Richard III Found in Untidy Lozenge-Shaped Grave

[marco]

Richard III was casually placed in a badly prepared grave --
suggesting gravediggers were in a hurry to bury him

The grave was 'too short' at the bottom to receive the body conventionally

Someone is likely to have stood in the grave to receive the body --
suggested by the fact the body is on one side rather than placed centrally

There is evidence to suggest Richard's hands may have been tied when he was buried

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130523223744.htm

marc

[neonprose @ gmail.com]

On Friday, May 24, 2013 12:55:02 PM UTC-7, marco wrote:
> Richard III was casually placed in a badly prepared grave --
>
> suggesting gravediggers were in a hurry to bury him
>

> Well, in that era coffins tended to be shaped like lozenges,
>
> you know, broader where the head would rest then narrowed
>
> down to the feet. If Richard's experience at being buried
>
> was anything like Shakespeare's, he was also buried in a
>
> lozenge-shaped casket, in Shakespeare's case, buried in an
>
> underground tomb simply dug out of the dirt adjacent
>
> to the Chancel at Stratford. This grave also featured
>
> four "casket racks" as the Avon had a tendency to flood
>
> the graveyard, at least Shakespeare has been kept
>
> high and dry all these four hundred or more years.

Elizabeth

>
>
>
> The grave was 'too short' at the bottom to receive the body conventionally
>
>
> Someone is likely to have stood in the grave to receive the body --
>
> suggested by the fact the body is on one side rather than placed centrally
>

> Well, the alternative theory is that Shakespeare was buried at sea.
>
> Roman Catholic families like the Shakespeares (no word that they every
>
> converted to the Church of England) would hire a boat, steer into
>
> the Channel, put a plank over the side of the ship and slip the
>
> swaddled corpse over the railing into the sea. This gave the family
>
> at least some consolation that Shakespeare would not have to
>
> spend more time in Purgatory had he been buried at sea as
>
> an Anglican.

>
> There is evidence to suggest Richard's hands may have been tied when he was buried
>

> I think that was a convention. The English were superstitious about corpses and
>
> burials, they didn't want the corpse to wake up in the middle of the night only
>
> to scratch his way out of his casket.
>
> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130523223744.htm
>
>
>
> marc

Oh, it's you, thanks for the post.

[marco]