A car park for a horse
The complete skeleton showing the curved spine of Richard III, who was killed in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Photograph: EPA
Not just the identity of the man in the car park with the twisted spine, but the appalling last moments and humiliating treatment of the naked body of Richard III in the hours after his death have been revealed at an extraordinary press conference at Leicester University.
There were cheers when Richard Buckley, lead archaeologist on the hunt for the king’s body, finally announced that the university team was convinced “beyond reasonable doubt” that it had found the last Plantagenet king, bent by scoliosis of the spine, and twisted further to fit into a hastily dug hole in Grey Friars church, which was slightly too small to hold his body.
Read Richard III: DNA confirms twisted bones belong to king.
We couldn’t find videos of Looking for Richard, Al Pacino’s excellent documentary on Richard III. We’ve always felt bad for Richard of York a.k.a. Crookback—sure he did horrible things, but they all did, and he was doubtless a victim of Tudor propaganda. Game of Thrones connection: George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series was inspired by the Wars of the Roses in which the Houses of York and Lancaster fought for the throne of England. York, Stark, Lancaster, Lannister.
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amypond pointed us to the episode of Terry Jones’s Medieval Lives featuring the three King Richards. Terry Jones is our favorite Python-comedian-author-historian.
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February 7th, 2013 at 08:27
Here’s the facial reconstruction of Richard III based on the bones they found:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2273703/Richard-III-facial-reconstruction-reveals-slain-king-500-years-death.html
Richard III = that prince from Shrek.
:o
February 7th, 2013 at 11:12
Sana magsulat si Hilary Mantel ng version niya of the Richard III story.
February 7th, 2013 at 14:32
Terry Jones’ Medieval Lives pointed this out too. (That series was pretty good too, and everything’s uploaded in Youtube.)
February 10th, 2013 at 11:56
Official histories, particularly ones from the reigning powers or the victors, should be read critically. At least, Richard III’s status is now being re-evaluated, if not completed rehabilitated (Screw you, William Shakespeare!).
February 11th, 2013 at 00:38
My Kingdom! My kingdom for a car!