The remains of Richard III , found three years ago in a car, received today grave in the cathedral of Leicester at the end of a solemn ceremony that the role of the king in the history of England is highlighted.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, chaired the religious service of the monarch (1452-1485), whose controversial personality captured the imagination of writers and prompted debates among historians about whether it was a cruel king and unscrupulous.
The remains of Richard III – died at the Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) in the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485), among supporters of the House of Lancaster and the House of York – were found three years ago in a car park in Leicester (central England), in what was one of the most important archaeological finds of the country .
With the dignity that the occasion demanded, Welby and representatives of different religions came together in Leicester Cathedral in a ceremony in which the actor Benedict Cumberbatch read a poem written especially for the poet Carol Ann Duffy.
“From the car park to the cathedral. Today we have come to give this king and this remains the dignity and honor that were denied in death” Bishop of Leicester, Tim Stevens said.
Meanwhile, Welby read the phrase “give back the bones of your Ricardo server to grave” when the coffin with the remains of the monarch was buried in the cathedral in a crypt built with stone Swaledale, North Yorkshire, northern England.
On behalf of Isabel II was the Duchess of Wessex, wife of Prince Edward, and attended by representatives of Catholicism, the religion of Richard III.
Photo: Darren Staples / Reuters
Cumberbatch, who read a poem of fourteen lines, was specially invited to be a descendant of the monarch and, interestingly, will play his distant relative in a series to be issued shortly by the BBC War of the Roses.
The actor monarch descends through the mother of Richard III, Cecily Neville, said today genealogy expert at the University of Leicester Kevin Schurer.
Although he was not present, Queen Elizabeth II sent a special message that recognized the place of the sovereign in the history of England and the enthusiasm that led to the discovery of his remains.
“The reburial of King Richard III is an event of great national and international importance”, Isabel II, 88, said.
“Today we recognize a King who lived in turbulent times (…) The discovery of his remains in Leicester has been rated one of the most significant in the history of this country archaeological finds,” said the head of British State.
Your message ended with the phrase: “Richard III, who died at age 32 in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth, now rest in peace in the city of Leicester, in the heart of England.”
This sovereign, who held the title of Duke of Gloucester and was the last king of the House of York, has always been a very controversial historical figure, a source of inspiration for writers, who have portrayed as a hunchback and ambitious man.
After the remains were found in 2012 and that DNA tests confirm that they belonged to the monarch, municipalities Leicester and York played a legal battle to host his tomb, but that ended with the victory of the first, for being the place where King was killed over 500 years ago.
Richard III is one of the most famous kings because his description of villain in the play that bears his name, William Shakespeare, who described it as an ambitious, ruthless and unscrupulous monarch.
A famous phrase of this work is that of a monarch desperate to see his death approaches when surrounded by Bosworth.
“A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!” Cried Shakespeare’s Richard III.
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