I’m pretty sure that by now everybody will have heard the news that the human remains found in the Leicester car park DO belong to King Richard III, the last Plantagenet King. I’ve been following this ‘adventure’ from the start with trepidation and I’m so terribly pleased that all the hard work has paid up and all the hopes have been fulfilled. I’ve called it ‘adventure’ because it seemed to me like that at the beginning, too good to be true. But during the press conference this morning when all the scientific experts explained their modus operandi and then their findings, I realized how many efforts had been into this project. I won’t go into details, if you interested you can get more precise information from the University of Leicester website http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2013/february/university-of-leicester-announces-discovery-of-king-richard-iii or watch the documentary on Channel 4 tonight.
I have been passionate about the Wars of the Roses
for most of my life. I think it all started with an Italian TV adaptation in
black and white of The Black Arrow by Louis Stevenson that I watched when I was
really very little. I remember vividly the last episode of the series. It was
the first time I heard Richard, the Duke of Gloucester (later to become King Richard III) mentioned. It was a brief glimpse of
this Italian actor playing the King depicted with the ‘usual’ Shakespearian
hunchback (we will get a revenge on you, William, the first spin doctor of
history!) but it was enough to fuel my imagination.
And then I grew up learning
English history, studying English literature (and yes especially the wonderful
words of the Tudor propagandist William Shakespeare) until I ended up living in
Yorkshire, the heart and soul of Richard, where he is still much beloved. I
started reading about Plantagenets and Tudors again and visiting the locations
of their history. My fascination became love and my love became passion. And
with some suggestions my dear friend MG (who recommended me some beautiful books,
among them The Daughter of Time and The Sunne In Spendour), I read more ‘alternative’ stories about
Richard III that opened my mind and made me think differently about this much denigrated
King. This is my story, but if you love
history, don’t just listen to me, start reading again as much as you can and
you will find out the truth. All in all "Truth is The Daughter of Time" (Sir Francis
Bacon)…RIP Richard.
3 comments:
I'm just glad it's proved to be who everyone hoped it would be... so often with archeology and historical digs it ends up being one big red herring.
The whole discovery was so exciting. I am currently reading "A Dangerous Inheritance" by Alison Weir. Maybe not the best book with Richard III but I like most anything set during that era.
Darla
So cool to see the past being revisited anytime these archeology findings turn up. This is probably the most exciting discovery in years!
Been following your blog for awhile now, love your writing. Super informative. If you like, check out my own adventure travel blog :)
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