The Sarcophagus of Templar Master Arnau de Torroja in Verona? Sources and Scientific Analysis

Abstract

In 2016, during the repairing of a wall in the churchyard of San Fermo Maggiore in Verona, an imposing sarcophagus was discovered. Made of sandstone quarried in the nearby hills, the badly flaked tomb bears illegible inscriptions but also a well-preserved cross pattée with point inserted in the bottom arm at both ends, an image closely associated with Templar tombs. As we will see, there are powerful reasons to link this burial to Arnau of Torroja, Master of the Knights Templar, who died in the city in September 1184. This article will give a brief outline of Arnau’s career and explain why he came to be in Verona, together with an analysis of the important presence of the order in the twelfth century with all its properties in the same area of the city, later acquired by the Hospitallers. The article will then follow the scientific trail linking Arnau of Torroja to the bones found in the tomb, which could be the first tomb ever discovered of a Master of the Knights Templar.