Issued by York Minster
The Chapter of York understands the strong feeling of some people in York and Yorkshire that Richard III is significant to the history of the County and that therefore his body ought to be returned.
York Minster itself has a window in his memory and many reminders of Richard’s place in our story.
However, the recent verification of the identity of his remains follows a significant period in which Leicester and Leicestershire gained a sense of Richard belonging there, at least in death. It was Leicester Franciscans who gave him burial, and the cathedral has a major memorial to his memory at its heart.
When the possibility of an excavation of the Greyfriars site began, it was agreed from the start that any remains found would be reinterred in Leicester. When the archaeologists found an intact body the Ministry of Justice licence was drawn up in those terms and explicitly named Leicester Cathedral.
Since the news of the finding last year local people, like the people of York, have expressed a very strong wish that Richard, who has been with them since 1485, should stay in their keeping.
The Chapter supports the terms of the Ministry of Justice licence and the wish of Chapter of Leicester that Richard should be reinterred in Leicester Cathedral. The Chapter of York commends Richard to Leicester’s care and to the cathedral community’s prayers.
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Not all of the memories would have been happy.
The people of York loved and respected him so much that when he requested military re-inforcements they turned a deaf ear!!
Perhaps Bosworth Field might have had a different outcome? So much for love and loyalty!!
I wonder if I could ask you to reconsider this stance – if not for the people of York and Yorkshire (not to mention the wider world), then maybe for King Richard himself.
Whilst we do not know categorically where he would have chosen to be buried, I believe that if the choice was between York and Leicester, he would have chosen York.
1) He favoured York many times, looking after their interests on a number of occasions.
2) The citizens of York seem to have held him in high regard, and were not afraid to mourn his loss in their public records, under a Tudor regime.
3) His massive plans for the development of the Minster suggest it had special significance for him.
4) He visited York to see the mystery plays, had a second coronation in the Minster, and hisson invested as prince of Wales there. Surely he should be interred in a place evoking happy memories, rather than where he heard of the Duke of Buckingham’s revolt and met his untimely end.
5) He was a King, and as such would expect burial in a monumental building. Leicester Cathedral is rather small and does not dominate its surroundings as the Minster does.
6) He had his father’s remains moved from where they were interred after he fell in battle to the family tomb – surely this suggests that he would rather not be buried in the place where he was slain, and where his body was mutilated after death.
7) Wouldn’t a Mediaeval building be preferable to a Victorian one for a Mediaeval monarch?
8) Leicester has made it clear that they see him as a tourist attraction. This seems a bit disrespectful to me. York does not need another tourist attraction so re burial in the Minster could offer a more dignified resting place.
After 500 years of vilification, the ignomy of having his bones poked and prodded, don’t make this the final insult – allow him to come back to the county he spent most of his short life in.
What utter Rot! Richard III was a catholic monarch who had the chapter built in York Minster. The modern constructs of english government dominated by ministeries and paperwork would have had him turning in his grave. If a soldier were to die and be buried in afghanistan does it make it right for the afghans to then lay claim to the body. Richard III was in Leicester to fight his enemies and died a soldier the last royal to die in battle. His body is not a posession or side show! return this king home to York. Where tradition dictated he shouldhave been buried 500 years ago. The Franciscans buried him in Leicester because it would have been unchristian not to do so, but he could not be buried in York because of the politics of the time. Now you wish to repeat the same mistake. Bring him home!