Richard III

An Amateur Historian Helped Find Richard III's Remains Under a Parking Garage. Her Story Hits the Screen

The Plantagenet King Richard III was portrayed as a villain by the Tudor dynasty that supplanted him in 1485 (including by Shakespeare). Philippa Langley came to question his bad reputation, and began investigations that led to the discovery of his remains

England’s Richard III as Murderous, Royal Thug

by Bruce Chadwick

William Shakespeare’s bone-chilling play Richard III portrays England’s deformed monarch as a murderous thug, one of the great villains of world history.

Donald Trump, Richard III and Other Lazy Day Comparisons

by Bruce Chadwick

What we can learn from a play about an aggrandizing and ruthless king set in a modern context.

Richard III retains top spot in History Hot 100 poll

Shakespeare jumps to third in magazine list, Alexander Hamilton is highest new entry while Turing and Cleopatra drop out.

Could another English king be buried under a parking lot?

That’s what the researcher who found the bones of Richard III thinks with regard to Henry I.

Richard III was a “great king” who achieved more than the Elizabeths and Henry V says screenwriter

The perception of Richard III as a nasty villain who murdered his nephews is “one of the greatest injustices of history” according to Philippa Langley, a screenwriter who led the search for the remains of the former king

Richard III's DNA throws up infidelity surprise

Analysis of DNA from Richard III has thrown up a surprise: evidence of infidelity in his family tree.

Richard III Really Ate and Drank Like a King

An analysis of a skeleton dug up two years ago and shown to belong to Richard III reveals that fresh fish, game birds and wine were staples of his diet.

Medical evidence shows Richard III was NOT a hunchback

An adolescent growth spurt that went wrong caused King Richard III’s physical deformity but it did not give him a hunchback, a limp or a withered arm.

Was the skeleton in the Leicester car park really Richard III?

Archaeologists “cannot say with any confidence” that bones found in Leicester are those of Richard III, leading experts have claimed.

Scientists to sequence DNA of Richard III

The project is to be led by the University of Leicester geneticist who helped identify the remains.

Soil samples show Richard III suffered from roundworm

Richard III suffered from a roundworm infection, a team says.

Richard III: Historian claims he was 'airbrushed out of king story'

Historian Dr John Ashdown-Hill claims he has been airbrushed out of the city's Richard III story, despite making one of the project's pivotal discoveries.On Monday, February 4, the University of Leicester announced to an astonished world's press that it had identified the Greyfriars remains as those of King Richard III.Academics explained how the skeleton's DNA matched with that of Canadian furniture maker, Michael Ibsen - who had been proven to be the monarch's 16th great grandnephew....

Sealed coffin found near Richard III grave site in Leicester

Another body has been recovered from the Leicester car park where the remains of Richard III were discovered last year – but while a king of England was bundled into a hastily dug hole slightly too short for his corpse, the mystery man was buried in splendour, his body sealed in a lead coffin placed in a handsome limestone sarcophagus.The stone lid was lifted carefully by hand last week. Archaeologists from Leicester University expected to find a fragmentary skeleton, since the weight of the lid and centuries of soil on top of it had long since crushed the sides of the box. Instead, to their surprise, they discovered an inner lead coffin, carefully soldered on all sides, its lid decorated with a cross."It's in remarkably good nick except for one end where we think water trickling down has degraded the lead, so we could just see the feet. They look to be in very good condition, so we hope to learn a lot more from the bones," said the site director, Matthew Morris....

Richard III to get $1.5-million burial

He was buried in an unmarked grave, but finally Richard III is to get a tomb fit for a king.British officials say they will spend US$1.5 million interring the 15th-century ruler, whose skeleton was found earlier this year beneath a parking lot in the central England city of Leicester.Officials at Leicester Cathedral said Thursday that Richard will be buried “with honor beneath a raised tomb within a specially created area in the cathedral.” The plans also include a new floor and a stained glass window....

Archaeologists plan more digs at Richard III site

Archaeologists who unearthed the skeleton of England's King Richard III under a municipal parking lot say they want to dig up a 600-year-old stone coffin found nearby.University of Leicester scientists say they hope to learn more about the medieval Church of the Grey Friars, where Richard was unceremoniously buried after he was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.In February scientists from the university announced that remains found on the site were "beyond reasonable doubt" those of the king....

Smithsonian Channel gets North American rights to ‘Richard III’ documentary

Smithsonian Channel has snagged exclusive North American program rights to a documentary about the recent discovery of King Richard III’s remains under an English parking lot that ended a 500-year mystery.When “The King’s Skeleton: Richard III Revealed” made its world debut on Channel 4 in the U.K., nearly 5 million viewers tuned in.You know Richard III — bad back, nasty guy, snuffed his young nephews in the Tower of London to snag the throne, then decided he’d trade his kingdom for a horse? Played over the years by Kenneth Branagh, Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Ian McKellen and Laurence Olivier?...

Have we now found Alfred the Great?

It couldbe the year for discovering notorious monarchs.Just weeks after remains found under a car park were confirmed as Richard III, archaeologists now believe they may just have stumbled on Alfred the Great.Amid great secrecy, a team exhumed an unmarked grave at a more fitting location for a Royal burial - a churchyard in Winchester named in ancient documents as his burial place.After a delicate 10-hour operation on Monday, human skeletal remains were unearthed in the churchyard of St Bartholomew’s in the Hyde area of the city, and taken for storage at an undisclosed location....

Battle rages over bones of England's Richard III

(Reuters) - King Richard III is at the center of a new fight over the location of his final resting place, just weeks after the remains of the last English king to die in battle were found underneath a council car park.Archaeologists announced one of the most remarkable finds in recent English history last month when they confirmed the discovery of the body of Richard, who was slain at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, during excavations in Leicester.

Richard III: psycho or control freak?

Thanks largely to his portrayal in Shakespeare’s eponymous play, Richard III is generally remembered as a murderous, hunchbacked villain who killed his nephews to gain the throne. But now that his remains, found beneath a parking lot in Leicester, England, have been positively identified, researchers at the University of Leicester now say the 15th century monarch was no bloodthirsty psychopath — just a control freak in need of some security.In findings presented this past weekend, Psychologist Mark Lansdale and forensic psychologist Julian Boon suggest that there is no evidence supporting Shakespeare’s depiction of the last Plantagenet king. After going through historians’ consensus on Richard’s experiences and actions, they found that the king exhibited little sign of the traits used to identify psychopaths today — including narcissism, deviousness, callousness, recklessness and lack of empathy in close relationships....