Recently,
I came across the article, “King Richard III to Get his Genetic Code Sequenced”
on the USA Today website. This article
by Michael West discussed how King Richard III’s DNA is to be sent in for
examination so scientists can learn more about his genetic makeup, health, eye
color, and hair color. Scientists also
hope to use to information from this analysis to shed some light on modern
humans.
 |
| King Richard III |
Richard
III had been King for two years and was only 32 when he was killed in August
1485 in the Battle of Bosworth Field while fighting Henry Tudor. His body was stripped naked and then put on
public display before being buried in Greyfriars Church in Leicester. The church was torn down in the mid 1500s,
leaving Richard’s remains to be lost for almost 500 years.
However,
in September 2012 a skeleton believed to be Richard III’s was found in a
parking lot in Leicester. Genetic
material taken from his teeth and leg bone was matched to two descendants of
Anne of York, Richard’s sister, confirming his identity.
 |
| King Richard III's remains. |
The
examination of the skeleton revealed King Richard III had scoliosis, which
explains some of his characteristics.
More importantly, it revealed he suffered 10 wounds, 8 of them to the
head. Scientists from University of
Leicester guess Richard was killed by either a blow from a large-bladed weapon
that sliced off the back of his skull, or from a halberd (a blade attached to a
long pole) that was thrust into his brain.
Other wounds were most likely “humiliation injuries” from after he died.
After
reading this article, I realized it connected to what we have learned in
history so far this year. We have
studied many historical figures from England this year, such as King Henry
VIII, Anne Boleyn, Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Tudor, Guy Fawkes, King James I,
King Charles I, and Oliver Cromwell.
We
learned that since most of these people were English royalty, they received a
proper burial in Westminster Abbey.
However, for those who were unpopular, the case was a little different
for them. For example, Anne Boleyn,
Henry VIII’s second wife was beheaded after only being queen for 3 years
because of rumors of an affair.
 |
| Oliver Cromwell |
Oliver
Cromwell was the leader of the opposing army during the English Civil War, and
he took power in England after Charles I’s execution. He led the country to a military
dictatorship, and was disliked. When
Cromwell died, he was buried at Westminster Abbey with full honors, however
some people sought revenge. His body was
removed from the tomb in 1661, his head was severed, and it remained on a pike
outside Westminster Abbey for 24 years.
 |
| Oliver Cromwell's head on a pike. |
Although
all of these historical figures had slightly different fates when they died,
there is one thing in common among all of them.
They all died in brutal ways, and their corpses were abused. While reading the article about King Richard
III, I realized this sort of thing occurred during the 12th-18th
century. If a certain person was
unpopular or rumored to have done something bad, not only did they have to die
in a brutal way, but their bodies were dismantled and put on display.
While I
found the article to be very disturbing, in that Richard’s body had so many
wounds, I found it very interesting that science enables us to find out what
the person looked like. It is amazing to
think that today we have the technology that can bring history to life and
enhance our understanding of it. I am
very curious to find out what scientists will discover from the results of King
Richard III’s test.
Bibliography:
Winter,
Michael. “King Richard III to Get His
Genetic Code Sequenced.” USA Today.
11 February 2014.
Gannet Satellite Information Network, Inc. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/02/11/king-richard-dna-shakespeare/5395259/ (accessed 22 February 2014).
Pictography:
Accessed 2 March 2014.
“Richard
III’s Bones.” Photograph. Science Buzz.
http://www.sciencebuzz.org/blog/long-live-king-discovery-richard-iiis-bones-opens-new Accessed 2 March 2014.
Fantastic job! The minute I read your title, I immediately became interested in the topic. It was astonishing that people found the remains of the skeleton of Richard III, who was alive over 500 years ago. It’s also very interesting, but also quite disturbing, that so many of England’s rulers, who were rumored to have done something wrong, were tortured in such a brutal ways oftentimes in front of the public. I really liked that you included multiple pictures into your blog post and made a strong connection between the topics we have learned about in class. You did a great job by including many facts and historical people to make you blog post that much more intriguing. I also liked how you formatted your post and that your paragraphs are short and concise. I don’t have any comments on how you could have improved your blog post; it was awesome! I now really want to know what the scientists have found out about Richard III and plan to keep an eye out in the newspaper or online about the topic!
ReplyDeleteGreat job Erin! Your blog post was very interesting and the title was very catchy. You did a nice job of connecting the article you read with what we learned in history class. I never realized how often people were beheaded in Victorian England. I also liked how you incorporated a little bit of science into your post. Your post was very clear and concise, and the pictures you added made it even better. Overall, I think you did a fantastic job!
ReplyDeleteThis was a really cool topic. I never knew that this had happened, and reading this post allowed me to learn more about it, especially since you included a link to the original article. You have interesting (though morbid) pictures. I think it's slightly disturbing to have a tendency in that time period to abuse the corpses of leaders you didn't like. It's really cool that they can figure out what he looked like just from his bones! Your title made me want to read more. Good job!
ReplyDelete