Campaigners call for Richard III to be given Catholic burial

Richard III - wiki images

Following the discovery of the remains of King Richard III, under a car park in Leicester, campaigners are calling for him to be given a Catholic funeral and burial.

Richard was the last of the Plantagenet Kings. Within 50 years of his death aged 32, at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, the Tudor dynasty had established the Church of England. But campaigners point out that as he was a Catholic it is only fair that he is given a burial according to the rites of his own faith.

The story of Richard III is a cause of controversy to this day. Shakespeare portrayed him as an evil scheming hunchback who murdered his young nephews who were the true heirs to the throne. Richard's defenders point out that the identity of the boys' murderer has never been proved, and much of the defamatory propaganda about King Richard was devised by those currying favour with the new Tudor dynasty.

Richard had one of the shortest reigns in English history - just 26 months. After his death in the battle which left the way clear for Henry VII to take power, it seems he was hurriedly buried in the Grayfriars churchyard, which was soon destroyed during the Reformation. For centuries the location of the church was forgotton, but recent excavations to make way for a carpark in Leicester revealed signs of the ancient church and the bones of a young man.

The identity of Richard was proved by DNA tests with samples from two maternal descendants.

Popular history has portrayed Richard with severe deformities. His skeleton shows that he did have a badly curved spine but he did not have a wasted arm.

A petition has been started asking that the remains of King Richard III, be buried in a Catholic burial place. The petition can be seen here:

It reads:

"The remains of Richard III have been discovered and exhumed. The suggestion is that he will be buried in Leicester Cathedral. However, it seems wholly inappropriate and disrespectful to bury the former Monarch in the grounds of a church of which he was never a member and which was created by the son of the man responsible for his death and ignominious burial. I am not petitioning on religious or sectarian grounds but I believe the dead of any persuasion have a right to be interred in a place appropriate to their beliefs."

To see the petition go to: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/38533