The Last Days of Richard III: the Book that Inspired the Dig

by John Ashdown-Hill

Overview

The Last Days of Richard III contains a new and uniquely detailed exploration of Richard’s last 150 days. By deliberately avoiding the hindsight knowledge that he will lose the Battle of Bosworth Field, we discover a new Richard: no passive victim, awaiting defeat and death, but a king actively pursuing his own agenda. It also re-examines the aftermath of Bosworth: the treatment of Richard’s body; his burial; and the construction of his tomb. And there is the fascinating story of why, and how, Richard III’s family tree was traced until a relative was found, alive and well, in Canada. Now, with the discovery of Richard’s skeleton at the Greyfrairs Priory in Leicester, England, John Ashdown-Hill explains how his book inspired the dig and completes Richard III’s fascinating story, giving details of how Richard died, and how the DNA link to a living relative of the king allowed the royal body to be identified.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780752492056
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	01/16/2013
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	655,720
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 4.80(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

John Ashdown-Hill is a historian and a member of the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Genealogists, the Richard III Society, and the Centre Européen d’Etudes Bourguignonnes. He is the author of Eleanor the Secret Queen and Richard III’s 'Beloved Cousyn.'

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations 7

Introduction 13

1 'Your Beloved Consort' 17

2 'It Suits the King of England to Marry Straight Away' 25

3 'Tapettes of Verdoures with Crownes and Rooses' 36

4 Tombs of Saints and Queens 48

5 ?Þe Castel of Care' 55

6 Bucks at Bestwood 62

7 Crossing the River 68

8 'He has now Departed from Amongst the Living' 75

9 'A Sorry Spectacle' 84

10 The Franciscan Priory 92

11 'King Richard's Tombe' 98

12 'Here Lies the Body' 106

13 'The Honour of a King' 112

14 Richard III's Genes part I - the Fifteenth Century and Before 115

15 Richard III's Genes part II - the mtDNA Line 125

16 The Future of Richard III 145

Appendix 1 Richard III's Itinerary for 1485 152

Appendix 2 Calendar for 1485 (March to August) 154

Appendix 3 Approximate Timetable for Monday 22 August 1485 156

Appendix 4 John Speede's Account of the Burial of Richard III 157

Appendix 5 DNA evidence relating to the putative remains of Margaret of York preserved in Mechelen, Belgium 158

Appendix 6 Richard III's Epitaph 164

Notes 167

List of Abbreviations 201

Acknowledgements 202

Bibliography 203

Index 210

Editorial Reviews

"With its new details and perspectives about Richard’s last days and its use of original sources, this book will be an essential read for Ricardians and all interested in studying the Wars of the Roses, here accessible to them without being marred by hundreds of years of interpretations, rumors, and biases."  —Library Journal



"Although this is a specialized work, the sun never sets on interest in British royalty, the Shakespearean Richard III in particular."  —Booklist

From the Publisher