Richard III was King of England, for two years, from 1483, when he assumed the throne, until his death at the Battle of Bosworth Fields, the decisive battle in The War of the Roses in 1485. In April 1483, Richard’s brother, King Edward IV died, and Richard was named as Lord Protector of the Realm, until such a time as Edward’s son and heir, could be crowned. However, in June of 1483, Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was declared invalid and thus made their children illegitimate and unable to ascend to the throne. Richard III’s coronation ceremony was on July 6th, 1483. Richard quashed a rebellion led by his former ally Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham in 1483, but in August of 1485, another rebellion began, led by Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor. Henry landed in his birthplace of Pembrokeshire, with a small force of French troops. They marched throughout Wales recruiting skilled archers and soldiers, and his rebellion eventually culminated with Richard III being killed at the Battle of Bosworth Fields, the end of the War of the Roses and a shift in power from the House of York to the House of Tudor, which lasted until 1603. Richard III was the second and last King to die in battle on English soil, after Harold II was killed during the Battle of Hastings in 1066. King Richard III was buried at Greyfriars Church in Leicester, and evidence suggests that in 1612 a memorial site was able to be seen in a garden on the sit where the Greyfriars Church was (the site was sold in 1536 to John Bellowe and John Broxholme, and was demolished in 1538).
The Archaeology Team
Richard Buckley - Archaeology Expert - Project Manager of the Greyfriars dig and also the director of the University of Leicester Archaeological Services.
Matthew Morris - Archaeology Expert - Fieldwork director on the Greyfriars dig and an archaeologist at the University of Leicester Archaeological Services.
Dr. Jo Appleby - Osteology Expert - Lecturer in Bioarchaeology in the University of Leicester’s School of Archaeology and Ancient History.
Dr. Turi King - Genetics Expert - Lecturer in Genetics and Archaeology in the University of Leicester’s Department of Genetics.
Prof. Lin Foxhall - History Expert - Head of the University of Leicester’s School of Archaeology and Ancient History and a Professor of Greek Archaeology and History.
Prof. Kevin Schürer - Genealogy Expert - The University of Leicester’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for Research and Enterprise.
March 2011 - Phillipa Langley of the Richard III society commissions the University of Leicester Archaeological Serivces to conduct an assessment of the Greyfriars area and trace the development and changes to the land by using old maps and documents. Three areas are available for excavation; The Leciester City Council Social Services staff car park, the adjacent playground and a public car park on New Street.
August 2011 - A Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is used to survey the three areas, and they revealed a layer of demolition-related rubble under the car park could be disguising possible archaeological discoveries.
Friday 24 August 2012 - The collaboration between the University of Leicester, Leicester City Council and the Richard III Society, titled “The Greyfriars Project” is formally launched with a press conference including medieval re-enactors and a direct descendent of Richard III, who agreed to provide mitochondrial DNA. Field director Mathew Morris and archaeologist Leon Hunt lay out the first two excavation trenches.
Saturday 25 August - The project begins with the digging of Trench 1, which is 1.6m wide and runs for 30m approximately north-south in the Social Services car park.At first, ground beneath the car park appears to be very disturbed. Brick and concrete wall footings for buildings dating back over the last 100 years have to be removed to reach the medieval archaeology underneath.
Timeka Snead Midterm Final Draft McKellen’s version of Richard III succeeded in using the original scenes from the play and adding his own twists to portray that Richard was evil and hungry for power. It succeeded in showing facial expressions and body language that readers had to imagine themselves, while reading. The director did an exceptional job using lighting, different camera angles, the extreme closeups, choosing the height and age of the characters and the way he placed certain images inside the frame…
Shakespeare made liberal use of prediction in all his history plays, but never as much as in Richard III. This play is a web of stated intentions, curses, prophecies, and dreams, and practically all expectations are punctually fulfilled. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, informs us that he is 'determined to prove a villain', and, he goes on, Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous, By drunken prophecies, libels, and dreams, To set my brother Clarence and the King In deadly hate the one against the other;…
Through exploring connections between Shakespeare’s Richard III and Al Pacino’s Looking for Richard the values of the era are often a product of the context of the text. However, through studying the theatricality of man and the pursuit of power, it is clear these notions transcend time and context. Shakespeare valued the way an actor could act within a play and theatre was valued in this context. Shakespeare also demonstrated how Richard pursued political power, whilst Shakespeare himself…
The Material Culture of Chinatown I have been observing the setting of Chinatown very closely for the past few weeks and as I have mentioned in my previous assignments, I have slowly started to see a strong sense of community there. There is definitely a pattern of things that led me to think like that and the following paragraphs will discuss those reasons. One of the main reason that ties Chinatown and it’s people together is that they, somewhat, share the same language. For instance, my friend…
In the drama of Marlowe the satisfaction appears to depend, not on the excitement of the catastrophe, but on the assertion of the greatness of man's spirit; and this seems to have been the theme also of Senecan tragedy. It will be remembered that the first part of Tamburlaine ends, not in his death, but in his triumph, and yet we feel that the peculiar note of tragedy has been struck. We have the true tragic sense of liberation. Kyd also asserted the independence of the spirit of man, if he is prepared…
ever a woman in the humour won?” - assonance and expansive ‘o’ sounds as well as rhetoric and repetition “I’ll have her but I’ll not keep her long” - intercuts of ‘Ha’ as well as an increased speed of cuts through this line – almost portrays Richard as mad – cut of him out of costume in rehearsal laughing - Seduction through language and sexual tension in Pacino’s version – low neckline in costume,…
Despite the apparent potential nature of King Richard III being strictly political as an apology for the Tudor reign, Shakespeare takes it beyond mere propaganda with a powerful depiction of what being human means in a fiercely moral universe. Richard’s initial assertions that he is “determined to prove a villain” and that he is “unfinished”, “half made up”, suggest that he sees himself less than humane, in correlation to the Elizabethan sentiment that a deformed man is already cursed by nature.…
perspectives on the values in texts. How does Pacino’s film reveal a new response to the values explored in Richard III? The movie itself should take the high seed in the essay Al Pacino's docudrama, Looking for Richard, reveals new perspectives on the values, integrity, loyalty and justice, discussed in Shakespeare's morality play, Richard III, through the emended perception of Richard. A focus on the integrity of the character ultimately ensures a depreciation of the importance of other values…
of Titus Andronicus do not translate into a modern tableau, why do some others? Why does Richard III adapt so much better to a 'west wing' style setting than Titus Andronicus does to a modern equivalent? Ultimately, it is the focus of the play which determines its adaptability. Richard III is a play which focuses upon the depiction of humanity, not on society's conventions and social norms of the time. Richard does not act in any way which would be out of character in the 21st century. His motivations…
Richard III (1592) : what you have to understand about the character Richard is, he is extremely honest to himself and is capable of drawing out and exploring everyone else's faults (basically becomes exquisitely in tune with them) and takes advantage of them and plays off them as they arise. This is where he is most dangerous (quote) "It's the women's fault". He is also well aware of deception directed towards him. He wants the throne for himself and does so by killing off any other heirs. His…