Oh no he isn't!
On 24 August 2012, the University of Leicester and Leicester City Council, in association with the Richard III Society, announced that they had joined forces to begin a search for the remains of King Richard.
Led by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS), experts set out to locate the Greyfriars site and discover whether his remains were still interred. The search appeared to locate the Church of the Grey Friars, where Richard's body had been buried, beneath a modern-day city centre council car park.
In parallel, British historian John Ashdown-Hill tracked down Richard's maternal bloodline, which had survived into the 21st century, via genealogical research. A British-born woman who migrated to Canada after the Second World War, Joy Ibsen, was found to be a 16th-generation grandniece of the king. Although Ibsen died in 2008, her son Michael gave a mouth-swab sample to the research team on 24 August 2012. His mtDNA, passed down on the maternal side, can be used to compare samples from any human remains from the excavation site, and potentially to identify King Richard.
On 5 September 2012 the excavators announced that they had identified the Greyfriars church, and two days later that they had identified the location of Robert Herrick's garden where the memorial to Richard III stood in the early 17th century. Human bones have since been found beneath the church's choir. On 12 September 2012 it was announced that a skeleton discovered during the search could have been that of Richard III. Five reasons were given: the body was of an adult male; it was buried beneath the choir of the church; there was scoliosis of the spine, possibly making one shoulder higher than the other (to what extent would depend on the severity of the condition). In addition, there was an arrowhead embedded in the spine; and there were perimortem injuries to the skull. Dr. Jo Appleby, the archaeologist who discovered the skeleton, described the latter as "a mortal battlefield wound in the back of the skull".
On 4 February 2013, the University of Leicester confirmed that the skeleton was beyond reasonable doubt that of King Richard III. This conclusion was based on mitochondrial DNA evidence, soil analysis, and dental tests, as well as physical characteristics of the skeleton which are highly consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance. The team announced that the "arrowhead" discovered with the body was a Roman-era nail, probably disturbed when the body was first interred. However, there were numerous perimortem wounds on the body, and part of the skull had been sliced off with a bladed weapon; this would have caused rapid death. The team concluded that it is unlikely that the king was wearing a helmet in his last moments. The Mayor of Leicester announced that the king's skeleton would be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral in early 2014, and by the same date a museum to Richard III will be opened in the Victorian school buildings next to the grave site.
The proposal to have King Richard buried in Leicester has attracted some controversy. Those who have challenged the decision include five members of his family and the Plantagenet Alliance, who believe that the body should be reburied in York, as they claim the king wished. In August 2013, they filed a court case in order to contest Leicester's claim to re-inter the body within its cathedral, and propose the body be buried in York instead. However, Michael Ibsen, who gave the DNA sample that identified the king, gave his support to Leicester's claim to re-inter the body in their cathedral. On 20 August, a judge ruled that the opponents had the legal standing to contest his burial in Leicester Cathedral, despite a clause in the contract which had authorized the excavations requiring his burial there. He urged the parties, though, to settle out of court in order to avoid embarking on the Wars of the Roses, Part Two.
On 5 February, Professor Caroline Wilkinson of the University of Dundee conducted a forensic facial reconstruction of Richard III, commissioned by the Richard III Society, based on 3D mappings of his skull. The face is described as "warm, young, earnest and rather serious".
Oh no he isn't!
On 24 August 2012, the University of Leicester and Leicester City Council, in association with the Richard III Society, announced that they had joined forces to begin a search for the remains of King Richard.
Led by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS), experts set out to locate the Greyfriars site and discover whether his remains were still interred. The search appeared to locate the Church of the Grey Friars, where Richard's body had been buried, beneath a modern-day city centre council car park.
In parallel, British historian John Ashdown-Hill tracked down Richard's maternal bloodline, which had survived into the 21st century, via genealogical research. A British-born woman who migrated to Canada after the Second World War, Joy Ibsen, was found to be a 16th-generation grandniece of the king. Although Ibsen died in 2008, her son Michael gave a mouth-swab sample to the research team on 24 August 2012. His mtDNA, passed down on the maternal side, can be used to compare samples from any human remains from the excavation site, and potentially to identify King Richard.
On 5 September 2012 the excavators announced that they had identified the Greyfriars church, and two days later that they had identified the location of Robert Herrick's garden where the memorial to Richard III stood in the early 17th century. Human bones have since been found beneath the church's choir. On 12 September 2012 it was announced that a skeleton discovered during the search could have been that of Richard III. Five reasons were given: the body was of an adult male; it was buried beneath the choir of the church; there was scoliosis of the spine, possibly making one shoulder higher than the other (to what extent would depend on the severity of the condition). In addition, there was an arrowhead embedded in the spine; and there were perimortem injuries to the skull. Dr. Jo Appleby, the archaeologist who discovered the skeleton, described the latter as "a mortal battlefield wound in the back of the skull".
On 4 February 2013, the University of Leicester confirmed that the skeleton was beyond reasonable doubt that of King Richard III. This conclusion was based on mitochondrial DNA evidence, soil analysis, and dental tests, as well as physical characteristics of the skeleton which are highly consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance. The team announced that the "arrowhead" discovered with the body was a Roman-era nail, probably disturbed when the body was first interred. However, there were numerous perimortem wounds on the body, and part of the skull had been sliced off with a bladed weapon; this would have caused rapid death. The team concluded that it is unlikely that the king was wearing a helmet in his last moments. The Mayor of Leicester announced that the king's skeleton would be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral in early 2014, and by the same date a museum to Richard III will be opened in the Victorian school buildings next to the grave site.
The proposal to have King Richard buried in Leicester has attracted some controversy. Those who have challenged the decision include five members of his family and the Plantagenet Alliance, who believe that the body should be reburied in York, as they claim the king wished. In August 2013, they filed a court case in order to contest Leicester's claim to re-inter the body within its cathedral, and propose the body be buried in York instead. However, Michael Ibsen, who gave the DNA sample that identified the king, gave his support to Leicester's claim to re-inter the body in their cathedral. On 20 August, a judge ruled that the opponents had the legal standing to contest his burial in Leicester Cathedral, despite a clause in the contract which had authorized the excavations requiring his burial there. He urged the parties, though, to settle out of court in order to avoid embarking on the Wars of the Roses, Part Two.
On 5 February, Professor Caroline Wilkinson of the University of Dundee conducted a forensic facial reconstruction of Richard III, commissioned by the Richard III Society, based on 3D mappings of his skull. The face is described as "warm, young, earnest and rather serious".