Richard the Third

[Ferretfancy]

... it does indeed seem an extraordinary fuss over nothing. I am surprised at the interest the meeja and this Forum have shewn...

It has been very interesting to discover the remains of the last Plantagenet, and many people will enjoy the ceremony of re-interment. We do love ceremonial don't we?

There's one small snag, Richard won't be aware of any commemoration. He ceased to exist in 1485, and a collection of bones will not be observing the rites from anywhere.

[vinteuil]

It has been very interesting to discover the remains of the last Plantagenet...

... now, now - that's no way to talk of BrassBandMaestro...

[Anna]

There's another programme we've omitted to mention which BBM might like:

Sunday 22 March 5.10pm-8.00pm Channel 4

Live from the streets of Leicester. The King's remains are taken in procession from Leicester Uni to the site of the Battle of Bosworth, where he died, for a short service. Then onwards for a service of reception at Leicester Cathedral and to lie in repose. (Is his new crown to be buried with him or put on display afterwards?)

[Nick Armstrong]

There's another programme we've omitted to mention which BBM might like:

Sunday 22 March 5.10pm-8.00pm Channel 4

Live from the streets of Leicester. The King's remains are taken in procession from Leicester Uni to the site of the Battle of Bosworth, where he died, for a short service. Then onwards for a service of reception at Leicester Cathedral and to lie in repose. (Is his new crown to be buried with him or put on display afterwards?)

... I'm just picturing Citizen Vinteuil sitting in front of his telly, rapt at the majestic scenes!

[ardcarp]

I am surprised at the interest the meeja and this Forum have shewn...

Au contraire, I find it all most interesting. It's nothing to do with religion or veneration of bones.... not for me anyway. And I'm far from being a royalist. It's our history, which I don't think is bunk. As one archaeologist said, it is extremely rare to find remains that can be positively identified as a named individual, let alone a king. If he were indeed a most dastardly tyrant (and I guess most Medieval and Renaisssance kings were) that makes it all the more jolly. Doesn't it? Even if the ceremonies are, for some, just 'costume drama', what's wrong with that?

[Anna]

What is spooky is the fact that as we prepare for a total eclipse of the Sun this Friday prior to Richard being reinterred, historians are looking back to a solar eclipse that would have darkened the sky 530 years ago on the day Richard III’s wife Anne Neville died.

Historical astronomical data of the time of Richard III and the Battle of Bosworth, examined by the University of Leicester, shows how, on the day of his wife’s death on March 16 1485, he would have looked up and seen the sky darken as the moon passed between the Earth and the sun.

A second cosmological occurrence is said to have taken place following the king’s death at Bosworth on August 22 1485. As Richard’s defeated body lay beneath the arches of the Church of the Annunciation in Leicester, it is believed that a blood-red moon shone down on his battle-scarred corpse due to an eclipse.

Even spookier is that yet another 530 years before in 995 there was an eclipse on the very day that St. Cuthbert's remains ( who was Richard's favourite Saint), was moved to Ripon to save him from the invading Danish hordes.

I'll watch some of the procession, having only passed through Leicester once, and getting entangled in major roadworks and diversions, I have no idea what it's like

[Nick Armstrong]

What is spooky is the fact that as we prepare for a total eclipse of the Sun this Friday prior to Richard being reinterred, historians are looking back to a solar eclipse that would have darkened the sky 530 years ago on the day Richard III’s wife Anne Neville died.

Historical astronomical data of the time of Richard III and the Battle of Bosworth, examined by the University of Leicester, shows how, on the day of his wife’s death on March 16 1485, he would have looked up and seen the sky darken as the moon passed between the Earth and the sun.

A second cosmological occurrence is said to have taken place following the king’s death at Bosworth on August 22 1485. As Richard’s defeated body lay beneath the arches of the Church of the Annunciation in Leicester, it is believed that a blood-red moon shone down on his battle-scarred corpse due to an eclipse.

Even spookier is that yet another 530 years before in 995 there was an eclipse on the very day that St. Cuthbert's remains ( who was Richard's favourite Saint), was moved to Ripon to save him from the invading Danish hordes.

...... Where we lay,

Our chimneys were blown down and, as they say,

Lamentings heard i' th' air, strange screams of death,

And prophesying with accents terrible

Of dire combustion and confused events

.... Some say the Earth

Was feverous and did shake.

[Anna]

'Twas a rough night.

[Nick Armstrong]

'Twas a rough night.

(We're in the wrong play, Lady M, but who's counting...?! )

[Anna]

(We're in the wrong play, Lady M, but who's counting...?! )

Oops! Exit stage left and rapidly re-enter stage right!!

Ten the clock there. Give me a calendar.
Who saw the sun to-day?

Not I, my lord.

Then he disdains to shine; for by the book
He should have braved the east an hour ago
A black day will it be to somebody!

[Nick Armstrong]

Oops! Exit stage left and rapidly re-enter stage right!!

[french frank]

Ah, I can still hear Larry delivering the sobering lines

A black day will it be ....... to somebody

Though, btw, Richard was no more a 'Yorkshireman' than Henry was a Lancastrian.

[Anna]

Don't you think the broadcasters have missed a trick by not showing (any one of various versions) of Richard III ?? I do (unless I've missed it somewhere in the schedules), I think it'd be very popular viewing given the amount of attention Richard's getting.

[BBMmk2]

There's another programme we've omitted to mention which BBM might like:

Sunday 22 March 5.10pm-8.00pm Channel 4

Live from the streets of Leicester. The King's remains are taken in procession from Leicester Uni to the site of the Battle of Bosworth, where he died, for a short service. Then onwards for a service of reception at Leicester Cathedral and to lie in repose. (Is his new crown to be buried with him or put on display afterwards?)

I am glad that this is happening, don't get me wrong. I am also glad that he is getting the just he deserves for his position as well. The actual fuss has been overwhelming, in hindsight. The actual programme for his burial looks very well organised though.

[Alain Maréchal]

having only passed through Leicester once, and getting entangled in major roadworks and diversions, I have no idea what it's like

Major roadworks and diversions - that's what it's like.

To be fair - there is the nucleus of a mediaeval town, but most of it is like Coventry without Coventry's excuse.