Croatia). (In Croatian). Medicus 2006; 15: 345–349. her jaw are kept. According to Walsh, the and in the region. According to his fi nd- 4. Jelinic M. Gallery of great. (In Croatian). Vodnjan: other places are: Antwerp (Jesuit church), ings, in the adjacent Flemish region Zupni ured, 2004. 5. Nezic D. Istrian saints and blessed. (In Croatian). In Brussels (St Augustine’s church), Mechlin of Flobecq it is believed that in several Badurina A (ed). Lexicon of iconography, liturgics (Jesuit church), Porto (treasury of the cathe- churches and chapels there are relics of and symbolism in western Christianity. Zagreb: Sveucilisna naklada Liber, Krscanska sadasnjost, dral), several churches in Cologne and an St Apollonia, which are honoured around Institut za povijest umjetnosti, 1990: 264–267. unnamed church in St Cross at Liege. In 9 February, ie on the day of the saint. On 6. Balabanic Facini M, Nepokoj D (eds). Glow Jesuit heritage in Rijeka. (In Croatian). Katalogue izlobe. some cases these relics include only a tooth this occasion special thick pancakes are Rijeka: Pomorski i povijesni muzej Hrvatskog or a splinter of a bone.14 made in the town of Elst. They are called primorja, 1993. 7. Hosko E. Reliquary of Barbara Frankopanska. Unfortunately, when we tried to corrob- ‘Geutelingen’, and it is believed that the (In Croatian). In: Na vrhu trsatskih stuba. Rijeka: orate these statements, we failed to estab- person chewing these pancakes will be Tiskara Rijeka, 1991, 53–56. 23 8. Razovic M. ur. Guide of the Church in Croatia. lish a direct contact with these churches spared toothache. (In Croatian). Zagreb: I.t.d. d.o.o., 1996, str.15. and on some of their web pages there was There is no need to further elaborate on 9. Dubart J L. Les saints guérisseurs. pp 78-79. Ath: AB editions, 2002. no affi rmative data, except in the case of the matter since these illustrations are clear 10. Hoffman – Axtehelm. Lexicon der Zehnmedicin. Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere.15 evidence as to how St Apollonia continues pp 54-54. Berlin: Quinssenz, 1974. 11. Skrobonja A. Patron Saints of Health. (In Croatian). By researching the Internet further, to be a part of the Christian and ethnom- Zagreb: Krscanska sadasnjost, 2004: 37–38. we found a picture of a golden relic edical tradition. This saint, by association 12. Kordic S. St Apollonia in Dalmatian Iconography. (In Croatian). Saopcenja 1971; 14: 35–41. decorated with precious stones depict- with the torture she was exposed to, was 13. Dugacki V, Dorn V. Saint Apollonia Among Croats, ing a lower molar held in golden pliers, chosen to be the patron of teeth, a helping Iconography and Folk Lore. (In Croatian). In Vulikic

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