Richard Plantagenet was born at Fotheringhay in Northamptonshire, England, on 2 October 1452. He was the youngest son of Cecily Neville, daughter of Ralph, Earl of Westmorland, and Richard, Duke of York, who was at that time heir presumptive to the throne.
Richard became King of England in 1483, and ruled until his death in August 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses. He was the last King of England to be killed in battle on home soil, and the first since King Harold was killed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
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| Picture from www.telegraph,co.uk |
After the battle, Richard's naked body was given to monks and hastily and unceremoniously buried. Richard's remains were found in 2012 buried under a car park in Leicester where the former Greyfriars Church and Monastery had stood before it was destroyed by Henry VIII in the 1530s. The position of 11 wounds on the bones indicate that he had lost both his horse and his helmet when he was set upon by opposing troops. And the curved spine is consistent with descriptions of Richard as a hunchback.
Richard III 's remains are being buried today (March 26 2015) in Leicester Cathedral, 530 years after his violent death in battle. His plain English oak and yew coffin was crafted by a many times great nephew, a Canadian born cabinet maker who now lives in London.
Richard III's family tree can be seen
here and the full story of the excavation and the discovery of Richard's resting place
here.
This is so interesting. I love watching archaeology shows. But I don't know why they took his body; only to bury him again.
ReplyDeleteGinny, probably because he was buried under a parking lot, not a very nice place for a royal King of England. I think he deserved better than to have people parking cars and trucks on top of him, don't you?
ReplyDeleteRichard has spent a very long time at the car park, I trust the parking attendants will show some leniency, otherwise there will be an astronomical parking fine to pay!
ReplyDeleteI am glad he wasn't buried in a multi-storey car park. That would be wrong on so many levels.
ReplyDeleteSuch an amazing story, isn't it? May he Rest In Peace in his rightful burial place.....!
ReplyDeleteSaw your comment at Sonia's, my dear.....Thanks for your concern and caring----I've been struggling with my Health Issues....Very wearing, I have to say. Not much energy for blogging these days. I try to get around when I can.....
Hope all is well with you----I CANNOT believe Callum is 7 years old!!!!
I remember watching the original program when they discovered his remains and were doing the testing to confirm who it was. Obviously it did turn out to be the King, who in turn with the dna tests found he was a disabled midget. Interesting that the find in the car park helps add to history.
ReplyDeleteI think it's amazing that they found his remains and were able to identify them!
ReplyDeleteI was always a bit pro-Richard III. For some reason I always wanted him to be the hunchback of Shakespeare - and he was! Makes me admire him even more, given that he led a few cavalry charges in his time, usually successfully too! No mean feat for a fit man, but a hunchback?
ReplyDeleteAs for the Princes in The Tower, I prefer to think that Henry Tudor was responsible - he was a nasty piece of work...
I was surprised to find that his teeth remained such beautiful. Nice to know Richard III will be asleep in the better environment apart from the exhaust gas and the constant noise of the parking lot.
ReplyDeleteYoko
Interesting. Save for the hair, he kind of looks like my son-in-law, who was born in England, though he's not a hunchback. Every free space is a parking lot here, although now they're using a lot of that space to build apartment buildings. The developers care not for the trees and wildflowers they bulldoze.
ReplyDeleteFascinating history Shammy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for enlightening me. My history knowledge is so poor.
I'm glad he finally gets a proper burial.