Monday, February 4, 2013

Richard liveth yet

Well, it's official. The remains found by the archeological team in a car park in Leicester are those of Richard III. The media conference held at the university of Leicester was very exciting. I was able to listen to it through the BBC Radio Leicester website. The scientific evidence was explained by the members of the archaeological & scientific team & all the evidence points to the conclusion that the remains are those of Richard III.

More information can be found at the websites of the Richard III Society which is about to be updated & the University of Leicester website here.

The results of the scientific testing, especially the DNA results, are fascinating & I can't wait to read more details about all this in future publications of the Richard III Society. I also hope that the documentary shown this evening in the UK, The King in the Car Park, is shown here or made available on DVD very soon so eager Ricardians can have a chance to see it all for themselves.

The quote I've used for the title of this post is from a poem written by the compiler of the Clare Roll, an armorial history of the Clare family who counted Richard, Duke of York among their descendents. Richard III was this Duke of York's son & the poem lists the children of the Duke of York & his Duchess, Cecily Neville. The description of Richard, Richard liveth yet, has been interpreted as meaning that Richard was a sickly child whose survival was worthy of note. It could also just mean that Richard was alive (at the age of three or four) unlike several of his siblings who had died young. Contemporary references to Richard's appearance will be re-examined with interest in the aftermath of the scientific observations & tests conducted on the remains.

These are very exciting times for anyone interested in medieval history.

13 comments:

  1. This is such exciting news! I'm looking forward to seeing the documentary tonight. I hope you get to see it soon:)

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    1. Thanks Rosie. Hopefully our ABC or SBS will pick it up so Australian Ricardians have a chance to see it.

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  2. Thanks for the news! Now if they could just definitively solve the mystery of the Princes in the Tower...

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    1. Wouldn't that be great? Even though this discovery won't solve every mystery about Richard's life, it will at least give historians a chance to find out more about richard the man & how he looked etc. It's already been a help in confirming some of the descriptions of Richard in contemporary accounts.

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  3. I'm very excited by this news too! It's fascinating to think that such an important historical discovery has been made after so many years. I'm looking forward to watching the documentary tonight and hope you'll get a chance to see it soon.

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    1. It just goes to show that there's always more to be discovered. Now if only someone could find the manuscript of Emily Bronte's second novel...

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  4. I would love to see the documentary myself. This is an incredible find. I don't understand the joking tone of some of the tweets and comments online and elsewhere. This is such an exciting thing to have happen after 500 years. Just when complacency sets in, history decides to shake things up.

    I'm wondering now about the curved spine. Must go back and re-read DAUGHTER OF TIME by Josephine Tey - the book which convinced me that Richard was not the ugly villain Thomas More would have us believe.

    Lots to think about. Lots to wonder at.

    I feel sorry for those who have lost their sense of the wonder (and the reach) of the past.

    Thanks for posting this, Lyn. I'm doing a post myself, but you beat me to the punch. :)

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    1. Apparently the doco wasn't very good and has lead some people to think the whole thing was a hoax! More conspiracy theories... I reread DOT last week in anticipation so I'll look forward to your post.

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  5. They didn't find a signed confession with the remains did they?

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    1. If only! I know the discovery won't solve any of the mysteries about Richard's life but I think it's already made a difference to how we think about his appearance and that last day of his life. It's confirmed some of the contemporary accounts which I think is fascinating.

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  6. What fascinated me most about the documentary was the highly emotional woman behind the discovery who seemed so passionately involved with a man who has been dead for centuries. She came across as completely barking mad - but I wish they'd told us a bit more about her and how this grande passion began.

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    1. Yes, that's the feedback I've had from other people who saw the program. Apparently some conspiracy theorists now think the whole thing is a hoax because they thought the documentary was quite dodgy! I can understand her passion but I wish she had toned it down a bit. Still, without her obsession the dig would never have happened.

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    2. There was something very odd about it and if it hadn't been for the university's involvement, I'd have thought it was an elaborate hoax. Some of the academics looked rather embarrassed to be involved. As for all her spooky feelings about finding Richard buried under the R of a car park sign ...
      as you say, she might have been better toning it down.

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