Bob Woosnam-Savage has kindly provided details of his lecture about the remains of Richard III at the December meeting of the Medieval section.
In September 2012 a skeleton was excavated during an archaeological project at the former site of Greyfriars Church in Leicester, England, which lay under a local council car park. Part of the project’s remit was also to seek out any remains of the grave or tomb of the last Plantagenet king Richard IIII who had been buried in the choir of the church in August 1485 following his death at the battle of Bosworth. The skeleton, amazingly, bore signs of both scoliosis and, tellingly, the trauma of battle. Had Richard really been found after nearly 530 years?
In February 2013 it was publicly announced to the world that the skeleton was indeed that of Richard III, the last king of England to die in battle and, thanks to William Shakespeare, one of the most infamous monarchs known.
Bob, Project Weapons Expert for the University of Leicester ‘Search for Richard III’ Archaeological Team as well as part of the Search Team on the ‘Greyfriars Project’, has been studying the skeleton of Richard III since its discovery. He was employed to help find and examine the weapons trauma on the skeleton and attempt to identify the various types of weapons that may have been used to make them. As a result, using both historical and archaeological evidence, it is only now, for the first time, that we can begin to create a potential sequence of events that lets us discover the possible last moments and death of Richard III – ‘the king under the car park’.
Please let the Secretary know in advance if you are planning to attend this meeting as we may need to book a bigger space if there is a big turn out. Contact me at yas.medievalsec@gmail.com
Bob Woosnam-Savage is Curator of European Edged Weapons, at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.
Medieval Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society 