Richard the Third

[ahinton]

As I never listen I didn't know what you were talking about until I looked it up:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archers/...ire_1024.shtml

I don't either but have heard enough about it and its near-Desert Island Discs longevity to persuade me not to bother, so I've never seen this "map" to which you've linked until now; all that I want to know is why Lower Hinton?

As an organist colleague (whose identity will shortly become obvious) once said to me of it, "bowyers came before archers"...

Anyway, since Richard III was never a character in what I understand to be this longest-running of all soaps (at least as far as I am aware - mercifully, it hasn't been running that long!), it would probably now be wise to end the digression to mythical West Midlandia and return to the topic...

[Alain Maréchal]

Anyway, the more I think about it, the more Fotheringhay (Richard's birthplace and home to successive Dukes of York) would have been appropriate (I think it was the D o Y who was killed at Agincourt who was buried there). But, failing the small church in Fotheringhay, perhaps the nearby large cathedral - Leicester?

Doesn't Fotheringhay have a more recent and unfortunate historical connection?

Standing on the sidelines, it's interesting how anglo-centric this dispute is. Not anglo- as opposed to the rest of Britain, but insular. It seems to me that until the Wars of the Roses the throne of England was just one part of an empire. The Normans (themselves genetically mostly Viking - just like Harold - until they met local girls) and the Angevins or Plantagenets probably considered England no more than a useful possession. With the loss of Aquitaine, England became merely a rump state. Henry V thought France well worth a campaign to get it back, which he would not have done unless it was economically and politically worth the trouble, and Henry VI's family were very keen to keep it, at huge cost. Then along came disputes over the throne (no more foreign wars to giddy the people's minds) and suddenly England is all that matters.

I'm not English, and realise this view is going to offend many, plus of course I have simplified considerably, but just how much does his place of burial matter? At least one King of England (as opposed to "English King") is buried outside the country, and not always in one piece. What Richard needs is decent Christian reburial, anywhere, and less unseemly wrangling.

[MrGongGong]

. What Richard needs is decent Christian reburial, anywhere, and less unseemly wrangling.

So which "Christian" would that be then ?
I don't think there's a Catholic Cathedral in Leicester or York, unless they are going to give the ones they have back

[Alain Maréchal]

So which "Christian" would that be then ?
I don't think there's a Catholic Cathedral in Leicester or York, unless they are going to give the ones they have back

Were I not a tolerant man I would call that a pedantic and unhelpful intervention, but since I am, I will not.

I'm a member of a Reformed Church, but I presume a Roman Catholic reburial would be appropriate.

( I suppose one could argue, as does the French Republic, that churches belong to the people whose labour and contributions built them, rather than any specific belief, but I'll stay out of that argument).

[jean]

What Richard needs is decent Christian reburial, anywhere, and less unseemly wrangling.

Indeed.

But the unseemly wrangling is all coming from a tiny group of people who have at best an extremely tenuous connection with Richard, and why anyone is giving them the time of day is beyond me.

[BBMmk2]

Always gets into murky waters, AM!

It would be good if RIII is buried at Fotheringhay Abbey, because at least others have been buried there and for the sake of argument, it would be a kind of neutral ground. York, Leicester and Westminster be left out but it just seems right I think.

[Flosshilde]

Were I not a tolerant man I would call that a pedantic and unhelpful intervention, but since I am, I will not.

More pedantic than your own?

[MrGongGong]

Were I not a tolerant man I would call that a pedantic and unhelpful intervention, but since I am, I will not.

.

It was a joke!
Personally, I don't think it really matters at all apart from that the folks in Leicester probably could do with some more visitors to their museum and York is way too full of tourists anyway.
It is odd (as Jean says) that some folks seem to take ownership of something because they are interested in it.

[Alain Maréchal]

More pedantic than your own?

I thought I was being parliamentary, not wishing either to be called out by MrGG, or censured by the hosts. (I'm not very adept at spotting jokes). MrGG is probably correct about the tourism angle - I worked in Leicester 40 years ago and it seemed a rather dreary town which didn't make enough of its copious and genuine Roman, Medieval, Tudor or Georgian antiquities. I recall that one of its selling points to tourists was its central location - which is code for "easy to get out of as quickly as possible".

(Unless by pedantic you meant my historical narrative, in which case I stand by it.)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

But the unseemly wrangling is all coming from a tiny group of people who have at best an extremely tenuous connection with Richard, and why anyone is giving them the time of day is beyond me.

Quite right. York it is, then.

[BBMmk2]

As RIII, was a Catholic, then it would be decent to have a re-burial servi9ce of some kind done, perhaps in the manner of the time, of his death.

[french frank]

Standing on the sidelines, it's interesting how anglo-centric this dispute is. Not anglo- as opposed to the rest of Britain, but insular. [...] just how much does his place of burial matter? At least one King of England (as opposed to "English King") is buried outside the country, and not always in one piece. What Richard needs is decent Christian reburial, anywhere, and less unseemly wrangling.

Well, it doesn't matter where. It's only that if he is to be given a 'decent Christ'n reburial', it has to be ... somewhere. Give the lad a break - make it the Bahamas!

[Ferretfancy]

Well, it doesn't matter where. It's only that if he is to be given a 'decent Christ'n reburial', it has to be ... somewhere. Give the lad a break - make it the Bahamas!

How about the Malmsey butt in the other room ?

[vinteuil]

As RIII, was a Catholic, then it would be decent to have a re-burial servi9ce of some kind done, perhaps in the manner of the time, of his death.

... wot, no tambourines and guitars?

[MrGongGong]

... wot, no tambourines and guitars?

I think New Orleans style funeral would be most enjoyable
followed by a curry