A King and A Prince
Welcome to Our 100th Blog Post!
“It is possible (though unlikely) that at some time in the 21st century an excavator may yet reveal the slight remains of this monarch.”
David Baldwin was a British historian, author, and former university lecturer, who lived near Leicester, England. In 1986, over 25 years before the 2012 excavation and the discovery of the king's body, he predicted that Richard III’s remains would be found at Greyfriars Friary in Leicester.
The Battle of Bosworth Field is one of the most important battles in English history, and is often used to mark the end of the middle ages in England.
Early in August 1485 the would-be Lancastrian king, Henry Tudor sailed across the English Channel from France to south Wales.
On hearing the news of Henry’s landing, King Richard III began to muster his Yorkist army at Leicester. The king deployed his troops on a hill top, just south of Market Bosworth in Leicestershire.
As the battle raged, Richard at some point saw Henry isolated from his main army and appears to have decided to bring the encounter to a swift end by leading a sudden charge aimed directly at Henry.
On seeing Richard launch his direct attack, Lord Stanley (who up until this point had been observing the battle) finally decided to join the fight on the side of his stepson Henry Tudor. After his horse became trapped in boggy ground, King Richard continued to fight on foot, but was finally overwhelmed by Stanley’s men.
Richard was the last Plantagenet king of England, and the last English monarch to be killed in battle. On seeing their leader’s fate, the Yorkist army abandoned the field. Richard’s crown was brought to Henry who was proclaimed king on nearby Crown Hill.
The new Tudor dynasty would rule England for the next hundred years.
After a brutal public display to ensure everyone knew King Richard was dead, he was hastily buried. Richard's burial probably took place on August 25, the day the newly self-appointed Henry VII left for London.
Richard’s body was unceremoniously brought to Franciscan monks at the Greyfriars Friary in Leicester, where he was hastily buried in a crude grave in the choir.
Greyfriars Friary was built around 1226, and demolished after Henry VIll's reformation in 1538.
A mansion was later built on the site by Robert Herrick, who had a stone pillar installed showing the location of Richard’s burial spot in his garden.
However, the mansion was later redeveloped into housing, a bank, a school, council offices, and a car park (parking lot). The stone pillar was removed, and with its removal, the location of Richard’s burial site was lost.
It has been said that, “History is written by victors,” and Richard was much maligned by his Tudor victors. In 1998 Philippa Langley read a biography of Richard and decided to write a screenplay that painted Richard in a more favorable light, based on a more modern review of his reign.
She formed the Scottish branch of the Richard III Society. In May 2004, she visited various sites in Leicester associated with Richard III, including the three parking lots identified in 1975 as possible burial locations.
Langley entered the Social Services parking lot, and at the northern end felt a "strange sensation" come over her, saying "I knew in my innermost being that Richard's body lay there."
In 2005, on completing her first draft, she returned to the parking lot and experienced the same feeling; when she looked down, where a "R" had been painted on a reserved parking space; she recounted, "It told me all I needed to know.”
There is a lot more to the story:
Watch the 2022 film The Lost King (on Amazon)
Watch the 2013 film Richard III: The King in the Car Park (on Amazon)
Read the book The King's Grave: The Search for Richard III
For now, the short version is that on August 25, 2012, on the 527th anniversary of Richards III’s death, the first trench was dug over the “R” mark. Just six hours into the excavation, a skeleton was uncovered that turned out to be the remains of Richard III.
It’s an utterly amazing story! Today there is a museum over the site of the old Greyfriars Friary and the site of Richard’s burial remains open for viewing.
The image above show current buildings and parking lots (car parks) in beige. The outline of the old friary and its cloister are the dashed lines.
This close-up shows the friary with its Nave to the left and the Presbytery to the right (east). The first part of the Presbytery is the Choir, and there would have been a screen or physical barrier between the Nave and the Choir. By placing Richard in the Choir, the friars limited who would have access to the burial site. Richard’s body was found at spot A.
This drawing has been damaged but it shows the friary (left) and cloisters (right) as they looked back in 1485 when Richard was buried inside the friary.
Behind us is the famous parking lot. Amanda is pointing to the roof over where Richard’s body was discovered.
It wasn’t terribly surprising to find bones in the Choir. They first uncovered the legs. It was when they made it to the torso that things got truly exciting. Richard was rumored to have some sort of hunchback or other spinal deformity. This is a model of the spine they uncovered—pretty definitive!
The deformed spine is clear. He was buried without a casket or shroud and, based on the position of the head, the hole was clearly dug too small.
Examination showed that the man had probably been killed either by a blow from a large bladed weapon, probably a halberd, which cut off the back of his skull and exposed the brain, or by a sword thrust that penetrated all the way through the brain.
The age of the bones at death matched that of Richard when he was killed. DNA analysis showed that mitochondrial DNA extracted from the bones matched that of two matrilineal descendants, one 17th-generation and the other 19th-generation, of Richard's sister Anne of York.
Michael Ibsen and Wendy Duldig in 2014, the two known direct female-line descents of King Richard III, whose DNA helped identify his remains.
Michael next to the facial reconstruction of Richard III.
Both feet were missing. The archeologists determined they were most likely inadvertently dug away when a Victorian-era wall was installed directly over Richard’s feet. Thankfully they didn't install the wall any further west or far more of the body could have been destroyed. So many little things had to fall into place over such a long period of time to have arrived at this incredible outcome!
Matthew 24:27 talks about the second coming of Christ, teaching that he will come from the east. As such, Christian graves often face the person to the east and churches are often built with the alter at the eastern part of the church. At least the friars managed to face Richard’s body to the east.
Looking at the parking lot from where Philippa Langley entered. The burial spot is under the square brown roof to the left of the black door in the wall.
The south wall of the old friary more or less followed the short wood fence/red brick wall/wood fence on the left. So the yellow wall facing us is where the choir screen was and the east end of the friary was near the far buildings. The open parking lot is where the cloisters were.
Leicester Cathedral was undergoing major renovations and was closed to the public.
As a condition of being allowed to disinter the skeleton, the archaeologists agreed that, if Richard were found, his remains would be reburied in Leicester Cathedral.
A controversy arose as to whether an alternative reburial site, York Minster or Westminster Abbey, would be more suitable. A legal challenge confirmed there were no public law grounds for the courts to be involved in that decision.
Reinterment took place in Leicester on March 26, 2015, during a televised memorial service held in the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury and senior members of other Christian denominations.
Nothing specific, just another amazing building!
A Royal Visit
When we walked up to the museum earlier in the day, two police bomb-sniffing dogs were being lead from the building. I wrongly presumed they were an indication of something that had already concluded, rather than a sign of something to come.
After touring the museum, we went our separate ways. I got my hair cut and Amanda searched the city’s many charity shops for hidden treasures. We decided to meet back up at the museum afterward.
I arrived first and noticed a small police presence and a lot of official looking people standing around. I spoke with someone from the museum and he indicated that if we stayed around for a little bit we “might see someone we would definitely recognize.” He later revealed it was a member of the Royal Family, so someone in the photo above.
Amanda forewarned me if it was William and/or Kate, she would lose her mind! 🤯
About 45 minutes later, a small police motorcade approached.
The vehicles drove right up to where we were standing.
Out stepped His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. The Duke of Edinburgh is His Majesty the King’s brother and the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
We were a very small group of only about six people standing there, so he was very kind and engaged in some informal conversation. We told him we were from California and were touring the country. He apologized for the weather (what else would an Englishman talk about?!). It was a short conversation, but one we shall not soon forget!
According his webpage, “At the King Richard III Visitor Centre, His Royal Highness was able to view the exhibition and learn more about the archaeological dig to find King Richard III’s remains and subsequent DNA testing.”
“The Duke then visited Leicester Cathedral to view the final resting place of King Richard III.”
I guess it’s good to be the King(‘s brother)!
The escort detail holding traffic, with Leicester Cathedral spire in the background. You don’t see these guys riding ridiculous Harley Davidson police motorcycles do you California?!
The museum experience was amazing and meeting His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh was an absolute stroke of great luck—the cherry on top of a great day!
