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Subscribe to RSSThe bones of Richard III have been discovered in Leicester. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.
The fight over the final disposition of King Richard III's 528-year-old remains has escalated to the point that people are sending hate mail to York's cathedral, the police are being called in to investigate, and a member of Parliament is pleading with the rivals to avoid sparking another "War of the Roses."
On strictly legal grounds, the matter was resolved even before the remains were unearthed in a parking lot near Leicester Cathedral last year. Britain's Justice Ministry granted researchers from the University of Leicester a license to conduct the excavation there and to determine the disposition of any human remains found there.
Last month, the researchers announced that a skeleton found at the site belonged to Richard III, based on DNA tests. The discovery resolved a longstanding mystery over what happened to Richard's remains after his death in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. That battle marked a turning point in the Wars of the Roses, a decades-long contest between the houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne.
Richard III has gotten a bad rap through the centuries — in part because William Shakespeare's play about the monarch cast him as a hunchbacked villain. But historians say he wasn't that terrible of a guy, and since last month's announcement, Richard III's fans have been arguing over whether he should be reburied in Leicester, where he was found; in York, where he had family ties; or in London's Westminster Abbey, the resting place for many of England's kings.
The University of Leicester is already working to arrange a burial at Leicester Cathedral next year, but some of the opponents of that plan — including nine descendants of Richard III's siblings — have taken up York's case. The arguments are apparently getting uglier: Hugh Bayley, a member of Parliament representing York Central, said that York Minster's dean, Vivienne Faull, has received some letters "so extreme that she has referred the correspondence to the police."
Faull was dean of Leicester Cathedral before coming to York, and she has shied away from contesting Leicester's claim to the remains. "It has been suggested that opponents have accused her of bias because of her previous links to Leicester Cathedral," The Telegraph reported.
The Yorkshire Post quoted a spokesman for the Dean and Chapter of York as confirming that "a small number" of the letters relating to the fuss over Richard III's remains have been abusive. "These have been passed to the Minster Police, and they continue to monitor the situation closely," the spokesman was quoted as saying.
The British government's current view is that Richard III's final disposition is up to the University of Leicester, but during Tuesday's speech in the House of Commons, Bayley urged the government to establish an independent commission to decide the matter. In the meantime, he called for what Shakespeare might have termed "some little pause" in the battle.
“I would say to everybody — calm down," Bayley said. "Let us all respect the memory of a former king of our country, and let us discuss, in a dignified and sober way, where his remains should finally be put to rest. We do not want to reignite the Wars of the Roses.”
More about Richard III:
- Study suggests Richard III spoke with a lilt
- King Richard III's face revealed after 500 years
- Richard III's 'discovery' was reported in 1935, too
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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Now is the winter of their discontent! Hopefully, they find a glorious summer soon...
lolol indeed. Fighting over a 582 year old set of bones... I do believe they need to find something else to do.
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How darest they conceive thy bones!
Lol! I laughed so hard when I saw your comment and profile. Good one
All this over a dead guy in a parking lot? The British crown is nothing but a mafia. They consider you and me as the "little people".
They did sire. I will plea with the townfolk to put you where you rightfully should be, right there 6 foot down under a handicap spot, perfer it be the one next to the ramp.
Would not be the first (or last) time someone was buried under a parkign lot!
Puts a whole new spin on the phrase, "Too soon?"
Let's not forget, he did murder his nephews. But, the Kings and Queens of England have always been murderers.
John,
He didn't just murder his nephews, he had them declared bastards and therefore not eligible to become King leaving him as the natural successor. This, after his brother had him appointed Lord Protector to run things until the oldest child were old enough to be crowned.
I say put him back in the parking lot.
John, not as bad as the carnage daily in Chicago! LOL King and Queens, indeed have Killed but Governments, like America, had committed mass murder without conscience in the name of "Fight for your Country and false freedom and liberty". Non are spared from guilt. May God and Satan spend little time arguing over their worthless souls! Thou shall not kill is the law of the land and earth!
igby - give it a rest. this is not reallly what the article is about. THough I admit it's better than findiing the usual off-topic out of RIght field mindlesss Obama hate.
igby, Richard III may or may not have been a bad guy, but in our time America certainly has a President who wants to be a dictator! Wish we could ship him over to Venezuela where they lost theirs!
@igby -- You clearly have a issue -- and offer some "impassioned" words about your own agenda -- but you are more than a liitle of topic --@ Mark from." Why must some people make everything into a pity political attack. This has nothing to do with your narrow-minded hate of your better educated fellow citizens. Please, folks -- try to stay on topic.
Hate mail over a ancient skeleton?
Is it any wonder why the English were thrown out of every part of the world they tried (and often succeeded) to screw up?
Happy St. Patrick's Day.
I smell empire envy here LOL. At least we had one (:
It is true many of the problems we have in the world today can be followed back to the British Empire.
And to organized religions, especially the Roman Catholic Church.
...and being encouraged to follow a socialist agenda which always seems to become a totalitarian system ruled by one leader, like: stalin, lenin, chavez, obama.... it's always the same when you go down that path!
Even the Roman Empire came to to an end --but they did have a good run ..anyways..back to the topic...
Westminster Abby gets my vote...
Good idea - let's get emotional & bent out of shape over the remains of a guy whose been dead more than 1/2 a millennium. Great plan. Kill somebody.
Getting emotional & bent out of shape would be a way to honor his memory.
ElkMeadow
"getting emotional & bent out of shape would be a way to" DISHONOR your own memory. You mean to tell me they have nothing better to do with their time and/or nothing more important in this world to fight over or fight for than the remains of someone who has come and gone more than HALF A MILLENNIUM ago? Richard III lived his own life in his own time, whether good or bad... Its time these people did the same. Stop living in the past! I am quite sure Richard doesn't care lol
@Bella-Angel: Yes, very well put. Seems some folks just have too much time on their hands and have to "fight" over something that has little if anything to do with them -- and especually when in many case, they have little, if any real knowledge about the subject...moving on.
Bury him in York. He was from there and wanted to be buried there.
Good point -- he is "a son of York"...
I thought America was the only nation who fought about Stupid $hit like this. Wrong again.
as a human species, we are not happy about anything, personally I rather have a King or Queen, than those ugly Goverments that do worse
Todays Goverments are murderers, thieves don't care about country or people. Just to fill their own pockets
He should be buried in the York Minster, after all he is a son of York not Leicester. He was only there for the battle. Most notables were returned to their home for burial, and so should Richard II.
anderson, f richard II he's already been burried for coming on 600 years now, this article is about richard III and the miscarraige of justice that he's been subjected to you testicle. If this had happened to a member of your family you'd be a lot more sympoahttic about the real issues involved here which are qquite explosive in nature and if not handled rigfht could drag other countries and nation-states into this terrilbe and regretable conflict. i continue to hope forthe respite of the king's good name and wish his family the best during their time of mourning and may the guilty-parties involvved in this crime come forward and accept the punishments that they've so richly earned and now deserve.
I this talk about kings makes me think of Obama
Why? We've had George I, George II and George III, but not in sequential order.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/bush-claims-more-powers-than-king-george-iii/9119
While it is a strongly held belief that Richard III imprisoned his nephews and had them killed – to secure the throne for himself -- there is in fact no hard proof that this happened (or at the very least as we have come to think it happened -- there is some "evidence" that these boys might have died at another time or place) -- After all, the main “history’” most of us have about this man is what was written by William Shakespeare in a play, and he was working under the “support and favor” of the Royals of his own day – These royals had reason to want to make Richard come off as a villain. Less we forget – Richard was defected in battle and killed – the victors take the “spoiling’ and they write the "history"as they seen fit to do. While some of what we think or know of Richard III may be in fact true (the bones found suggest his did have a spinal deformity, for example) -- Was he any bettter or worst than any other royal figure of those days? Royals thru out history have been known to oppress, kill, behead, and otherwise do “harm” to those they ruled over or found to be a rival to their own power and interests (Henry VIII and Elizabeth I are just two examples that come to mind). How are we to know what is true fact, real history and what is PR when it comes to Richard III? I have no right to offer an opinion as to where his remains should be placed -- But I will say I am amazed that the images of him seen in artwork or deplicted by actors in the theatre over the years seem to be fairly close to the forensic 'recreation" of his face, based on the skull found. May justice finally be done and this matter come to a peaceful and speedy conclusion.
LitterHater-
"Cullion" might be a more era-appropriate aspersion.
The Plantagenets were a good family to be from -- far away from. Even before the Lancastrian-Yorkian schism, the Plantagenets had ample history of doing great damage to themselves and greater damage to their country, all in the fulfillment of ambition. If Richard III did not kill his nephews, the nature of the court he supported provided no shortage of ambitious and discontented gentlemen to do his direct, indirect, or imagined bidding. If he was as intelligent as put forth, he would have been too aware of the quicksand foundation of loyalty within any of the earlier Plantagenet courts and provided better security for himself.
I'm not sure that York deserves the punishment of yet another son of York, but Ireland didn't deserve the punishment of any of the Plantagenets, so "deserve" has little to do with it.
anotherm, there's a reason why richard III wanted to keep moronic statements like yours restrained to underground pamphlets that carried the penalty of deatrh for their holders, because its complete b.s. propogated by the house of lancaster and its minions who were jealous of the long and storied history that the platangent family had enjoyed brining england to its place of prominence on the world stage and advancing the interests of its people to degrees which had never before been matched and were never to be seen again in the history of the nation. if you dare to speak so boldly about the errors that richard III's family made than go ahead and propose how you would have done things better you venemous strumpet. the true king will rise again and when he does we will have no time for foolish bellligerants like yourself who would set back the english empire to the time of king alfred the "great" so please go ahead and tell the french how their chambers of government sould be run because only they would be stupid enough to actually listen to someone as throughoughly ignorant as yourself.
DANG litterhater - issues much?
Oh, for God's sake - what difference does it make where he's buried? I say put him on display at the British Museum.
well debp thankfully you don't have a say in this then because that'd be a entirely undignified way to remember on of britain's great national heroes. Why not just install his skull as a keg tap at a local bar in york then and use his leg-bones as pool cues? i'd previosuly thought that ignorant people like you would never be able to figure out how to access the internet but unfortauntely it seems like you morons have evolved and that truly makes this a sad day for our great nation.
How many skeletons and mummies are in the British Museum, shouldn't they be given respect too?
sea2s, none of those corpses did anything meaningful in lifeother than dying in a spot where they could be preserved so no they aren't due the level of revverance that this man's remains are and therefore can be sported around exhibits whereever and nobody will think twice of it although if their family members come to claim them then obviously they need to go home. when you're a man of richard III's standing and characcter hwoever you cannot simply be thrown up on a corner-wall of the third floor of the british display for sixth-ggrade punks to fake dry-hump when museum security isn't looking becuase that would be disrespecting his very fine legacy, surely even an uncivilized wretch like yoursself can understand that right?
I agree. They have King Tut's remains in a museum too --while it is interesting to look at and to get a sense of history and life (and death) from other times and places -- Is it really right or fair? Does it show a lack of respect for those who came before us? Would you want your own remains or those of your own dearly deported treated in such a way?
In an Irish pub sounds like a good idea. Prop him up in the corner and put a pint in his hand. Richard #2 is a favorite to peasants.
as per usual it is never the dead who are the problem but the living--who may actually just as dead anyway....
Just put him in with Osama bin laden, and stick him in the giant warehouse where nobody will find him. It worked to the ark of the covenent.
Great is the abuse that humanity has suffered on account of those that hold themselves "royal"! It is not surprising that where ever a priviledged class of people is invented that out of the priviledge the right to abuse their fellow human beings arises. I seriously doubt the wisdom of ascribing any priviledge to anyone for anything other than what they have earned and even in that only what is reasonable and not abusive to others!
And a Monty Python and the Holy Grail clip for you!
"A little bit of political satire on systems of government"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xd_zkMEgkI
The Brits and their royals... There's a lesson here folks...
And hey, I like Prince Charles although he tried to domesticate a wildcat in Diana... Neither were bad sorts, just ill-matched... And Lizzy is the control freak...
Trying to grab for a little tourist money. A very little...
I think they could solve their problems by selling his remains to the town of Lake Havasu, Arizona.
I am a decedent of King Richard III and I would think that no matter where he is finally buried it does not matter. I would say, I would hope that he would be buried either at where he was born. Or at a burial site that would give meaning to his life and death which, I believe would have show something to the way he lived... I pray for the barial of the king....