Only 4 days to go until possibly the most important announcement any Ricardian might ever experience: are the human remains found in Leicester those of Richard III?
All will be revealed on Monday, 4 Feb 2013, at 10h00 UK time and 21h00 AEST.
In Australia we are ahead of most of the rest of the world – except for our friends across the ditch in New Zealand.
For us, it is only 5 days to go until possibly the most important announcement any Ricardian might ever experience: are the human remains found in Leicester those of Richard III?
I would like to apologise to Susan Higginbotham, whose brilliant idea I have unashamedly “borrowed”.
Obviously we are all waiting impatiently for the revelations of the press conference on 4 February 2013, which should tell us whether the human remains found in Leicester are indeed those of King Richard III.
During this time, last Sunday’s (27 Jan 2013) History Cold Case on SBS was of special interest. It dealt with the skeleton of a man found in Stirling Castle in the 1990s. It is thought that the remains are from a man who died in the 14th or 15th century and was buried in a former chapel of the castle. The aim of the project was to find out, who the man might have been, how he died and why he was buried in the castle.
The tests carried out on the ‘Stirling Warrior’ are in many aspects similar to those carried out on the remains found in Leicester, including a reconstruction of the face and body of the knight. When seeing his face, you can imagine coming across a man looking like this with the physique of possibly a rugby player. The facial anthropologists, who made the facial reconstruction of the man in Scotland, Caroline Wilkinson of the University of Dundee, also made the reconstruction of the man found in Leicester.
They also carried out isotope tests, which revealed where the man had grown up. And with the help of original records kept at the National Archives it was even possible to tentatively name him. Of special interest was a barbed arrowhead found with the ‘Stirling Warrior’, as a similar arrowhead was found in Leicester as well.
Though the actual science aspect was possibly somewhat skimmed over in the interest of telling a story and lots of aerial shots of a car driving over a bridge, it is still an interesting insight into what can be done and what we can expect the press conference on 4 February to reveal.
Should you have missed the programme, you can still catch it on SBS On Demand, which is what I did on yesterday’s rained out afternoon. You might also be interested in reading an article on the programme from BBC News.
Tags: Leicester, Richard III, Scotland
We have heard a lot about Michael Ibsen, who as John Ashdown-Hill established is a descendant of Richard’s sister Anne in a direct all-female line. His DNA was to be compared to the DNA the scientists were hoping to extract from the remains found in Leicester in September 2012.
However, DNA does mutate over time and generations, so the scientists were not sure whether a DNA comparison between Michael Ibsen and the remains would be conclusive. That is why genealogists from the University of Leicester have been searching for an alternative line of descent. It has now been revealed that they were indeed successful in tracing another descendant.
However, whether this second line of descent confirms that the remains are those of Richard III or not, will only be revealed at the eagerly anticipated press conference on 4 February 2013.
Natasha Sheldon, ‘The Secrets of the Bones: DNA Analysis and the Search for Richard III’, Decoded Science (27 Jan 2013). URL: http://www.decodedscience.com/dna-analysis-and-the-search-for-richard-iii/24792 Date accessed: 28 Jan 2013
Just a short note to our members: The March Bulletin will be delayed by about one month to allow full coverage of the findings, which are due to be announced in Leicester on 4 Feb.
However, there will be a Bulletin Extra as soon as possible after 4 Feb to bring us all the very latest, as well as a registration form for the conference on 2 March. This Bulletin Extra will be emailed to members, who have supplied us with an email address, and posted by snail mail to the others.
This morning, when I first switched my computer on, there were two emails waiting for me from my friend Renate, which really made my day:
It has just been announced that the much anticipated press conference to reveal the results of the scientific and archaeological investigations carried out on the male human remains found during the dig in Leicester, has been scheduled for Monday, 4 February 2013, at 10h00 UK time – this means 21h00 Australian EST.
Channel 4 will broadcast the documentary on ‘Richard III: The King in the Car Park’ at 21h00 UK time on the same day, which means 8h00 on 5 February 2013 Australian EST.
‘Date set for Search for Richard III press conference’, University of Leicester (23 Jan 2013).
‘Richard III: The King in the Car Park’, Channel 4 Press Info (23 Jan 2013).
Tags: Leicester, Leicester Greyfriars Dig, Media, Richard III
Thursday, 31 January 2013, sees the official launch of Isolde Martyn’s much anticipated new novel Mistress to the Crown, about Edward IV’s mistress “Jane Shore”.
‘What joy to find a novel that blends sound research with a love story that, on its own would attract a wealth of romance readers. Isolde Martyn links her skill as an award-winning novelist with her depth of historical knowledge to reveal the life and loves of Elizabeth Lambard (Mistress Shore), and presents her as one of the strongest, most accomplished, lovely and lovable women of the 15th century. It’s fact and fiction at its best, a must-have for your bookshelves.’
Julia Redlich, Former Fiction Editor of Woman’s Day; Secretary of the New South Wales Branch of the Richard III Society
We all remember Isolde’s previous novels The Lady and the Unicorn (1996) and The Silver Bride (2002), both of which also play during the Wars of the Roses. Isolde is a member and former chairperson of our branch. Incidentally it was The Silver Bride, which brought me to the NSW branch of the Richard III Society.
If you can make it to Sydney, all members of the Richard III Society are very welcome to attend the launch, but please let Isolde know if you are attending.
Booklaunch for Mistress to the Crown
When: Thursday, 31 January 2013; 18h00 for 18h30 start
Where: Shearer’s Bookshop (beneath Palace Cinema), Norton Street, Leichhardt
RSVP: isolde@isoldemartyn.com (by 21 January 2013)
Looking forward to seeing you there! And of course making the acquaintance of the Mistress to the Crown.
Tags: Books, Edward IV, Elizabeth Lambert
As announced yesterday, last night, or rather early this morning Australian time, The One Show on BBC 1 had a short item on the Greyfriars Dig. Of course, as soon as possible I sneaked into the BBC iPlayer and watched the programme. The format of The One Show is light early evening infotainment. There was an item on car clampers in public car parks and another about an upcoming second series of a TV programme, but after about 20 minutes they came to the car park story I was interested in.
The item on Richard was presented by Dan Snow, who is referred to on the show’s website as “Our history man”. Initially he had a short rather fat and bend-over man standing next to him, who was supposed to be Richard, so I started fearing the worst. However, my fears were premature. The programme itself was objectively presented, scoliosis was explained as a lateral curvature of the spine. Dan first interviewed Richard Buckley, who explained where they found the remains. He then had a chat with Michaeil Ibsen, Richard’s great great great …. nephew, at the Bosworth Battlefield Centre. There were also some re-enactors fighting with each other, the one side proudly displaying their white boars, Richard’s emblem.
After the item the hosts of the show asked Dan of his opinion whether the remains were those of Richard. Dan said that through his talks with the experts he had been convinced that it is indeed Richard. He also mentioned that the Minister of Justice is supposed to announce next week, where Richard (if it is him) would be reburied.
Dan also said that Richard had had very bad PR and though “he may have had his nephews killed”, this was fairly insignificant compared to what other kings before and after him were up to. He also stressed that Shakespeare painted Richard as dark as possible as he lived in Tudor times.
The whole segment finished with a short clip from Richard III with Laurence Olivier.
Though the programme did not offer any new insight to anyone who has been following the developments, it would have been a concise informative item for those who were not approaching it with any special interest. However, The One Show is not aimed at medieval history buffs, so for its target audience it was not a bad programme.
Tags: Leicester, Leicester Greyfriars Dig, Media, Richard III
The University of Leicester has announced that the results of the test being carried out on the human remains found during the Greyfriars Dig will be published in the first week of February.
The tests are being concluded at present and will then be analysed. A press conference by the University of Leicester has provisionally been scheduled for the first week of February to announce the conclusions of its investigations.
Though this is a bit later than we had maybe originally hoped, at least we now have an a bit more definite date. The important thing is that the tests are done thoroughly and their results hold up to scrutiny in years to come. Not that we end up with a situation like with the examination of the bones in Westminster Cathedral, claimed to be those of the Princes, where the results do not hold up to today’s scrutiny.
Tags: Archaeology, Leicester, Leicester Greyfriars Dig, Richard III
Undoubtedly, once the test results of the human remains found during the Greyfriars Dig in Leicester have been announced, a renewed discussion of Richard III’s reign will break out.
In preparation for this, the Richard III Society has issued a Press Release on Richard’s ‘Achievements as King of England’. It offers an interesting insight into how many of the legal issues we take for granted today go back to Richard’s short reign. An example for this is shown in an article on ‘Richard III’s Effect on US Laws’.
If only all of our politicians were as genuinely interest in the law and a committed to the fair administration of justice for all!
You can find the Press Release here.
And the article on his effect on US Laws here (and thank you, Renate, for reminding me of this article!).
Tags: Politics, Richard III
