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Opinion Editorial

Published: March 16, 2013 01:00 IST | Updated: March 16, 2013 01:00 IST
Neither saint nor devil
As in his life, so in his death, and now even in his rediscovery, Richard III generates speculation, investigation, and
controversy. A research team comprising historians, geneticists, and archaeologists at the University of Leicester
has announced that a skeleton found on the site of what used to be Greyfriars Priory in Leicester is that of the last
Plantagenet king of England and the last English king so far to die in battle, in Richard IIIs case at Bosworth
Field in 1485. That Richard III is, perhaps deliberately, vilified throughout William Shakespeares eponymous
tragedy is well enough known, and the skeleton shows the scoliosis for which he was noted, though the condition
was less serious than the play and other documents suggest it was. This Plantagenet, however, certainly attracted
considerable opprobrium in his insecure and blood-soaked times, and was all but accused of usurping the crown
after the death of his elder brother, Edward IV. In addition, he probably made yet more enemies by being a capable
administrator and lawgiver who tried to clean up official corruption.
Richard III was killed by a violent halberd blow behind his left ear, and his body was treated with contempt by the
army of Henry Tudor, the victor at Bosworth, who then became King Henry VII; by some accounts, Richard was
stripped naked. The bones also reveal wounds inflicted after his death, one a stab in his buttocks; his hands and feet
were tied, and, sprinkled in mire and blood, he was thrown across the back of a horse for transportation to his
burial. Although he was interred in a priory, the humiliations continued; there is sign neither of coffin nor shroud,
and he may have been buried naked. Even his grave was not long enough, and his head was forced sideways against
one end of it. The controversy around him, nevertheless, does not cease. Leicester Council has opened an exhibition
and plans a visitors centre after he is reburied in Leicester Cathedral. The Ministry of Justice exhumation licence
requires local reburial, but as Richard grew up in what is now North Yorkshire, York Council wants him back;
expected tourism revenues are probably part of the thinking on both sides. Even the reburial could raise a
theological problem; there will probably be an Anglican ceremony, but Richard III died nearly 50 years before the
Church of England was founded, and nearly 90 years before the Anglican and Catholic churches separated. In
addition, tourist revenues might have to go towards a gigantic parking fine, as suggested on Twitter, because the
remains were found underneath a car park in Leicester. The late king stirs up trouble, and possibly even farce, from
beyond his cramped grave.
Keywords: Richard III, Greyfriars Priory, last Plantagenet king of England, Bosworth Field
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