Richard III (1452-1485): Discovery of Remains and Reburial


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That is quite a dramatic and terrifying depiction of Richard's last stand with all the soldiers and weapons surrounding him. I had read in Philippa Langley's book that based on examination of the wounds to his skull, when he was knocked off his horse and overcome on foot the death blows to his head were administered. A chilling interpretation by the artist.
 
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@Tinglepolitics: Judicial review of decision to let Richard III remains be reburied in Leicester instead of York to be launched next Tuesday in High Court
 
What a fascinating article, An Ard Ri. What luck that these rites were discovered and that Richard will hopefully have the ritual ceremony of his times for his reburial. It's just so fitting. It's also somewhat poignant as well since he attended the reburial for his father and brother. I wonder if the Richard III Society will host a post-burial banquet afterward, with its own version of a meal of capons, cygnets, herons and rabbits. ;)
 
What a fascinating article, An Ard Ri. What luck that these rites were discovered and that Richard will hopefully have the ritual ceremony of his times for his reburial. It's just so fitting. It's also somewhat poignant as well since he attended the reburial for his father and brother. I wonder if the Richard III Society will host a post-burial banquet afterward, with its own version of a meal of capons, cygnets, herons and rabbits. ;)

Yes the BBC seem to be rather good when it comes to Richard III,they nearly have 1 per week!
 
But it still hasn't been decided whether he's be reinterred in York or Leicester, correct? The jury's still out on that one, I think.
 
Maybe Dr. Buckle who found the medieval rites for reburial can go back and discover a letter by Richard designating where he intended to be buried. This would save a whole lot of headache if the king had made his wishes known.
 
Maybe Dr. Buckle who found the medieval rites for reburial can go back and discover a letter by Richard designating where he intended to be buried. This would save a whole lot of headache if the king had made his wishes known.


Given the fact that there are people who wish to ignore the wishes of Prince Philip over not having a state/royal funeral - on this board as well as elsewhere - why should the wishes of a man who died over half a millenia be taken into account.
 
If Richard loved York and the North and spent much of his time there, then it seems a given that that's where he should be buried - at York Minster. And that goes for the wishes of current royals as well.
 
Congratulations for him - but what about Philippa Langley and John Ashdown-Hill, who did the all the research including the genetic matches, raised the money, pinpointed the location to dig (almost to the square meter no less!) and hounded the university to actually dig? Both of them had far more to do with finding Richard III. The archaeologists were positive they wouldn't find the King and only took on the project (and took the money) because they wanted to excavate the church. They were wrong but now are getting the lion's share of the credit and the awards. It was a remarkable find but EVERYONE involved should have been rewarded, not just the U of L.
 
I agree; it seems some other participants in this venture were sadly left off this honors list.
 
How exciting that there's another significant find of likely another English monarch. What a shame that there weren't more remains that dated back to the correct time; hopefully if they go back to the excavation they can find more bones.
 
How exciting that there's another significant find of likely another English monarch. What a shame that there weren't more remains that dated back to the correct time; hopefully if they go back to the excavation they can find more bones.

More may turn up,goodness knows who'll they'll find next!
 
What I find so remarkable about the Richard II find is that there was a complete skeleton (I think). It's just the pelvic fragment in this case with maybe more to find. And at the rate they're going with finding the remains of monarchs, maybe they'll dig up King Arthur! ;)
 
It IS amazing to find a complete skeleton which was not even buried for preservation, Baroness of Books. I saw a TV documentary featuring the "bone boxes" of people who died in the Jerusalem area in the first century, and most of their bones became "dust" or disappeared entirely within a hundred years, even in that relatively dry climate. And Richard was just lying in the dirt wasn't he? Perhaps he had extra hard bones. There is a condition in which bones are extra hard.

Laura, it IS unfortunate that those who did the work on finding Richard should not be credited. Academia is not an equal-opportunity provider, any more than royalty is.
 
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Maybe it was the quality of the soil, too, that contributed to the bones being preserved. Who knows what factors aided in such a complete find? That's one of the things that I find so fascinating about Richard's case; the skeleton is complete and tangible, and you can almost visualize the person superimposed over it.
 
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Thanks for posting all these links, An Ard Ri. At this point, they just need to reach a decision on where to rebury the king's remains. I hope it's made soon so Richard can finally rest in peace.
 
Maybe it was the quality of the soil, too, that contributed to the bones being preserved. Who knows what factors aided in such a complete find? That's one of the things that I find so fascinating about Richard's case; the skeleton is complete and tangible, and you can almost visualize the person superimposed over it.

Indeed, a lot depends on the type of soil. If it is acidic, bones will desolve soon. Waterlevels are also important. If bones (and other organic materials like leather and textiles) are waterlogged, bacteria can't "eat" it (they need oxigen) and the objects will not desintregrate/or at a slower pace. And then there is the question, what happened to the area afterward the burial? Was there a lot of ground-disturbance (building and destroying of buildings) or was the area undisturbed. The place R III was buried in, was destroyed except for the foundations, so in a way it was pure luck that his grave wasn't (accidentally) destroyed when clearing the area.
[/end of my archaeological lecture] ;-)
 
I'm not sure if I'd say that finding Alfred outshines finding Richard. Both in my mind are equally great finds - one is locating bones that belong to a man who lived more than 1,000 years ago and most likely was a great King, while the other is locating the complete skeleton of a man who died 500 years ago and wasn't buried with any body-preservation intended. Both are pretty freaking awesome in my books.

A question: how many other British kings are still missing? The only one I can think of off the top of my head is James II.
 
A question: how many other British kings are still missing? The only one I can think of off the top of my head is James II.
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...

 
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