Tiggersk8
Heir Presumptive
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2007
- Messages
- 2,181
- City
- Evansville
- Country
- Canada
Virtually all of the pre-conquest kings with the exception of Edward the Confessor are either missing or included in a jumble of bones in the tomb chests at Winchester. The tombs of William I (The Conqueror), Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard I and James II were destroyed in the French Revolution and the bones dispersed with only a thigh bone of William I surviving (only the effigies of Henry II, Eleanor and Richard survive). Henry I (Reading) and Stephen (Faversham) were lost at the Dissolution. Many of the Kings of Scots are also missing after the Reformation. Additionally, parts of the skeletons of Richard II and his wife Anne were stolen over time because of a hole in their tomb at Westminster Abbey...
The Interlibrary Loan Program is wonderful: a few months ago I checked out "The Royal Tombs of Great Britain: an Illustrated History" by Aidan Dodson (Duckworth, 2004. ISBN# 0715633104). It's a very interesting book that tells of how, when and where the monarchs of England, Scotland the UK were buried, beginning with Anglo-Saxon times. I just wish I could afford to buy a copy...
I thought that was what Birthdays and Christmas were for. . It does sound like a fascinating book and a useful one for those of us interested in Royal History.