[MR] Archaeology News: Deformed Warrior Monk Skull

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Archaeology News is currently reporting on the discovery of a skeleton with
an extremely deformed skull at the medieval castle of Zorita de los Canes
in Spain.

The man suffered from Crouzon syndrome, a genetic mutation that caused his
skull to be elongated and seriously deformed. Most children born with the
condition do not survive to adulthood. Somehow this man did, and died in
his forties from cranial wounds consistent with battle damage. Many knights
from the Order of Calatrava are buried in the same cemetery, and it is
likely he found refuge within the order.

The castle was once a stronghold held by the order, a society of warrior
monks arising from among the Cistercians with similarities to the better
known Knights Templar. The order was active in Spain from the 12th through
the 15th centuries and fought in the Reconquista against the Moors. When
the Moors were finally ejected from Spain, the order ceased to have a
military function, but limped along as a shadow of itself until it was
dissolved by order of the Spanish Republic in 1931. With the Spanish
monarchy's restoration, the Order of Calatrava was revived as an order of
merit in 1980.

The Archaeology News story is at
https://archaeologymag.com/2025/11/medieval-warrior-monk-with-skull-deformity/
.

More about the Order of Calatrava is found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Calatrava .

The castle itself has a Wikipedia page at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_of_Zorita_de_los_Canes-Alcazaba_de_Zorita
.

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.