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| Richard III reburial: thousands expected to witness king's final journey | Richard III reburial: thousands expected to witness king's final journey |
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| The landscape of medieval church spires punctuating low hills, country lanes, and green pasture has changed surprisingly little since the last time the body of Richard III was carried back to Leicester from the site of the battle of Bosworth. On Sunday the circumstances of the slow journey, escorted by knights on horseback, prayed over by a bishop and many priests, greeted by people lining village streets and country lanes, will be very different. | |
| At noon, the cortege is due to leave the University of Leicester, where the archaeologists and academics have studied and guarded the monarch’s mortal remains since they were excavated from a council car park in August 2012. The procession has been organised so that Richard Buckley, the lead archaeologist on the project, and the legal guardian of the remains until he hands over responsibility at the door of the cathedral, can keep the coffin in his sight at all times. | At noon, the cortege is due to leave the University of Leicester, where the archaeologists and academics have studied and guarded the monarch’s mortal remains since they were excavated from a council car park in August 2012. The procession has been organised so that Richard Buckley, the lead archaeologist on the project, and the legal guardian of the remains until he hands over responsibility at the door of the cathedral, can keep the coffin in his sight at all times. |
| The first stop is at Fenn Lane, at the working farm where scatters of bullets and bits of broken horse harness and weaponry finally identified the marshy ground where the last Plantagenet king lost his horse, his helmet and then his life in the last hour of the battle of Bosworth, in August 1485. Regime change began according to legends of the battle when on a hill overlooking the battlefield, Henry Tudor was crowned with the circlet which fell from Richard’s dying head. | The first stop is at Fenn Lane, at the working farm where scatters of bullets and bits of broken horse harness and weaponry finally identified the marshy ground where the last Plantagenet king lost his horse, his helmet and then his life in the last hour of the battle of Bosworth, in August 1485. Regime change began according to legends of the battle when on a hill overlooking the battlefield, Henry Tudor was crowned with the circlet which fell from Richard’s dying head. |
| Later, thousands are expected to gather at the Bosworth Heritage Centre, where Richard’s army is believed to have camped on the eve of battle, for an open air service conducted by the Bishop of Leicester, Tim Stevens. | Later, thousands are expected to gather at the Bosworth Heritage Centre, where Richard’s army is believed to have camped on the eve of battle, for an open air service conducted by the Bishop of Leicester, Tim Stevens. |
| The procession will lead on through Sutton Cheney, where he is believed to have heard his last mass before the battle, through Dadlington, where hundreds of the dead from both sides lie buried in the village churchyard, and back to Leicester crossing Bow Bridge, the site of one of the most poignant legends. | The procession will lead on through Sutton Cheney, where he is believed to have heard his last mass before the battle, through Dadlington, where hundreds of the dead from both sides lie buried in the village churchyard, and back to Leicester crossing Bow Bridge, the site of one of the most poignant legends. |
| The last time his body was carried across the original narrow stone bridge, it would have been a horrific sight: he was in the words of Thomas More, “a miserable spectacle”. His dead body, stripped on the battlefield, bloody and battered , was slung over the back of a horse “like a hogge or a calfe, the head and armes hangyng on the one side of the horse and the legs on the other side”. | The last time his body was carried across the original narrow stone bridge, it would have been a horrific sight: he was in the words of Thomas More, “a miserable spectacle”. His dead body, stripped on the battlefield, bloody and battered , was slung over the back of a horse “like a hogge or a calfe, the head and armes hangyng on the one side of the horse and the legs on the other side”. |
| For centuries after tourists were shown “Richard’s stone”, said to have struck with his heel as he rode out to the battle in splendid armour, and knocked by his bloodied head as he was lugged back in ignominy. This time, the coffin will be transferred to a horse-drawn hearse, to lead the way to a service of compline, with a sermon from a Roman Catholic archbishop, Vincent Nicholls. It will then lie in the cathedral, guarded night and day, until the reburial service on Thursday. | For centuries after tourists were shown “Richard’s stone”, said to have struck with his heel as he rode out to the battle in splendid armour, and knocked by his bloodied head as he was lugged back in ignominy. This time, the coffin will be transferred to a horse-drawn hearse, to lead the way to a service of compline, with a sermon from a Roman Catholic archbishop, Vincent Nicholls. It will then lie in the cathedral, guarded night and day, until the reburial service on Thursday. |
| There has been passionate argument over every detail of the ceremonies, from the legal challenge by distant relatives who insisted he should have been buried in York, to those who found spending £2.5m on remodelling the cathedral and organising the event scandalous at a time of national austerity, to those who see Richard as such a villainous figure in history that he doesn’t deserve such attention and honour. Paul Lay, editor of History Today magazine, describes Richard as “one of the worst of all English monarchs, a usurper who ordered the killing of children”, and finds the fuss extraordinary. “What is being celebrated?” he asked. | There has been passionate argument over every detail of the ceremonies, from the legal challenge by distant relatives who insisted he should have been buried in York, to those who found spending £2.5m on remodelling the cathedral and organising the event scandalous at a time of national austerity, to those who see Richard as such a villainous figure in history that he doesn’t deserve such attention and honour. Paul Lay, editor of History Today magazine, describes Richard as “one of the worst of all English monarchs, a usurper who ordered the killing of children”, and finds the fuss extraordinary. “What is being celebrated?” he asked. |
| Bishop Stevens acknowledged Richard’s “contested reputation’” to the Guardian, but insisted that it was a privilege for everyone in Leicester to be part of what he called “the great drama of Richard III’s reinterment … a moment when as a nation we can touch a critical moment in our story, recalling the intense conflict of the Wars of the Roses, and the fundamental shift in the monarchy of the late Middle Ages.” | Bishop Stevens acknowledged Richard’s “contested reputation’” to the Guardian, but insisted that it was a privilege for everyone in Leicester to be part of what he called “the great drama of Richard III’s reinterment … a moment when as a nation we can touch a critical moment in our story, recalling the intense conflict of the Wars of the Roses, and the fundamental shift in the monarchy of the late Middle Ages.” |
| “In the great services that will mark his reinterment, we shall recall the events of Richard III’s life and death, we shall commend him to the mercy of God and we shall pray for the healing of the world’s conflicts in our own day. We want to ensure that King Richard III is buried with the dignity and honour which was not accorded him at the end of his life.” | “In the great services that will mark his reinterment, we shall recall the events of Richard III’s life and death, we shall commend him to the mercy of God and we shall pray for the healing of the world’s conflicts in our own day. We want to ensure that King Richard III is buried with the dignity and honour which was not accorded him at the end of his life.” |
| In 1485, after several days when his body was publicly exposed, Richard was buried in the long since demolished Greyfriars church by the Franciscans, who were either brave enough to claim the body, or to accept an order to get rid of a political embarrassment. They buried him in a position of honour near the high altar, but in a hasty improvised ceremony. The roughly dug grave was slightly too short even for Richard’s slight frame, and he apparently went into it naked. | In 1485, after several days when his body was publicly exposed, Richard was buried in the long since demolished Greyfriars church by the Franciscans, who were either brave enough to claim the body, or to accept an order to get rid of a political embarrassment. They buried him in a position of honour near the high altar, but in a hasty improvised ceremony. The roughly dug grave was slightly too short even for Richard’s slight frame, and he apparently went into it naked. |
| This time, the battered bones, still stained red from their centuries in the soil, and even the samples taken by the archaeologists for scientific analysis, were carefully laid into an English oak coffin in a private ceremony at the university a week ago. The coffin was made by the king’s 16th great nephew, the Canadian cabinet maker Michael Ibsen, whose DNA helped identify the remains. Inside an inner lead casket, the bones were laid out and packed into position with English wool and linen, and covered with an unbleached linen cloth hand embroidered with his white rose and white boar symbols. | This time, the battered bones, still stained red from their centuries in the soil, and even the samples taken by the archaeologists for scientific analysis, were carefully laid into an English oak coffin in a private ceremony at the university a week ago. The coffin was made by the king’s 16th great nephew, the Canadian cabinet maker Michael Ibsen, whose DNA helped identify the remains. Inside an inner lead casket, the bones were laid out and packed into position with English wool and linen, and covered with an unbleached linen cloth hand embroidered with his white rose and white boar symbols. |
| Nothing was found with the bones, not even the ring he must once have worn. What was first thought to be a medieval arrow lodged in his spine turned out to be a Roman nail that had already been in the ground centuries before his death. | Nothing was found with the bones, not even the ring he must once have worn. What was first thought to be a medieval arrow lodged in his spine turned out to be a Roman nail that had already been in the ground centuries before his death. |
| This time, after extensive discussion with the cathedral authorities, a set of rosary beads will be buried with him. They have been presented by John Ashdown Hill, the historian whose research inspired the writer Philllipa Langley to launch the hunt for what has proved to be his second last resting place. | This time, after extensive discussion with the cathedral authorities, a set of rosary beads will be buried with him. They have been presented by John Ashdown Hill, the historian whose research inspired the writer Philllipa Langley to launch the hunt for what has proved to be his second last resting place. |