Suspected Henri IV head back with heirs

[December 16, 2010]  PARIS (AP) -- A 400-year-old skull French researchers believe was the head of celebrated King Henri IV was hidden for decades in the attic of a now-retired public servant and has been donated to one of his descendants.

The head disappeared during the French Revolution in 1793, but much of its journey is a mystery.

Stephane Gabet, a TV production company journalist, tells The Associated Press that he and a colleague followed leads to track down the mummified skull in the attic of an 84-year-old retired tax collector, Jacques Bellanger, in January.

The journalist said Bellanger officially donated the head to Louis de Bourbon, Duc d'Anjou, on Thursday.

French scientists revealed this week that nine months of tests on the skull led them to believe that it was Henri IV's.

[Associated Press]

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