Richard III Remains Identified

'My kingdom for a horse!'

LONDON — A team of archaeologists confirmed that ancient remains found under a parking lot belong to long-lost King Richard III. Details of the findings were released hours after DNA tests came in. The 500-year-old remains were discovered five months ago, using ancient maps and records to uncover the ruins of the old friary where Richard III was laid to rest.

The verification came after scientific tests were used to match DNA samples taken from Canadian-born Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of Anne of York, Richard’s elder sister. Richard III’s grave, which was found underneath the Leicester site in the remains of Greyfriars friary, had been lost during the religious reforms of Henry VIII.

Richard, the last king of England to fall on the battlefield--and the last of the Plantagenets to rule England--was slain in the 1485 Battle of Bosworth Field while defending his crown against the raiding upstart, Henry VII, first of the Tudors. This one the last major battle of the Wars of the Roses. He was famously depicted in Shakespeare’s “Richard III” crying out before his death: “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!”

The skeleton indicated a personage who was well-nourished, who had suffered cranial trauma during battle, and who exhibited curvature of the spine — all signs that pointed to Richard III. Trauma analysis of the skeleton found 10 battle wounds, eight on the skull and two on the body, which were inflicted around the time of death. Many of the wounds provided evidence of “post-mortem humiliation injuries,” exacted on Richard III after death by his adversaries.

FROM: ‘Beyond reasonable doubt,’ bones are the remains of England’s King Richard III by Eliza Mackintosh; February 4, 2013.