gilda_elise (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gilda_elise) wrote2013-02-04 05:45 am
gilda_elise) wrote2013-02-04 05:45 am
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The King In the Car Park
It's him. Of course, it's him. Given what we were originally told, it was hard to imagine that it wouldn't be. Still, I don't know exactly how I feel right now—excited, overwhelmed, overcome. Silly to be so moved by knowing that someone who died over five hundred years ago will be finally laid to rest in the manner he deserves.
August can't get here soon enough. Leicester, York, Middleham, seeing them again will be a new and exciting experience.
We knew that he was born October 2, 1452, at Fotheringhay Castle, the youngest child of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York and Cecily Nevill.
We knew that he witnessed the pillage of Ludlow at the age of seven.
We knew that at the age of eight, his father and Edmund, his seventeen-year old brother, were killed at the Battle of Wakefield. Their heads were displayed over Micklegate Bar at York.
We knew that Richard and his eleven year old brother, George, were sent to safety in Burgundy.
We knew that his older brother, Edward, would win the crown of England in April of 1461.
We knew that Richard was made Duke of Gloucester in October of the same year. The following month he would enter the household of his cousin, Richard, Earl of Warwick at Middleham.
We knew that in the spring of 1465, because of tension between the Earl and the King, Richard would be recalled to court. He was thirteen.
We knew that in 1469 he was appointed Constable of England for life.
We knew that in September of 1470 he would accompany Edward as he fled to Burgundy when The Earl of Warwick and their brother George, Duke of Clarence, rebelled. They would return in March of 1471. By May, after victories at Barnet and Tewkesbury, the kingdom would be theirs. Richard had become the King's first general, the chief prop of his throne, and his most trusted officer. He was not yet nineteen.
We knew that Richard would marry Anne Nevill, daughter to the now disgraced and deceased Earl of Warwick, in the spring of 1472. They would establish themselves at Middleham Castle. The following year they would have a son. He would be their only child.
We knew that George of Clarence would continue to cause trouble and that, finally, he would be executed for treason in 1478, some say by being drowned in a butt of malmsey. After George's death, Richard was rarely at court.
We knew that over the next five years, Richard would serve his brother well, until April 9, 1483, when Edward III of England died.
We knew that Edward's widow, Elizabeth Woodville, and her family would attempt to disregard Edward's wish that his brother be named Protector of the realm. After an attempted coup by the Woodvilles was put down, Richard, as Protector, would begin plans for his nephew's coronation.
We knew that Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells, would declare that the late King had been betrothed prior to his marriage to Elizabeth, making their children illegitimate and so barred from the throne.
We knew that on July 6, 1483, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, became Richard III of England.
We knew that his son, Edward, was created Prince of Wales in August of 1483.
He would die in April of 1484. Richard wife, Anne, would follow in April of 1485.
We knew that Richard III died at the Battle of Market Bosworth on August 22nd, 1485.
We knew that his body was taken to Leicester and buried at Grayfriar Monastery.
We now know that his body was not dug up and thrown into the Soar River.
We now know that he was not a hunchback as portrayed by the Tudor propagandist, William Shakespeare. Nor did he have a withered arm. But he did have scoliosis of the spine, which would have made one shoulder appear higher than the other.
And soon we'll know what he looked like.
August can't get here soon enough. Leicester, York, Middleham, seeing them again will be a new and exciting experience.
We knew that he was born October 2, 1452, at Fotheringhay Castle, the youngest child of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York and Cecily Nevill.
We knew that he witnessed the pillage of Ludlow at the age of seven.
We knew that at the age of eight, his father and Edmund, his seventeen-year old brother, were killed at the Battle of Wakefield. Their heads were displayed over Micklegate Bar at York.
We knew that Richard and his eleven year old brother, George, were sent to safety in Burgundy.
We knew that his older brother, Edward, would win the crown of England in April of 1461.
We knew that Richard was made Duke of Gloucester in October of the same year. The following month he would enter the household of his cousin, Richard, Earl of Warwick at Middleham.
We knew that in the spring of 1465, because of tension between the Earl and the King, Richard would be recalled to court. He was thirteen.
We knew that in 1469 he was appointed Constable of England for life.
We knew that in September of 1470 he would accompany Edward as he fled to Burgundy when The Earl of Warwick and their brother George, Duke of Clarence, rebelled. They would return in March of 1471. By May, after victories at Barnet and Tewkesbury, the kingdom would be theirs. Richard had become the King's first general, the chief prop of his throne, and his most trusted officer. He was not yet nineteen.
We knew that Richard would marry Anne Nevill, daughter to the now disgraced and deceased Earl of Warwick, in the spring of 1472. They would establish themselves at Middleham Castle. The following year they would have a son. He would be their only child.
We knew that George of Clarence would continue to cause trouble and that, finally, he would be executed for treason in 1478, some say by being drowned in a butt of malmsey. After George's death, Richard was rarely at court.
We knew that over the next five years, Richard would serve his brother well, until April 9, 1483, when Edward III of England died.
We knew that Edward's widow, Elizabeth Woodville, and her family would attempt to disregard Edward's wish that his brother be named Protector of the realm. After an attempted coup by the Woodvilles was put down, Richard, as Protector, would begin plans for his nephew's coronation.
We knew that Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells, would declare that the late King had been betrothed prior to his marriage to Elizabeth, making their children illegitimate and so barred from the throne.
We knew that on July 6, 1483, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, became Richard III of England.
We knew that his son, Edward, was created Prince of Wales in August of 1483.
He would die in April of 1484. Richard wife, Anne, would follow in April of 1485.
We knew that Richard III died at the Battle of Market Bosworth on August 22nd, 1485.
We knew that his body was taken to Leicester and buried at Grayfriar Monastery.
We now know that his body was not dug up and thrown into the Soar River.
We now know that he was not a hunchback as portrayed by the Tudor propagandist, William Shakespeare. Nor did he have a withered arm. But he did have scoliosis of the spine, which would have made one shoulder appear higher than the other.
And soon we'll know what he looked like.