Posted by Richard Rawlinson
A skeleton, a skeleton, my kingdom for a skeleton!
Might we soon discover if Richard III is the hunchbacked tyrant with a withered arm depicted in Shakespeare or if his physical disability was merely Tudor propaganda?
The king was buried in the church of a Franciscan friary in Leicester after being slain at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. But the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII just over 50 years later has resulted in the exact burial spot being forgotten.
Now Leicester University archeologists, having examined historical maps, have located the most likely site for the church—a car park of the social services office in the centre of Leicester.
More here. And more unfolding in the news daily.
Ed’s note: Apologies to Richard the R for the lateness of this. We are way off the pace in all areas just now.
If the remains of the last King of England to die in battle are found in this excavation in Leicester, should he be reinterred with a Catholic ceremony to reflect his faith?
Respect to Henry VIII, that he had the foresight to turn a useless building for superstitious ritual into a car park – a true visionary!