Richard III Quiz - Finding Richard (Answers)
This quiz, Finding Richard, is about the discovery of his remains.
In 2012 a body was discovered underneath a Leicester car park. It belonged to a man in his late twenties or early thirties, it showed signs of having been killed in a battle and it had a curved spine, all of which are known to have been true of Richard III. Furthermore, the DNA found in the bones matched that of Richard's living relatives making it almost certainly that of the late king of England, Richard III.
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In addition to the head wounds, which would not have occurred if a helmet had been worn, analysis found injuries to the ribs and pelvis. Both of these areas would have been protected by the armour Richard wore. It is thought that the wounds were made after Richard's death when his body had been stripped of its armour. Accounts of the time say that Richard was stripped naked and tied to a horse where it was struck by his victorious foes
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The test results did not match the date of Richard's death, however, it was found that Richard had consumed a great amount of seafood during his life and this is known to affect the results of carbon-dating tests. Taking this into account, further analysis has determined that there is a 95% probability that the bones were buried sometime between 1450 and 1540
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It was initially thought that the metal might be an arrow head which had been lodged in the body, but tests showed that it was in fact a nail. It was from a much earlier period than Richard's lifetime and had no relevance to the find
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Professor Wilkinson is a specialist in facial reconstruction based on surviving bones. The face that she made bears a striking resemblance to portraits of Richard III and further supports the likelihood of the bones belonging to the late king
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Richard's bones were reburied in Liecester Cathedral in 2015. His tomb can be viewed by the public
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Westminster Abbey is the traditional resting place for English monarchs with 17 other kings buried there. Richard's links to the city of York suggested York Minster as a possible burial site, and Richard is said to have wanted to be buried there. Leicester is where Richard's body was found and the authorities were loath to release it, the Mayor of Leicester saying, "Those bones leave Leicester over my dead body"
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John Mann, the MP for Worksop at the time, made the suggestion but nobody took it seriously. Another MP, Chris Skidmore, said that Richard should receive a state funeral, as befits a king
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The group, who wanted Richard to be buried in York, had many opponents. The Dean of Leicester called their challenge "disrespectful," and a mathematician said that Richard may have millions of living relatives therefore the Plantagenet Alliance had no right to choose his burial place
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Thinking it unlikely that Richard's body would ever be found, Buckley had promised to eat his hat if it were discovered. Questioned about his promise Buckley said, "One of my colleagues made me some hat-shaped cakes. I've eaten one of those"
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In October 2018, the King Richard III Visitor Centre won the title Best Museum in the Group Leisure and Travel Awards - quite some feat, considering it was up against the British Museum and the National Railway Museum
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