Tuesday 5 February 2013

King Richard III


Where and with what rites should the body of the last Plantagenet monarch, and the last English king to die in battle, King Richard III, be re-interred?  His mortal remains have been discovered by archaeologists beneath a car park in Leicester, the site of the former Greyfriars  Friary, destroyed in the English Reformation.
The dissolution of the monasteries notwithstanding, one might have had a little more sympathy with the Church of England's claims to precedence in this matter [here] were it not for its recent and frantic attempts to distance itself even further from the ecclesia anglicana of the middle ages and to make the prospect of the reunion of the Christian West even more remote. 
Clearly, continuity is only of importance when it suits...
But may King Richard rest in peace - somewhere... 

1 comment:

  1. Joseph Golightly5 February 2013 at 21:07

    The history of Leicester Cathedral stretches back to 1927! King Richard would certainly not have been buried in such a lowly place in 1485 so it is rather a cheek that they think they have a right. At best he should be laid to rest with a Catholic Mass being said. I suspect Lincoln Cathedral would have a better call on the final resting place as I believe that was the diocese at the time. Would be a nice gesture to invite the local RC bishop to say the mass but given the arrogance of the established church that's not going to happen

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