ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Excavating King Richard III

Updated on January 22, 2018
Source

"the image of Richard as a really bad man came to Shakespeare from histories written as propaganda for the winning side." — Lawrence Venuti, professor of English at Temple University

Richard's "moral degeneracy is attached to his physical deformity, his twisted back, his hump, his withered hand." — Lawrence Venuti

History Of King Richard III

  • King Richard III was the King of England for only 26 months from 1483 - 1485.
  • He was butchered at the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, during the uprising ending the Plantagenet rule.
  • Thus concluded the War of the Roses, fighting between two rival factions of the House of Plantagenet - the House of Lancaster (symbolized by a red rose) and the House of York (symbolized by a white rose).
  • King Henry VII, of remote Lancastrian decent, his Tudor rival, took over the throne.
  • Many historians portray King Richard III as a king with a good heart who developed progressive legislation especially in criminal law where it is said he introduced the right to bail and he is said to have lifted restrictions on books and printing presses.
  • The Tudors who succeeded him maligned him and created the image of the cruel tyrant which persists today.
  • He was the last King to die in battle and was humiliated and buried in haste without coffin or ceremony.
  • William Shakespeare imortallized the tyrant king in his play where Richard III is described as a deformed hunchback who murdered his young nephews for the throne.

Scientific Tests Used To Establish The Remains As Those Of King Richard III

1. Radiocarbon dating was used to determine the age of the bones. Mass spectrometry determined that the male in question had eaten a diet comprised of large amounts of shellfish which absorb carbon-14 at significantly different rates than terrestrial organisms. Accounting for this, the radiocarbon dating confirms that the bones date from between 1470 and 1520. These dates fit the time frame of a living Richard III.

2. Osteology was used to determine the condition of the bones and injuries sustained while the individual was alive and possibly shortly after death.

3. Extraction of mitochondrial DNA was successful. PCR amplification would have been used to create from the small sample extracted, a larger sample for more detailed analysis.

4. Either restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis or short tandem repeat (STR) analysis would have been used to create a genetic fingerprint of the remains. Analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of the skeletal remains compared to Michael Ibsen, a 17th generation great nephew of King Richard III showed both shared a rare mitochondrial DNA sequence called Haplogroup J.

A
Bosworth Field, England:
Battle of Bosworth Field, Nuneaton, Leicestershire CV13, UK

get directions

Richard III died at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.

B
Greyfriars in Leicester:
Grey Friars, Leicester LE1, UK

get directions

The remains of King Richard III were discovered buried under a car park at the former site of Greyfriars Abbey near Leicester, England.

Click thumbnail to view full-size
 King Richard III at Bosworth Field. Leicester Greyfriars Church site map. Map is OSGB36 with the Church Choir suggested to be at SK58550438. The dotted brown line indicates the area Billson, 1920, identified as the extent of the Greyfriars grounds. The University of Leicester 2012 digThe grave site of Richard III, discovered in Leicester on 25 August 2012.
 King Richard III at Bosworth Field.
King Richard III at Bosworth Field. | Source
 Leicester Greyfriars Church site map. Map is OSGB36 with the Church Choir suggested to be at SK58550438. The dotted brown line indicates the area Billson, 1920, identified as the extent of the Greyfriars grounds. The University of Leicester 2012 dig
Leicester Greyfriars Church site map. Map is OSGB36 with the Church Choir suggested to be at SK58550438. The dotted brown line indicates the area Billson, 1920, identified as the extent of the Greyfriars grounds. The University of Leicester 2012 dig | Source
The grave site of Richard III, discovered in Leicester on 25 August 2012.
The grave site of Richard III, discovered in Leicester on 25 August 2012. | Source

Skeletal Evidence Suggesting The Remains Are Those of Richard III

The skeleton discovered buried at the site of Greyfriars Abbey contains compelling evidence on its own that it is indeed that of King Richard III. A CT scan at high resolution revealed many interesting features.

1. Two fatal wounds were discovered on his skull:

  • At the base of his skull, bone was cleaved off by a halberd which would have penetrated his brain. He would have died in seconds.
  • Another smaller injury caused by a sword was also found at the base of his skull. It too would have been a fatal wound.

2. A cut mark from a knife was discovered on his lower jaw, probably caused after he lost his helmet.

3. A dent in the top of his skull, probably occurring while his helmet was on, was not a fatal wound.

4. A small hole found on the top of his skull appears to have been caused by an arrow.

5. His cheekbone bore a small knife injury.

6. A cut mark on one rib, on his right side, probably occurred post-mortem.

7. There was an injury to the right pelvis suggesting he had been stabbed through the buttocks, possibly as a humiliation injury when his armor was removed after death and he was slung unceremoniously onto the back of a horse.

8. The King was often described as disfigured and the skeleton bears evidence of scoliosis.

Resources Used

Bolding, Jonathan. Archaeologist's Find King Richard III's Forgotten Bones. The Escapist. February 4. 2013

Boswell, Randy. How a Canadian's DNA could be the key to solving the mystery of King Richard III's missing bones. Postmedia News. February 4, 2013.

Boswell, Randy. Canadian family, Vancouver researcher key to dramatic announcement: Richard III’s remains found (with video). The Vancouver Sun. February 5, 2013.

Lawless, Jill. 'Beyond reasonable doubt': King Richard III's battle-scarred skeleton found buried Leicester parking lot. Associated Press. February 4, 2013.

Lawless, Jill. Wounds from the battlefield: What Richard’s remains revealed about war-scarred king. Associated Press. February 6, 2013.

Hunter, Ian. King Richard III's Canadian Connection. National Post. February 4, 2013.

Wikipedia. Exhumation of Richard III of England Wikipedia, February 4, 2013.


working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)