A much maligned King of England (1483 -85) who was trashed by Shakespeare’s Tudor propaganda play, and was a lot better as King then many of his contemporaries.
Archaeologists searching for the body of King Richard III under a city centre car park say they have found remains which could be those of the monarch.
King Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in central England in 1485 and his bones reportedly ended up in a Franciscan friary known as Greyfriars, now located under a car park in the centre of Leicester.
Bosworth Field is around 14 miles away from Leicester and Richard is one of just a few English kings whose final resting place is unknown.
A team from the city’s university began excavating the site last month and said they had discovered a skeleton with wounds apparently sustained in combat, which they believed might be that of the last English king to die in battle.
“Clearly we are all very excited by these latest discoveries,” Richard Taylor, the University of Leicester’s Director of Corporate Affairs said.
“It is proper that the university now subjects the findings to rigorous analysis so that the strong circumstantial evidence that has presented itself can be properly understood.”
The bones were found in good condition in the choir area of the friary’s church which was documented in historical records to be Richard’s burial place.
“The skeleton on initial examination appears to have suffered significant perimortem trauma, near-death trauma, to the skull which appears to be consistent, although is not certainly caused by an injury received in battle,” Mr Taylor said.
“This is mind-blowing. This is the most exciting story I’ve ever been involved with,” Mr Taylor added.
So Shakespeare was more Hollywood of his day than exemplified
waldensianspirit wrote:
In a word -- Yes!
waldensianspirit wrote:
English history: yes. Scottish history: oh man, did he make a mess of MacBeth’s career.
But Roman history: yeah, he got a scary amount right in Julius Caesar. I understand he basically just put Plutarch up on stage, and you can’t go too far wrong with that.