Richard III – The Human Being behind the Bones

 


♛ King Richard Armitage ♛


 
Can it really be true? A dream, to get answers from Mr. Armitage !
 
You surely know what I wanted to know in my question, but to document it, here comes the Twitter-Question:
 


 


♛ King Richard – A Human Being ♛


 
Could Shakespeare’s devilish King Richard III have a human side?

All the articles in newspapers about this topic ask the question, if King Richard III had been a ‘control freak’.
My simple answer to that would be, no. He could not have been, because the word as well as the pattern had not been developed back then.
He could not have been something that was not invented yet.
I would much rather think that in his time, those tendencies would more likely have been judged as caring sovereign or something comparable, especially in contrast to previous not so caring kings.
 
But the psychological analysis Professor Mark Lansdale, Head of the university’s School of Psychology, and forensic psychologist Dr. Julian Boon answered this question with much more attention to detail.
Their analysis gives ‘flesh’ to the found bones and in a way also creates a human image of the king.
They examined the approach to see King Richard III as ‘murdering psychopath’, as he was portrayed by Shakespeare.
Though they dismissed this notion, as no signs of narcissism, deviousness, callousness, recklessness, lack of empathy in close relationships, which would be clear signs for this psychological trait, were reported for King Richard III.
 
Their conclusion of an ‘intolerance to uncertainty’ is much more based on the circumstances in which Richard III grew up, the uneasiness and insecurity of his position and environment.
 
Professor Mark Lansdale explains this conclusion:

This syndrome is associated with a need to seek security following an insecure childhood, as Richard had. In varying degrees, it is associated with a number of positive aspects of personality including a strong sense of right and wrong, piety, loyalty to trusted colleagues, and a belief in legal processes – all exhibited by Richard.
On the negative side it is also associated with fatalism, a tendency to disproportionate responses when loyalty is betrayed and a general sense of ‘control freakery’ that can, in extreme cases, emerge as very authoritarian or possibly priggish. We believe this is an interesting perspective on Richard’s character.
[…]
Overall, we recognise the difficulty of drawing conclusions about people who lived 500 years ago and about whom relatively little is reliably recorded; especially when psychology is a science that is so reliant upon observation.
However, noting that this is the problem historians work with as a matter of routine, we argue that a psychological approach provides a distinct and novel perspective: one which offers a different way of thinking about the human being behind the bones.

 
 


♛ King Richard III ♛


 

  • ThisIsLeicestershire.co.uk: Rare Richard III coin up for sale, by Leicester Mercury (01.03.2013) – Not only about the announced coin, but also quite interesting conclusion about the burial rite for King Richard III, a Catholic, buried in a protestant Cathedral by the Church of England.
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  • ThisIsLeicestershire.co.uk: Richard III: Mayor to recruit duo for project, by Leicester Mercury (01.03.2013) – King Richard III already is treated like a ‘treasure’ in Leicester. The museum project gets money to accommodate the exhibition planned to open its doors early in the year 2014.
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  • The Telegraph: Duke of Gloucester’s concern for Richard III’s ‘dignity’, by Tim Walker (02.03.2013) The Duke of Gloucester met Dr. Philip Stone, chairman of the Richard III Society, to discuss the intended procedures for King Richard III.
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  • ITV: The Choir for King Richard III (02.03.2013) – Embedding of the video with the choir and interview with the choirmaster was not possible, so please follow the link to VIMEO to open the video.

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  • ITV: Richard III: Ceremony to remember Battle of Bosworth fallen (03.03.2013) – White roses in memory of the king and the 1.000 killed with him in the Battle of Bosworth.
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  • Christian Today (Australia): How do they know it is Richard III – or – is that stuff on CSI real, after all?, by Mark Tronson (04.03.2013) – Background about the scientific methods used by the researchers in Leicester.
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  • New Statesman: New evidence: Was Richard III guilty of murdering the Princes in the Tower? By Amy Licence (05.03.2013) – Announcing the publication of her book in April 2013, the author announces to give new evidence to the centuries old mystery of who killed the Princes in the Tower.
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  • ThisIsLeicestershire.co.uk: Richard III: Top archaeology award for University of Leicester team, by Laura Elvin, Leicester Mercury (05.03.2013) – Readers of the magazine “Current Archaeology” voted the Richard III project as the research project of the year.
    The magazine will have a special report about the digging in the next issue, becoming available on Friday, 08.03.2013.
    Mr. Buckley when receiving the price in London:

    I am proud to accept this award for the Grey Friars Project and, in particular, I want to thank Philippa Langley (member of the Richard III Society), who raised the money for the investigation and never doubted for a minute we would find Richard III.

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  • The Millions: Proving a Villain: The Search for Richard III, by Will Glovinsky (06.03.2013) – Can we dismiss Shakespeare’s depiction of King Richard III entirely or what can we learn from it?

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January 23, 2022

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January 8, 2022

Can new evidence clear the name of Richard III? (by Chris Lloyd, Darlington & Stockton Times)


December 29, 2021

Did Richard III actually save the boy king he’s accused of killing? (by Lydia Starbuck, Royal Central)


April 23, 2021

Steve Coogan movie The Lost King begins filming (by Comedy.co.uk, British Comedy Guide)


January 31, 2021

Barnard Castle boars date back to King Richard III (by Andrew White, The Northern Echo)


January 12, 2021

Alternate history: what if Richard III had won at Bosworth? – Professor Emeritus Michael Hicks interviewed by Jonny Wilkes (by Jonny Wilkes, Professor Emeritus Michael Hicks, BBC History Revealed)


September 11, 2020

Steve Coogan and Stephen Frears to collaborate on The Lost King (Film-News.co.uk)


April 9, 2020

Steve Coogan confirms Richard III movie ‘next year’ (by BBC East Midlands, BBC.com)


November 1, 2019

Richard III and the Battle of Bosworth – By Mike Ingram (HeritageDaily)


October 8, 2019

Painted as a villain – how the Tudors regarded Richard III (by Christina J. Faraday, APOLLO.The International Art Magazine)


 

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