Richard III: Where to rebury him? And How?
If indeed the skeleton recently found in Leicester is confirmed to be that of Richard III, the question naturally crops up: Where shall he be reburied? And not least: How…
There is little doubt that Richard III planned to be buried in York Minster together with his wife and probably his son (who might even already be buried there, although this is contested). It is well known that Richard endowed York with a college for a hundred priests in York; or rather an extension of a college, which had been founded by his in-laws, George and Richard Neville. Information about the project is rather limited as it was work in progress, when he died. At the time of Richard’s death, however, six altars had been raised within the minster for the king’s chaplains, the building of their collegiate house had begun and he had given the Minster money, precious relics as well as a magnificent jewelled altar cross. As it is obvious that the burial of his wife, Anne of Neville, in Westminster was a preliminary affair, it is a fair assumption that at least she and her son were due to be reburies at York. However, another possibility was of course that he might have planned a burial in Windsor, where his brother was laid to rest; or even Westminster Abbey. We shall probably never know. Although Richard must have written a testament before the engagement at Bosworth, it has never surfaced.
What is known is that after the battle, he was loaded naked onto a packhorse and carried to Leicester, where the friars after a few days exhibition were given the task of burying him in their church, which is currently being excavated.
This has occasioned Leicester Cathedral unequivocally to “claim” the corpse, as it was found within the precinct of its parish. In a press release the Dean is thus quoted to the extent that “If the identity of the remains is confirmed, Leicester Cathedral will continue to work with the Royal Household, and with the Richard III Society, to ensure that his remains are treated with dignity and respect and are reburied with the appropriate rites and ceremonies of the church.” Which in plain speak means that the Bishop, the Dean and representatives of the Royal Household currently are in consultations about what to be done.”
Meanwhile unconfirmed rumours has it, that Richard III society a year ago commissioned some artists and designers to sketch a tomb or memorial, to be placed in the Cathedral. Exactly who has been involved in this project has unfortunately not been disclosed. However, it is fair to say that a later disclosure of this project probably will not be well received by artists and sculptors in the realm, who might already dream of winning the grand prize.
Further, whether York ( or London for that matter) will back off that easily remains to be seen. Already officials from Leicester have been salivating about the income, which presumably might be garnered from the recent Richard III-fever, which has reached global proportions on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere in the past few days. Yesterday the local newspaper “this is Leicester” quoted Jon Asworth, who is MP for Leicester South, when he addressed the Leader of the House of Commons and called for a debate on the ramifications of this “potentially exciting discovery”, which could “hugely benefit” Leicester tourism. The leader naturally sidestepped the issues, but it allowed Jon Asworth afterwards to twitter his opinions, thus feeding the busy debate on the internet of the “where”.
Even more interesting is however the question of “how”, that is: should he be reburied in accordance with Anglican or Catholic rituals? And if a Catholic ritual should be used, what would be the appropriate one: The current “post-tridentine” (as has been practiced since the Reformation) or that, which was in common use in the 15th century? Naturally this debate is as yet only lurking in The Telegraph and in the shadows of the greater one of “where”; but it will surely arise!
Which will it be? It is fair to say that only (long) time will tell!
Karen Schousboe
Marcella Pattyn
The Richard III Foundation has been advocating that the remains of Richard III, if they indeed are him to be placed in York Museum.
I have heard of the people who are/have been working on a sketch for the new tomb.
It would only be right for York Minster to be the ‘where’ since it’s where he ruled as Lord of the North before becoming King. He was and still is revered in the area and is known to have wished to be buried there, not where he was betrayed, killed and defiled. Leicester’s trump asset is the Greyfriars site itself which should be further excavated and preserved as part of the Bosworth trail together with the recently rediscovered Redemore field.
The current Royals are unlikely to allow Richards remain to be buried in Westminster Abbey sadly, the other two more likely places Leicester Cathedral and York Minster are both very serious contenders. Leicester Cathedral of course is the leader at the moment as the remains are on the Cathedral grounds, but as a king of England I personnel believe he should be buried in York Minster with proper honours accorded to a king of England and it wouldn’t be a bad thing to see a few of today’s modern royals attend.
I thank you for providing the information and history. The Royals, the history etc. very interesting. I agree with your comment. Diana
I have been wondering about which rite and which church. My own feeling is that as Leicester has had him for so long perhaps he ought to remain there. The concept of Anglican protestantism would be one that Richard would have had no familiarity. He was presumably the recipient of a funeral service once, does he require another? Perhaps a memorial service might suffice instead.
Just to correct Leah Matthews, the Richard III Foundation would actually like to see King Richard (if indeed the Leicester discovery is proved to be the body of King Richard) interred at York Minster – where the King himself intended that they should be buried (and not displayed in a museum, as Leah states). Richard loved York, and, in turn, the people of York loved him – and were shocked and devastated when he was killed in Leicestershire on 22 August 1485. We believe that Richard should be given a full State Funeral as befits an English monarch, in this case the last Plantagenet king of England – and the last king to die in battle.
Given that Richard’s wishes were likely not carried out immediately following his death at Bosworth, it seems reasonable to allow those original wishes to be carried out if the remains do indeed prove to be his. I would very much like to see his burial rites performed in the tradition of the 15th century Catholic church, or as close to that as our modern knowledge allows. To do less would seem to dishonour this worthy English monarch who has received such undeserved derision and scorn over the centuries. Just because someone died a long time ago there is no good reason to use practices different than those he would have wished for in his own time. Respectfully, JH
I think that if this proves out to be Richard III’s body it should be taken to York. For 500 years RIII has been at the whims of history and of people that have used his name and image to benefit and advance their own agendas. Perhaps the time has come to think of what he would have wanted as opposed to what would benefit other people or boost tourism.
He did not chose to die at Bosworth or to be buried “modestly” in a church chosen by the people who took his throne. He certainly did not chose for his body to be defiled and paraded like cattle. And while Leicester had him for all this time, they certainly did not care enough to re-bury him when the church was destroyed, thus leading to modern people finding him under a parking lot.
Let him go home.
His was a king of England and should be intered at Westminster Abbey, as befits a king of the royal blood, the people of Leicester did not want him, they abused his dead body.
I have read every book I could lay my hand on about richard III, king of England,and all way thought he was much maligned king.
WESTMINISTER ABBEY
I feel that there are many theories and suggestions on where the remains of King Richard should be buried. I am not prepared to suggest a burial site but it would be the correct decision for the Richard III Society to choose – I’m sure they would get it right. I would be happy with their end result
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