Relationship going back to the 15th century (September 7 2012) Relationship going back to the 15th century (September 7 2012)

Michael Ibsen the 55 year old Canadian Furniture Maker and descendent from “King Richard III’s maternal line, has provided DNA samples aimed at confirming the regal identity of any human remains found during the unprecedented dig, which continues this week at the former site of a medieval church where — 527 years ago — the violently overthrown monarch was buried” according to Randy Boswell in an article in the Post Media News. Boswell states “A high-profile search for the gravesite of the 15th-century monarch King Richard III …beneath a parking lot in the English city of Leicester – has a remarkable connection to a Canadian family whose members hold the genetic key to solving one of British history’s most enduring mysteries: Where is Richard III’s body? …The University of Leicester-led archeological project was launched after the discovery that the maternal bloodline of the last Plantagenet king — killed in 1485 in the climactic battle of the War of the Roses — survived into the 21st century …the much-maligned monarch at the centre of the William Shakespeare play renowned for its dark characterization of Richard as a scheming villain but dismissed by historians as wildly inaccurate. “Now is the winter of our discontent,” Shakespeare has Richard seething in a famous opening soliloquy that exhibits the aspiring king’s evil intent. By the end of the play, with King Richard’s hopes for a long reign dashed in an epic battle, the character memorably cries out: “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!”

 

Inspired by Postmedia ow.ly/djoQu image source Leicester University ow.ly/djnIg