Richard III identified

[Father Jack]

Some of you (those of you in the UK) may be aware that in Leicester an archaeological excavation led by the University of Leicester is under way. The purpose of this dig is to try and find the location where Richard III, the last Plantagenet King of England, was supposedly buried after he was killed at the near by Battle of Bosworth in August 1485. It is a long held belief that Richard III was buried in an unremarkable grave in the Franciscan Friary (Greyfriars) of Leicester. The friary was destroyed during the reformation in 1530 and it is now covered by a carpark, yet it is still possible that Richard III's remains may still be located there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bosworth_Field

So far the excavation has uncovered a monastic building with richly decorated medieval floor tiles and the remains of where a large stain-glass window would have stood. In other words, the most important part of the friary (the choir) and the location of where Richard is supposedly buried. Given this success in locating the friary the archaeologists have been granted a 3rd week to excavate. However in the last day or so bones have been discovered and a press conference is expected on Wednesday (12th Sept).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-19561018

A Canadian relative of Richard III has been tracked down and his DNA will be used to see if they match the DNA of any bones found. This distant relative is a direct descendent of Richard III's sister, Anne Duchess of Exeter. If Richard III's body is found then it will it be of significant importance to English history as he is one of the few kings where his place of burial is unknown.

Personally I am going to err on the side of caution, part of me thinks that the Tudor dynasty may have simply thrown his bones into the near by River Soar or that a later 17th century antiquarian simply took the remains and they are now lost to time. Still, I find the prospect, however slim, that this could be Richard III very exciting.

[Admiral Piett]

I've been reading the developments with keen interest. It is quite cool that they actually discovered the friary. Heck, many people even disputed the location of the battle, but this more or less confirms the site.

[Sphere]

Another perfectly good carpark ruined.

[Odovacar]

Perhaps Richard has been found....or perhaps not. We need up to 12 week to find out (((
http://www2.le.ac.uk/news/blog/2012/...s-from-11.00am

[Father Jack]

What is particularly interesting is that the skeleton was found with peri-mortem trauma to the skull and a barbed arrowhead lodged between the vertebrae in the upper back. All of the hallmarks of a potential battlefield victim. On top of that the spine also showed signs of scoliosis, which would have meant one shoulder was higher than the other, but not a hunchback as Tudor propaganda dictated. I guess we will just have to endure the 12 week wait.
Vid of press conference.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19569705

[Condottiere 40K]

Rosemary Hawley Jarman's We Speak No Treason made me reassess my view of Richard, after being poisoned by Shakespeare's take on him.

[Odovacar]

I followed the thing right from the first dig in August. It was whispered that the body indeed belongs to good old Richard -and it does.

Too bad he won't be reinterred in Westminster Cathedral, because some prick would babble some Tudor-propaganda about "murderous Dick."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-21063882

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Too bad about the 600 year old propaganda, things like that should just stay in the past and just preserve the damn corps where it should be.

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

I hope this might be the beginning for such a famous man of whom we know so little.
I live just across the Channel, but even here the national broadcasting corporation says he was 'know as a very cruel person'

[Robin de Bodemloze]

We all know Richard III was actually killed by Rowan Atkinson.

[JP226]

We all know Richard III was actually killed by Rowan Atkinson.

That's impossible. They lived 600 years apart...

[Robin de Bodemloze]

That's impossible. They lived 600 years apart...

But there's video footage of it happening.

[Sar1n]

I hope this might be the beginning for such a famous man of whom we know so little.
I live just across the Channel, but even here the national broadcasting corporation says he was 'know as a very cruel person'

That's not quite correct, mostly taken from the sources like Shakespeare's play rather than real history. He imprisoned couple of children that were a threat to his reign by being real successors to throne which led to their demise and ordered several murders, but that's the way politics were done back then. On the other hand, his short reign was positive to common man, so while the means by which he obtained the throne were brutal and for us, immoral, he wasn't a bad king.

[JP226]

But there's video footage of it happening.

I highly doubt that... Video cameras were invented like a hundred and 50 yearrs ago and 600 years is even further than that.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Nah man, I was a witness at the trial.

I wonder if politics in England was all that bloody or is the Television show the Tudors to blame. I know it was similar in places with a lack of centralization and where nobility exerted equal or more power than the king (Italy, England and Germany). But was it mostly just England or is this concept a figment of Television imagination. France and Spain for example you don't really hear about these bloody-sneaky politics (maybe it's because they did the job so well that the mop up operation went unnoticed).

[Sar1n]

I highly doubt that... Video cameras were invented like a hundred and 50 yearrs ago and 600 years is even further than that.

...or my sarcasm detector isn't working.

In any case, I recommend The Black Adder series if you want to know more.

[René Artois]

Stick this in the archaeology sub-forum.

[╬Ritterbruder╬]

That's not quite correct, mostly taken from the sources like Shakespeare's play rather than real history. He imprisoned couple of children that were a threat to his reign by being real successors to throne which led to their demise and ordered several murders, but that's the way politics were done back then. On the other hand, his short reign was positive to common man, so while the means by which he obtained the throne were brutal and for us, immoral, he wasn't a bad king.

exactly what I mean, all those 'sources' were by the hand of the Tudors or their associates (including Shakespeare), also known to be Richard's arch-rivals.
That's all we know, I'm not saying he was the greatest king ever, probably would have done the same to the Tudors if he beat them, but we certainly don't have any objective reports at this point.

[Adar]

I highly doubt that... Video cameras were invented like a hundred and 50 yearrs ago and 600 years is even further than that.

Heres a video of Richard III discussing the event with Lord Blackadder
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00bv93g

[Sphere]

House of "Windsor" trash allowing the desecration of Plantagenet graves.

Sickening.