Oh dear, it's Richard the Third!

[buffnut453]

Those familiar with the very first Blackadder series will undoubtedly recognize those words spoken by the ever-faithful Baldrick when our heroes realise they've just killed Kind Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Interesting, therefore, that the actual body of Richard III was recently discovered under a car park in Leicester. After the battle, Richard was buried in a church that was destroyed in the 16th Century and the location of the former monarch's grave was forgotten...until years of painstaking and diligent research and archeology uncovered Richard's remains (confirmed by DNA analysis) while facial reconstruction gives us a chance to see what Richard really looked like. The following news reports from the BBC tell the story so far:

BBC News - Richard III dig: DNA confirms bones are king's

BBC News - Richard III: The twisted bones that reveal a king

BBC News - Richard III: Facial reconstruction shows king's features

Finally, other archeological research has also been conducted on the site of the Battle of Bosworth Field which potentially identifies the location where Richard died, evidenced by the discovery of a silver boar emblem located near the only area of boggy ground in the locale:

http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/cms/upload/docs/293/battlefieldmagazine_bosworth.pdf

And so the last Plantagenet King has been discovered and we're learning more every day about the reality of the man, although debate will no doubt continue ad nauseum about whether he was the evil monster depicted by the Tudors (and Shakespeare) or simply no worse than your average mediaeval monarch.

Personally, I find this stuff fascinating and amazing...hope others on the forum do too.

 

[Njaco]

I do too! And I also remembered the line from "Black Adder" (freakin' show was on par with Monty Python!) when they mentioned this on the news yesterday.

Tidbit: Richard was only King for 2 years!

 

[The Basket]

He died in battle. He died a brave man. I am into history and Richard was certainly no worse than others.

Although oddly his supporters seem upset that it seems he was physically disbled and not just tudor propaganda.

 

[buffnut453]

Well that's 2 of us who understood the quote!

Yes, Richard was on the throne for just 26 months. He was abandoned at the Battle of Bosworth Field and was the last English king to die on the battlefield. Interestingly, he did some pretty amazing (and modern) things during those 26 months including instituting the principle of bail for those accused of crimes, creating an affordable system of justice for the common man and outlawing the passing of taxation mandates without the assent of both Houses of Parliament. Ofcourse the Tudors painted him as a deformed hunchback (Shakespeare added the withered arm...the body revealed no evidence of this latter disability) who murdered his nephews in the Tower of London so he could seize the throne. No doubt he will remain a fascinating and controversial figure.

 

[Gnomey]

 

[buffnut453]

 

[The Basket]

He probably did murder his nephews.

Its called getting medieval.

 

[vikingBerserker]

 

[Njaco]

...(Shakespeare added the withered arm...the body revealed no evidence of this latter disability) ....

But he did have scoliosis and the skeleton did show a severe curvature of the spine - one of the things that helped ID him.

.

 

[A4K]

The poor bugger, what a back...

Thanks for posting Buff, interesting!

 

[stona]

Since he was Richard of York...

"Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this son of York;
And all the clouds that low'r'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried."

Eloquent words put into his mouth by some bloke called Shakespeare,writing for his Tudor mistress some time later,it seems that York Minster wants to get their hands on the remains and have them buried up there.
It seems to me that since the poor bugger has been in Leicester for more than 500 years that Leicester cathedral would be the correct place. We'll see.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Njaco]

Nine head wounds. Death was brutal back then.

 

[Airframes]

Hope his descendants don't get a bill for parking without a permit ........

 

[buffnut453]

The best one I heard was "Richard III belatedly named Hide-and-Seek Champion of 1485".

 

[stona]

He probably did murder his nephews.
Its called getting medieval.

He probably did but history is written by the victors. The more closely related to a monarch you were the greater threat you posed to him/her. Cosequently you ran a greater risk of losing your head,or being murdered in the tower.
Cheers
Steve

 

[The Basket]

The princes went missing when he was king and he never displayed them. Of course Henry Tudor would have also been up the certain creek if he discovered the princes alive as his kingship is shot. The Perkin Warbeck saga was a nod to that.

Scary to think how radical English and world history could have changed if Richard won Bosworth.

 

[stona]

Scary to think how radical English and world history could have changed if Richard won Bosworth.

No Tudor dynasty. No Reformation,dissolution of the Monasteries etc. The old religion would have been maintained and England would have been a very different place.
You could make a good argument that without the split from Rome,a pivotal moment in English history,there would have been no protestant state and probably no English Empire (later British when the Scots signed up).
Not just England but the world would be a very different place. From one beat of a butterfly's wings......etc. One of history's great "what ifs".

Cheers

Steve