At the end of the day at Bosworth Field, Aug. 22, 1485, in a battle from the real “Game of Thrones,” Henry Tudor (father of future Henry VIII and grandfather of Elizabeth I) had held the day and his opponent, the anointed King of England, Richard III, was dead and soon buried in a church in Leicester.
Lost for more than five centuries, in 2012 the mortal remains of this king were recovered in a stunning archaeological dig and verified using DNA technology linked to one of his collateral descendants, a Canadian, Michael Ibsen, originally from Toronto.
From March 22 to 27, I was fortunate enough to join thousands of others, including 10 other members of the Canadian Richard III society, in Leicester, England. We were all there to witness the re-interment of this last medieval King of England killed in battle.
The mood in Leicester was a mixture of excitement, reverence and surprise that so many people came. Thousands lined the streets as the remains of Richard via hearse and horse-drawn gun carriage retraced the King’s journey to Bosworth and back to Leicester.
Over the next three days over 20,000 people came to review Richard’s remains, some waiting in line for over four hours. Many were carrying white roses the symbol of Richard’s Plantagenet family. I have never seen so many white roses in one place.
Finally, on March 26, in a moving service lead by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Richard III was re-intered in the cathedral, about a block from where he was first buried in 1485.
This was a unique experience. It’s just not every day that the re-interment of a mediaeval warrior king happens and you get to be there. The events held last week were a blend of modern and medieval – this was not a re-enactment or an attempt to re-bury Richard as it would have or should have been done originally in the 15th century.
I spent more time in various churches than I have in ages, processed with Dominican monks to the cathedral where they chanted the 15th century vespers, and being part of various multi-faith services and masses sung in commemoration of not just Richard III but of all those lost at Bosworth. There have been concerts, most notably a Requiem also attended by HRH the Duke of Gloucester requiring those of us also there to have a quick course on royal protocol.
The Richard III Society focuses on the history of the late 15th century, Wars of the Roses and those who were shaped by their time. History of course is written by the winners and the Tudor spin on Richard the man and his reign (the shortest in English history) after Bosworth is a masterwork of political propaganda. Nevertheless, history is always changing and being challenged is what draws me in.
This period of history saw the beginning of so many changes that shift together in language and ideas to become our more recognizable early modern period.
Ollerhead DeSantis is a historian and vice chair of the Richard III Society of Canada. She and her husband Al have a hobby farm near Fergus.
