The New Murrey and Blue blog

I’ve just watched a rather unusual TV programme on Sky History channel. It was presented by Omid Djalili and he explored the Battle of Bosworth with the help of various experts and also two psychics!

At first I was sceptical. I am open-minded when it comes to the paranormal (I have had some pretty strange experiences myself) but I was expecting the usual over-dramatic guff that usually surrounds Richard – talking about a bloody murder is so much more interesting than what probably happened; that Richard had the ‘princes’ moved.

And, when the first person Omid and his psychic co-presenter, Konstantin Pavlidis, heard from turned out to be the Tudor expert, Nathen Amin, my heart sank. Of course he had to mention the ‘princes’, saying they were ‘likely murdered’. He then described Henry Tudor as from ‘a long line of ancient Welsh kings.’ He invades, apparently, to ‘claim(s) his right through ancient kingship and he’s come back to save this island from tyranny.’ Hmmm!

However, I persevered and I’m glad I did. As they explored various parts of the battlefield, they were told facts about the battle, such as where the armies were deployed, the size of the armies and the way the battle is thought to have played out. I learned something I didn’t know here: There were more cannon balls found here (so more used) than any other battle of the period, either here or in Europe.

While they were describing Richard’s charge and his sad demise, Nathen surprised me. He described Richard’s charge as ‘an heroic deed’, adding that even Richard’s enemies described him fighting ‘like a valiant prince’! Wow!

They then consulted with Mathew Morris, part of the University of Leicester’s archaeological team. I was fully prepared for the claim that ‘Leicester found Richard’s remains’, but again I was pleasantly surprised.

He said the discovery of Richard’s remains was ‘started by Philippa Langley’ and that the University of Leicester were involved to do the excavation.

At the location of Richard’s grave, now able to be viewed in the Richard III Visitor Centre, Konstantin sensed that he was disrespected and the victors wished to hide his final resting place. He also felt that Richard’s ‘soul’ guided ‘whoever it was who came here to find him’ and again, Philippa Langley was mentioned by Mathew.

They examined the replica of his skeleton and concluded that ‘he wasn’t a hunchback’. However please note that they also explore the minutiae of Richard’s death, weapons used and the wounds inflicted in gory detail.

At the supposed site of Richard’s death, Konstantin sensed resentment, anger and hatred, with about half a dozen men surrounding Richard. He described their actions as an ‘inappropriate’ way to treat a king. He said Richard was betrayed ‘for self-interest’.

The other psychic wasn’t so convincing, but she did say she felt mainly ‘anger’. Konstantin agreed with her that anger and betrayal were at the forefront of Richard’s thoughts. This interested me because I once felt the same emotion of absolute fury when I was meditating on Richard’s final moments.

At the swampy area which still exists, even Omid felt a negative, sad feeling, as if something terrible had happened there.

Then they performed a healing ritual, with all the experts who had been involved joining in. attempting to remove the negativity of the location.

They ended by saying that for five hundred years, his body had been lost and his reputation maligned, but that since he had been found, the restoration began.

If you want to watch it, (in the UK), it’s repeated on Saturday 8th on Sky Showcase at 5.30 and 6.30 on +1, and on Sky History at 6.00pm or 7.00pm on +1.

Here’s a link to the Sky History page: Click here.