(Vatican Radio) Scientists have confirmed that the 500-year-old remains of an individual
found under a car park in the city of Leicester, formerly the site of a Franciscan
church, are those of England's King Richard III.
The search for Britain’s lost
King, Richard III is over and this is how it was announced to the world. “Ladies and
Gentlemen, it is the academic conclusion of the University of Leicester that beyond
reasonable doubt the individual exhumed at Grey Friars in September 2012 is indeed
Richard III the last Plantagenet King of England.”
The much anticipated announcement
by Richard Buckley, the lead archaeologist on the project on Monday followed months
of detailed tests to determine if a skeleton found under a municipal parking lot in
central England, which had been the site of a Franciscan church, belonged to 15th-century
King Richard III, who is said to have died at the Battle of Bosworth age 32 in 1485.
The
search for Richard was led by archaeologists from the University of Leicester who
dug up the skeleton of an adult male. What they found were signs of trauma to the
skull. Another indication that these remains might be those of the Monarch were signs
of scoliosis, which is a form of spinal curvature, consistent with contemporary accounts
of Richard's appearance, such as in Shakespeare’s play which paints a dark picture
of the British King as a murderous villain. Solving the mystery was also based
on DNA tests which came from samples from descendants of Richard. So what now that
the lost King has been found. Well some historians are hoping that this discovery
will go some way to rehabilitating the reputation of one of Shakespeare’s most notorious
villains. Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s report