The Skeleton in the Car Park: Richard III and the legacy of his re-discovery

In September 2012 the excavation of a skeleton from a Leicester city car park ignited worldwide media frenzy. Six months later the team behind the excavation confirmed the identity of the skeleton as King Richard III. Two years on, as his body is reinterred in Leicester Cathedral, what difference has this discovery made? How has the team's research changed the way we see the ruler, his reign, and the establishment of the Tudor dynasty? Now that the 'hunchback' myth has been disproven, can we ever perform Shakespeare's Richard III in the same way again? How do we understand the legends and 'propaganda' of the last Plantagenet king?

This event explored the wide ranging impact of the discovery and its ramifications for disciplines as diverse as archaeology, history, literature and drama.

Speakers:

Mathew Morris, Fieldwork director on the Greyfriars dig and archaeologist at University of Leicester Archaeological Services
Professor Philip Schwyzer, University of Exeter, author of Shakespeare and the Remains of Richard III
Dr Rosemary Horrox, Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge, author of Richard III: A Study of Service

Chaired by Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch FBA, University of Oxford