Richard III Suffered an Ignominious Burial, Researchers Find

An anonymous reader writes "Richard III may have been the King of England and the subject of a Shakespearean play, but even that couldn't keep him safe from ending up in a hastily-dug grave that ultimately became part of a parking lot, according to a new study published in the journal Antiquity."

Comments

I guess he started to stink . . .

[PolygamousRanchKid]

FTA:

the late king’s body was reportedly stripped naked, despoiled and publicly displayed for three days before it was buried

. . . and someone was in a rush to get what was left of him underground . . . lest his remains doth starteth to again walk . . .

Re:I guess he started to stink . . .

[rgmoore]

For honored dead, it was called lying in state, for dishonored it was parading the body, but in both cases the reason was the same: to get as many witnesses as possible to the fact the person was well and truly dead. Otherwise, there would be persistent rumors that they were still alive, people pretending to be them (or their children born after their official date of death), and the like. So it was gruesome but completely practical.

And it's not as if the need for this kind of thing has completely gone away. There are still people who are rumored to be alive long after their deaths, like Elvis Presley. In the fight against terrorism, there have been several cases where the US has published pictures of the obviously dead bodies of prominent enemies as a way of proving they're actually dead, and there was considerable speculation among conspiracy theorists about why Osama bin Laden's body was disposed of so quickly.

Re:News for nerds

[osu-neko]

Your "dupe" has no information about the conditions of his burial, which is the main point of this May 25th article.

Richard III's Final Words

[A. I. Agent]

A hearse, a hearse, my kingdom for a hearse.

Re:in otherwords

[bruce_the_loon]

No. It took researchers months to write an article, get it proof-read, submitted to a journal, peer-reviewed and finally published in the journal.

A bit of perspective folks...

[Anonymous Coward]

Remember that the new King, Henry Tudor, hereafter referred to as that Evil Bastard Henry VII (EBH7) dated his accession to the throne to the day BEFORE the battle of Bosworth, thus rendering those followers of Richard III who remaied loyal to the end traitors to the crown, and that the turncoats who ensured his victory would make sure they heaped as many indignities in the corpse of their former king as possible to demonstrate their loyalty to EBH7.

Given these circumstances, its entirely reasonable that the interrment of Richard would be done as quickly as possible, at the first opportunity that the body would not be missed. Originally the grave was in the church of the Grey Friars, probably in front of an altar and would have been deep enough not to cause "offence". It may have been hastily prepared and thus not quite the right size for Richard, but rather than indicating that the scenario was "ignominious", it shows that his remaining supporters wanted to bury him in a holy place, away from the vengance of EBH7s new supporters. Given the time constraints and the location, speed would have been of the essence. Just because it wasn't a State Funeral doesn't mean that it would not have been done without reverence. The fact that the site ended up as a car park can be indirectly ascribed to the activities of EBH7s son, Henry VIII who dissolved the monasteries, friaries, etc.

We're lucky that the grave still exists. Part of the foundations of a Victorian brick privy intrude into the burial site, a few feet further and he would have been completely obliterated.

Unanswered question

[antifoidulus]

Well, after reviewing the research one question still remains unanswered, did he at least get a good spot in the parking lot?

Re:Unanswered question

[Chris Mattern]

But being buried in a parking garage would be wrong on so many *more* levels.

I'd rather not be a 'king'.

[SternisheFan]

I'd take living in this modern life as a 'peon' any day over being any royal person in history. We live better than any kings and queens of yore. We have modern plumbing and sanitation instead of having to defecate into holes, and nothing beats a hot shower on demand. In the 1400's the average english person took a bath every 7 years, the world was filled with dirty smelly people. Heat and air conditioning on demand, not cold castle walls. We can get to anyplace in the world in a matter of hours, not yearlong odyessee's. Only royalty got to wear the color purple, today we have the full spectrum of color available. Disease and plagues are not something to be feared as back then, healthcare today is top-notch. And all the world's knowledge is all available on your portable phone, there's no need to live in ignorance provided by royal magical wisemen. We live better and longer than kings and queens of history ever did. This story, repeat though it is here, reminds me to be grateful for the marvelous lives we lead today, the best time in all of history to be alive.

Re:Hastily-dug?

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

Sure. I performed an experiment called Read The Fucking Article (RTFA), which yielded this curious observation:

First of all, the grave Richard III was placed in was “badly prepared,” which, the researchers from the University of Leicester said, suggests gravediggers were in something of a rush to get the corpse underground.

It was found approximately 73 mm from the entrance to TFA, not very far in. Note the use of the phrase "First of all", which provides supporting evidence that it was near the entrance.

Re:Nope

[Hognoxious]

I went to middle school in the middle ages, you insensitive clod!

Now get thee hence and tread not upon mine herbery.

Re:in otherwords

[cusco]

Actually undisturbed soil retains its structure pretty well, and soil disturbed by burrowers like earthworms and moles only slightly less well. After the first six inches the ground remains pretty much untouched by anything but roots (which are transient and obvious phenomena) for thousands to millions of years. I've personally been to archeological excavations where you can clearly see the individual shovel and pick marks from a thousand or more years ago. The Burgess Shale shows silt layers from individual rainstorms 520 million years ago.