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Richard III: Facial reconstruction shows king's features
BBC ^ | 5 February 2013 | Staff

Posted on 02/25/2013 9:06:05 AM PST by Red Badger

A facial reconstruction based on the skull of Richard III has revealed how the English king may have looked.

The king's skeleton was found under a car park in Leicester during an archaeological dig.

The reconstructed face has a slightly arched nose and prominent chin, similar to features shown in portraits of Richard III painted after his death.

Historian and author John Ashdown-Hill said seeing it was "almost like being face to face with a real person".

The development comes after archaeologists from the University of Leicester confirmed the skeleton found last year was the 15th Century king's, with DNA from the bones having matched that of descendants of the monarch's family. 'Very handsome'

Richard was killed in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, at the age of 32 and after just two years on the throne, having been challenged by the forces of Henry Tudor, the future Henry VII.

Dr Ashdown-Hill, who wrote The Last Days of Richard III, said: "The most obvious features in portraits are the shape of the nose and the chin and both of those are visible in the facial reconstruction."

Richard III Society member Philippa Langley, originator of the search, said on a Channel 4 documentary earlier: "It doesn't look like the face of a tyrant. I'm sorry but it doesn't.

"He's very handsome. It's like you could just talk to him, have a conversation with him right now."

Layers of muscle and skin were added by computer to a scan of the skull and the result was made into a three-dimensional plastic model.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: History; Science
KEYWORDS: coupdetat; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; henrytheusurper; henryvii; kingrichardiii; murderedbytraitors; plantanget; richardiii; royals; shakespeare; unitedkingdom
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The unveiling of the reconstruction was attended by Michael Ibsen, Richard's 17th generation nephew, who also provided DNA for tests on the bones

Richard III died aged 32 in the Battle of Bosworth

1 posted on 02/25/2013 9:06:09 AM PST by Red Badger
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To: SunkenCiv

GGG Ping!........


2 posted on 02/25/2013 9:07:07 AM PST by Red Badger (Lincoln freed the slaves. Obama just got them ALL back......................)
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To: Red Badger

His kingdom for a horse ...


3 posted on 02/25/2013 9:09:44 AM PST by IronJack (=)
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To: Red Badger

Thanks largely to Shakespeare, this unfortunate monarch gets one of the biggest bum raps in history along with people such as Joe McCarthy, Pius XII, and Mary Surratt.


4 posted on 02/25/2013 9:10:32 AM PST by Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
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To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
Hew was king therefore he was an a-hole.

this unfortunate monarch gets one of the biggest bum raps in history

5 posted on 02/25/2013 9:14:23 AM PST by DManA
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To: Red Badger

That just looks like a portrait of Richard Ibsen.


6 posted on 02/25/2013 9:16:47 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Who?......


7 posted on 02/25/2013 9:21:07 AM PST by Red Badger (Lincoln freed the slaves. Obama just got them ALL back......................)
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To: Red Badger

His 17th great nephew, pictured next to him.


8 posted on 02/25/2013 9:29:16 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: afraidfortherepublic

His name is Michael..........


9 posted on 02/25/2013 9:30:27 AM PST by Red Badger (Lincoln freed the slaves. Obama just got them ALL back......................)
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To: Red Badger

They look ike twins. The eyes, the brow, the chin, the shape of the face.

10 posted on 02/25/2013 9:32:04 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: IronJack

Why does that remind me of the Duchess of Cornwall?...........


11 posted on 02/25/2013 9:32:56 AM PST by Red Badger (Lincoln freed the slaves. Obama just got them ALL back......................)
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To: Red Badger

Yes, Michael. Reading too fast.


12 posted on 02/25/2013 9:33:22 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: Red Badger
Whether scoundrel or martyr, Richard III was the last of the Plantagenet kings. The Tudors sought to erase every vestige of Plantagenet influence and revoked titles and offices to every Plantagenet who wouldn't pledge absolute fidelity to the Tudors.

The first title was not restored until the Tudor rule ended with the death of Elizabeth II roughly a century and a half after Bosworth Field. Even then, it was a minor title to a minor Plantagenet, Lord Aston of Forfar.

He's in my mother's family tree as a cousin or uncle, not direct. The interesting thing is that the purge of the Plantagenets actually accomplished two positive things:

  1. Introduction of meritocracy to fill the scores of government and religious offices left vacant by the Plantagenet purge.
  2. Driving many of the deposed Plantagenet's into what would grow into competing schools of religious thought which planted the seeds of Puritanism. Oliver Cromwell basically acquired his seat in Parliament from modest family wealth left over by deposed Plantagenet forebears. And scores of our Puritan founding fathers can trace their ancestry back to Plantagenet royalty, including those of my mother.

13 posted on 02/25/2013 9:35:20 AM PST by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: Red Badger

He’s much better looking than the Dutchess of Cornwall. He looks like Peter Johnson Jr., the legal analyst from Fox News Channel.


14 posted on 02/25/2013 9:35:35 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: Red Badger

Richard III was one S.O.B., there’s no doubt about it.


15 posted on 02/25/2013 9:36:33 AM PST by Mr Ramsbotham (Laws against sodomy are honored in the breech.)
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To: zot

Worth reading and also the back stories on the Daily Mail about the archeological dig.


16 posted on 02/25/2013 9:37:04 AM PST by GreyFriar (Spearhead - 3rd Armored Division 75-78 & 83-87)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Here is an even better comparison......

17 posted on 02/25/2013 9:38:09 AM PST by Red Badger (Lincoln freed the slaves. Obama just got them ALL back......................)
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Actually, it was 142 years between the battle death of Richard III at Bosworth field (1485) and the restoration of the first title for a Plantagenet (1627).


18 posted on 02/25/2013 9:40:48 AM PST by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

I was referring to the horse.........


19 posted on 02/25/2013 9:41:03 AM PST by Red Badger (Lincoln freed the slaves. Obama just got them ALL back......................)
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To: Mr Ramsbotham

The Princes in the Tower would most likely agree with you.........


20 posted on 02/25/2013 9:43:48 AM PST by Red Badger (Lincoln freed the slaves. Obama just got them ALL back......................)
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