User:Prioryman/Richard III FA blurb



The exhumation of Richard III of England (pictured) and his subsequent reburial in Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015 took place over 500 years after his death at the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was originally buried in Leicester's Greyfriars Friary, but the site of his grave was forgotten some time after the friary was demolished. It was generally believed that his bones had been thrown into the nearby River Soar. In September 2012, an archaeological excavation took place at the friary's site and discovered the skeleton of a man with a spinal deformity and severe head injuries. He appeared to have been hastily buried without a coffin in a crudely cut grave. Analysis of the bones showed that he had been killed by edged weapons cutting open his skull and piercing his brain. DNA and carbon-14 tests confirmed that the skeleton was that of Richard III. Leicester Cathedral was chosen as the site of Richard's reburial, though some argued that York Minster or Westminster Abbey would be more suitable locations. The reinterment in an ecumenical Christian service at the cathedral and the unveiling of his tomb was scheduled for the end of a week's commemorations. (Full article...)