T h e B o n e s o f a K i n g T h e B o n e s o f a K i n g richard iii rediscovered The Greyfriars Research Team with Maev Kennedy and Lin Foxhall This edition first published 2015 © 2015 University of Leicester Registered Office John Wiley & sons, Ltd, The atrium, southern gate, Chichester, West sussex, Po19 8sQ, UK Editorial Offices 350 Main street, Malden, Ma 02148‐5020, Usa 9600 garsington Road, oxford, oX4 2DQ, UK The atrium, southern gate, Chichester, West sussex, Po19 8sQ, UK for details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley‐blackwell. 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Cover image: Boar badge of Richard iii, discovered at Bosworth field © Leicestershire County Council Museums service; Background image © clearviewstock / istockphoto. Cover design by simon Levy set in 10.5/13pt galliard by sPi Publisher services, Pondicherry, india 1 2015 C o n t e n t s Illustrations vi The Greyfriars Research Team ix Acknowledgements xii 1 Investigating the Bones of a King 1 2 So How Did He Get There? (rb, mm) 5 3 The Bigger Picture 35 4 The Bones Tell Their Tale 57 5 Who was Richard? 78 6 The Cousins in the Swabs (tk, ks) 109 7 What Did Richard Look Like? 127 8 The Big Announcement 139 9 The Afterlife of Richard III and the City That Never Forgot 158 10 Richard Laid to Rest 174 Appendix 1 191 Appendix 2 209 Index 211 I l l u s t r at I o n s Figures 2.1 Section of the Rous manuscript showing description of Richard III’s burial place. British Library, MS Cotton Vespasian A XII, folio 137r. 11 2.2 Section of medieval stone wall in New Street car park that may have belonged to the friary. 13 2.3 Plan of the Greyfriars excavations. 17 2.4 Epitaph from Richard III’s gravestone set up by Henry VII, in Ellesmere 1129 manuscript. 27 3.1 Plan of Greyfriars friary, Walsingham. 39 3.2 Plan of Greyfriars friary, Carmarthen. 40 3.3 Section of Harley manuscript 433, showing the promise of a chantry college of 100 priests to York Minster. 54 4.1 Diagram showing the angle of entry of the weapons used in attacking Richard III. 66 5.1 Fotheringhay castle mound, with the church in the background. 80 5.2 Fotheringhay church. 81 5.3 Simplified genealogy of the families of York and Lancaster. 85 Illustrations vii 5.4 Fotheringhay church, the monuments of Duke Richard (L) and Duke Edward (R), either side of the high altar. 103 5.5 Fotheringhay church, monument of Duke Edward. 104 5.6 Fotheringhay church, bronze tassel on Duke Edward’s original monument, underneath the Elizabethan monument. 105 5.7 Talbot Inn, Oundle, the staircase down which Mary Queen of Scots is said to have walked. 106 6.1 Genealogical links between Richard III and modern‐day relatives who participated in the project. 125 Maps 2.1 Reconstruction of the centre of Medieval Leicester. 8 5.1 Key places in the Wars of the Roses. 83 5.2 Survey finds in the area of Bosworth. 100 Plates 1 Thomas Roberts’s eighteenth‐century map of Leicester 2 The initial stages of the Greyfriars excavation, August 2012 3 Greyfriars excavation, the east end of the church showing the difference in level between presbytery and choir 4 Greyfriars excavation, Jo Appleby and Turi King excavating Skeleton 1 5 Greyfriars excavation, the skull emerging from the soil 6 Greyfriars excavation, Skeleton 1 in the grave viii Illustrations 7 Reconstruction of the late medieval town of Leicester, c.1450 8 Scan of the spine 9 Skeleton of Richard III 10 Wound to the upper jaw 11 Injuries on the dome of the skull 12 Injury on the saggital suture of the skull 13 Wounds to base of skull 14 Cut injury to rib 15 Cut injury to pelvis 16 Vertebrae showing signs of asymmetry 17 M emorial wall plaque to Anne, Duchess of Exeter, and Sir Thomas St Leger 18 Michael Ibsen and Wendy Duldig 19 Labwork on DNA 20 Richard III and his wife, Anne, from the Salisbury Roll 21 Richard III. Portrait from the Royal Collection Trust 22 Richard III. Portrait from the Society of Antiquaries 23 A facial reconstruction of King Richard III, unveiled by the Richard III Society on 5 February 2013 in London, England 24 Press conference 4 February 2013, the view from the platform