Leicester Greyfriars

Another Richard III musical?

May 23, 2023

anniversaries, archaeology, buildings, Music Reviews, The play’s the thing

Anthony Newley, Exhumation, Joan Collins, Leicester, Leicester cathedral, Leicester Greyfriars, Mail on Sunday, musicals, reburial, Richard III, Tara Newley

This one (Digging up Dick) was being written by the late Anthony Newley and is being resumed by Tara, his daughter with Joan Collins. As you will have observed, a lot has happened since Newley’s death in 1999, not least finding Richard’s real grave and reburying him.
JOHN DE LA POLE EARL OF LINCOLN AND ELSTON CHAPEL – A POSSIBLE BURIAL PLACE?

May 14, 2023

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, religion

Anne Curry, Barnet, Battle of Bosworth, Battle of Stoke, Bernard Andre, Bisham Abbey, city of York, David Baldwin, Elizabeth of Suffolk, Elston Chapel, Francis Viscount Lovell, Glenn Foard, Henry VII, Heralds Account, John Duke of Suffolk, John Earl of Lincoln, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, John Neville Marquis of Montagu, Leicester Greyfriars, Margaret Fitzalan, Martin Schwarz, Michael Bennett, Polydore Vergil, revenants, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, St. Oswald’s, Willow Rundle, Wingfield Church

Reblogged from a Medieval Potpourri @ sparkypus.com The Last Stand of Martin Schwartz and his German Mercenaries at the Battle of Stoke Field 16th June 1487. Unknown artist Cassell’s Century Edition History of England c.1901. The battle of Stoke Field fought on the 16th June 1487 has been discussed elsewhere extensively so there is no need for…
The RICL: Anthropology and forensic science

May 7, 2023

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, Science, television reviews

blood, bone fusion, Caroline Wilkinson, DNA analysis, Donald Findlay, Dundee University, Ethelred II, facial reconstruction, fingerprints, forensic evidence, identification, lectures, Leicester Greyfriars, Oxford, pelvis, Professor Dame Sue Black, Richard III, Robert II, Royal Institution, skeletons, skull, St. Brice’s Day Massacre, St. Nicholas, teeth, trauma, Turi King, Vikings

I have made a habit of watching the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures for over forty years. A single scientist, with guest contributors, covers a subject over three (to five) days and demonstrates some of the detail to a live audience of inquisitive children, who take part in the experiments. Last year’s lecturer was Professor Dame…
Finding Richard (from across the Atlantic Ocean)

Apr 28, 2023

Alternative History, archaeology, battles, buildings, religion, The play’s the thing

American Civil War, Catholicism, Charles I, Commonwealth, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII, Leicester Greyfriars, Nazis, Reformation, Richard III discovery, USA, William Shakespeare

I had never been much interested in medieval history. I thought of them as backwards and a little too obsessed w the afterlife. However, the “what ifs” of history always intrigued me. What if the Nazis won WWII? What if the north had been defeated in the American Civil War? And so forth. I’d always…
In the teeth of the evidence

Mar 21, 2023

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion, Science

age, Anne Mortimer, battle injuries, Battle of Bosworth, Cecily Neville, combination of evidence, denialists, Dominic Selwood, Dukes of Beaufort, era, height, House of York, Leicester cathedral, Leicester Greyfriars, Looking for Richard Project, Michael Hicks, Michael Ibsen, mtDNA evidence, Plantagenets, Richard III, scoliosis, Wendy Duldig

Here, a little-known television journalist-historian named Dominic Selwood disputes the identity of Richard III’s remains, despite the mtDNA match with collateral descendants in Canada and Australia, their height, age of death, era of death, scoliosis, battle injuries, region of origin and the location of his original burial at the choir of the Greyfriars. In fact…
Grey Friars building and car park up for auction in Leicester….

Feb 12, 2023

archaeology, battles, buildings, religion, Science

auctions, Battle of Bosworth, car parks, Leicester cathedral, Leicester Greyfriars, Leicester Guildhall, Richard III, Richard III Visitor Centre, Scheduled Ancient Monuments

With a guide price of £4 million there will be an auction of this large edifice (the Grey Friars Building) that stands right next to where the remains of Richard III were found. The auction is to be on Wednesday, February 15. It’s Grade II listed, but not only because of its proximity to where…
Ten years ago today …

Feb 5, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy, religion, Science

Australia, Canada, Genealogics, John Ashdown-Hill, Leicester Greyfriars, Leicester University, Michael Ibsen, mtDNA evidence, Royal Marriage Secrets, Wendy Duldig

… it was announced that the remains discovered on the site of the Leicester Greyfriars were indeed those of Richard III. On this page you can see both mitochodrial DNA lines: the first by John Ashdown-Hill and the back-up by Leicester University, both to collateral descendants in Commonwealth nations. Here you can see how easy it…
Five interesting archaeological discoveries….

Dec 1, 2022

archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion, Science

Ancient Egypt, Bosworth, child sacrifice, Georgia, John Ashdown-Hill, Leicester dig, Leicester Greyfriars, Leicester University, maps, mtDNA, mummified remains, Peru, Philippa Langley, Queen Nerfertari, radio carbon dating, Rameses II, Richard III, Saint Belec Slab, Tblisi, winemaking, wounds

According to this article there have been five interesting archaeological discoveries in the past decade. First among them, of course, is the finding of Richard III’s remains:- “….When King Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, he was buried in the church of the Grey Friars. In 2012, The Richard III Society…
Sibling marriages again

Mar 22, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, law, religion, Science, sources

Affinity, Alexandra Sinclair, Anne Beauchamp, Anne Neville, Beauchamp Pageant, canon law, Cecily Neville the Younger, Constance of Castile, denialists, Edmund of Langley, Eleanor of Provence, George Duke of Clarence, Henry Duke of Warwick, Henry III, Hicks, incest, Isabel of Castile, Isobel Neville, John of Gaunt, Leicester Greyfriars, marriage ceremony, Richard Earl of Cornwall, Richard III, Richard III’s remains, Richard of Warwick, Sanchia of Provence, sibling double marriages

In the teeth of the evidence, some authors maintain that Richard Duke of Gloucester and Anne Neville required a third dispensation because his brother had already wed her sister, an argument that Barnfield has conclusively fisked. We don’t have to go very far to find a similar case of sibling marriages – the Neville sisters’…
What did Leicester Greyfriars look like….?

Mar 1, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, buildings, religion, Science

Leicester Greyfriars, Leicester Museums, Richard III burial, Richard III Visitor Centre

I have come upon this site which tells of forthcoming new attractions at Leicester’s museums. From it I have taken the following extract: “….The city’s King Richard III Visitor Centre is also in line for investment, with a new immersive experience forming part of the story told at the award-winning attraction…. “….Later this year, visitors will…