The life and death of
Faust Vrančić – What could his bones tell us?

The text was prepared as a response to a collaboration proposal of dr. Mislav Čavka from the University Hospital Centre Zagreb to the Memorial Centre Faust Vrančić, the institution that I work at. The collaboration would concern the potential analysis of the remains of Faust Vrančić that are buried at the church Sv. Marija od Milosti (Church of St. Mary of Grace) in the village of Prvić Luka on the island of Prvić near Šibenik and that would be conducted with the approval of the parish vicar, Božo Škember. The purpose of the text is to clarify the circumstances surrounding the death of Faust Vrančić, details related to the execution of his will, interesting facts related to his burial, opening and robbing of his crypt as well as the facts about his physical appearance. The analysis of the remains of Faust Vrančić could help us gain new insights into his life and death, which would shed a new light to his biography. Therefore, we need these data in order to use them as a background for further investigation. The relevant analysis could reveal facts such as: his height, the diseases that he suffered from, the cause of his death, if he suffered any bone fractures, his nutrition habits and his dwelling places (this part of his life is well documented, but it would be interesting to see if the biographic data match with the results of the paleoradiological analysis). Eventually, the bone analysis would tell us how he looked like and we would be able to compare the results of the forensic facial reconstruction with the only known “official” portrait of Faust Vrančić.