latest news about Richard

A skeleton found beneath a Leicester car park has been confirmed as that of English king Richard III.

Richard III dig: DNA confirms bones are king's:

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

Richard III dig: University to release DNA results:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-21292381

Richard III dig: 'Strong evidence' bones are lost king:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-19561018

Richard III's scarred skeleton becomes a battlefield for academics: (contains an image showing his severe scoliosis

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/feb/04/richard-third-skeleton-confirmed-leicester

Remains of King Richard III: Analysis by Dr Steven Gunn, University of Oxford

After the battle of Bosworth Henry VII didn't want anyone claiming that they were Richard III and had survived the battle.

Richard's body was taken to Leicester, slung naked over the back of a horse, and publicly displayed so people could see he was dead.

But there was the problem of how and where to bury him - what seems likely is that they wanted to avoid anything that would generate a posthumous cult.

There was a tradition in medieval England that people who were political victims then became popular saints. They wouldn't have wanted to bury him in York, where he was very popular.

Greyfriars was convenient and safe. Henry VII put steps in action for a tomb to be built, and the inscription was to be ambivalent, and in some ways rude about Richard III, talking about his nephews and indicating that he wasn't a very good king. There is evidence that people talked about him being buried there.

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a short summary from Wikipedia:

Richard III

King of England

Reign: 26 June 1483 – 22 August 1485

Coronation: 6 July 1483

Predecessor : Edward V

Successor: Henry VII

Consort: Anne Neville

Issue:

Edward of Middleham

John of Gloucester (illegitimate)

Katherine Plantagenet (illegitimate)

House: House of York

Father: Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York

Mother: Cecily Neville, Duchess of York

Born: 2 October 1452

Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire

Died: 22 August 1485 (aged 32)

Bosworth Field, Leicestershire

Burial: Greyfriars (Franciscan Friary), Leicester; for reburial in Leicester Cathedral 2014

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"Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat at the Battle of Bosworth Field was the decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses and is sometimes regarded as the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the subject of an eponymous play by William Shakespeare."

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Wikipedia links:

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other links:

http://www.britroyals.com/kings.asp?id=richard3

http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/plantagenet_14.htm

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2614

http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLAND,%20Kings%201066-1603.htm#RichardIIIdied1485

http://www.geneall.net/U/per_page.php?id=2144

http://histfam.familysearch.org/getperson.php?personID=I1146&tree=EuropeRoyalNobleHous

http://histfam.familysearch.org/getperson.php?personID=I5290&tree=Nixon

http://histfam.familysearch.org/getperson.php?personID=I85759&tree=Welsh

http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/richard3.htm

http://thepeerage.com/p10163.htm#i101628

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