UK Court: Richard III To Be Buried In Leicester
Nearly 530 years after the death of Richard III in battle, Britain’s high court ruled Friday that the king immortalized by Shakespeare as a misshapen, murderous villain is to be buried in Leicester, the city where his skeleton was found beneath a parking lot in 2012.
A judicial review concerning the final resting place of King Richard III has determined that the University of Leicester has the right to reinter the King's remains at Leicester Cathedral in England.
Richard III, who ruled England from 1483 to 1485, died at the Battle of Bosworth Field and was buried in a hasty grave in Leicester. The exact location was lost to history until 2012, when archaeologists on the hunt for the king's bones excavated a parking lot and found the skeleton, its spine bent with scoliosis and skull marred by battle wounds.
The decision, released May 23, is a response to a legal challenge by the Plantagenet Alliance, a group of indirect descendants and supporters who want a say in where King Richard III is reburied. The University of Leicester holds the excavation license for the King's grave, giving it the authority to reinter the bones under standard archaeological practice. [See Photos of the Search of King Richard III]
"I am absolutely delighted that the High Court has ruled that our exhumation license is valid," archaeologist Richard Buckley, who led the dig that made the discovery, said in a statement. "We may now make arrangements for the transfer of Richard III's remains from the University of Leicester to Leicester Cathedral where they may be reinterred with dignity and honor as befitting the last Plantagenet King of England."
The Ministry of Justice Secretary Chris Grayling echoed that delight in a statement today, though said he is "frustrated and angry that the Plantagenet Alliance a group with tenuous claims to being relatives of Richard III have taken up so much time and public money."
The court dismissed a competing campaign by some of the deposed monarch’s distant relations to have him interred in York, in northern England, which they argued had a stronger claim on his affections – and his bones.
“It is time for Richard III to be given a dignified reburial, and finally laid to rest,” the three justices who heard the case wrote, paving the way for the long-ago ruler to be interred in Leicester Cathedral.
The cathedral stands a stone’s throw from the site where, working off of old maps and improbable hopes, archaeologists dug in search of the last recorded place where Richard’s body was buried, beneath the floor of a lost medieval church. In an almost miraculous find in September 2012, on one of the few bits of land not built over in downtown Leicester, they unearthed the skeleton of an adult male who had clearly suffered grievous battle wounds.
DNA and other tests proved that the remains belonged to Richard, the final Plantagenet king and the last English monarch to die in combat. He was killed Aug. 22, 1485, at Bosworth Field, outside Leicester, in a climactic fight that ushered in the long reign of the Tudors, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.
Almost as soon as the remains were found, however, another battle broke out, over where they ought to be laid to rest.
“He fell here. He’s lain here for over 500 years. The cathedral is about 150 meters from the site of discovery,” Monteith said in a telephone interview.
Despite Richard’s strong ties to York, “as a king of England in medieval times he spent time all across England,” said Monteith. “He knew the city of York well, but he knew the city of Leicester well. He didn’t leave any will saying [where] he should be buried…. We’re simply doing what the law requires.”
In a statement, the Plantagenet Alliance expressed disappointment with the ruling but said it had tried its best to "persuade the decision-makers to reconsider public consultation regarding the final resting place of the last Plantagenet king of England."
Leicester Cathedral has already gone to some expense to prepare for a re-interment, tentatively scheduled for spring of next year. A new tomb will be erected in the heart of the church, replacing the existing memorial marker, and planning is underway on a solemn service befitting a man who was England’s “anointed king.”
The University's plan has long been to rebury Richard's bones in the Leicester Cathedral, and has released plans showing a spare raise tomb surrounded by stained-glass windows.
But the Plantagenet Alliance and others disapproved. Many said they would like to see the King reburied in York, a town where he spent much of his life.
"We believe that such an interment was the desire of King Richard in life," the Alliance wrote in a statement explaining their "King Richard III Campaign."
Richard III's posthumous fate raises passions, because the man himself has a bit of a cult following. Richard III enthusiasts, or Ricardians, are fascinated by the King and his reign and are often adamant about reclaiming him from the Shakespearian portrayal as a heartless, wicked villain.
A judicial review concerning the final resting place of King Richard III has determined that the University of Leicester has the right to reinter the King's remains at Leicester Cathedral in England.
Richard III, who ruled England from 1483 to 1485, died at the Battle of Bosworth Field and was buried in a hasty grave in Leicester. The exact location was lost to history until 2012, when archaeologists on the hunt for the king's bones excavated a parking lot and found the skeleton, its spine bent with scoliosis and skull marred by battle wounds.
The decision, released May 23, is a response to a legal challenge by the Plantagenet Alliance, a group of indirect descendants and supporters who want a say in where King Richard III is reburied. The University of Leicester holds the excavation license for the King's grave, giving it the authority to reinter the bones under standard archaeological practice. [See Photos of the Search of King Richard III]
"I am absolutely delighted that the High Court has ruled that our exhumation license is valid," archaeologist Richard Buckley, who led the dig that made the discovery, said in a statement. "We may now make arrangements for the transfer of Richard III's remains from the University of Leicester to Leicester Cathedral where they may be reinterred with dignity and honor as befitting the last Plantagenet King of England."
The Ministry of Justice Secretary Chris Grayling echoed that delight in a statement today, though said he is "frustrated and angry that the Plantagenet Alliance a group with tenuous claims to being relatives of Richard III have taken up so much time and public money."
The court dismissed a competing campaign by some of the deposed monarch’s distant relations to have him interred in York, in northern England, which they argued had a stronger claim on his affections – and his bones.
“It is time for Richard III to be given a dignified reburial, and finally laid to rest,” the three justices who heard the case wrote, paving the way for the long-ago ruler to be interred in Leicester Cathedral.
The cathedral stands a stone’s throw from the site where, working off of old maps and improbable hopes, archaeologists dug in search of the last recorded place where Richard’s body was buried, beneath the floor of a lost medieval church. In an almost miraculous find in September 2012, on one of the few bits of land not built over in downtown Leicester, they unearthed the skeleton of an adult male who had clearly suffered grievous battle wounds.
DNA and other tests proved that the remains belonged to Richard, the final Plantagenet king and the last English monarch to die in combat. He was killed Aug. 22, 1485, at Bosworth Field, outside Leicester, in a climactic fight that ushered in the long reign of the Tudors, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.
Almost as soon as the remains were found, however, another battle broke out, over where they ought to be laid to rest.
“He fell here. He’s lain here for over 500 years. The cathedral is about 150 meters from the site of discovery,” Monteith said in a telephone interview.
Despite Richard’s strong ties to York, “as a king of England in medieval times he spent time all across England,” said Monteith. “He knew the city of York well, but he knew the city of Leicester well. He didn’t leave any will saying [where] he should be buried…. We’re simply doing what the law requires.”
In a statement, the Plantagenet Alliance expressed disappointment with the ruling but said it had tried its best to "persuade the decision-makers to reconsider public consultation regarding the final resting place of the last Plantagenet king of England."
Leicester Cathedral has already gone to some expense to prepare for a re-interment, tentatively scheduled for spring of next year. A new tomb will be erected in the heart of the church, replacing the existing memorial marker, and planning is underway on a solemn service befitting a man who was England’s “anointed king.”
The University's plan has long been to rebury Richard's bones in the Leicester Cathedral, and has released plans showing a spare raise tomb surrounded by stained-glass windows.
But the Plantagenet Alliance and others disapproved. Many said they would like to see the King reburied in York, a town where he spent much of his life.
"We believe that such an interment was the desire of King Richard in life," the Alliance wrote in a statement explaining their "King Richard III Campaign."
Richard III's posthumous fate raises passions, because the man himself has a bit of a cult following. Richard III enthusiasts, or Ricardians, are fascinated by the King and his reign and are often adamant about reclaiming him from the Shakespearian portrayal as a heartless, wicked villain.
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