Richard III: Historian accuses University of Leicester of ‘destroying’ parts of skeleton
Leicester Mercury (February 24, 2014)
Richard III: Historian accuses University of Leicester of ‘destroying’ parts of skeleton by Peter Warzynski –
Where is the limit of our presumed ‘right to know’, also what real result compared to researches enabled by testing the living population of England does the University of Leicester expect from King Richard III’s bones and DNA? Dr. Ashdown-Hill and the initiators of the search, the ‘Looking for Richard’ group, defends King Richard III against the University of Leicester’s desire to do a full DNA scan and for that destroy parts of his bones. The full DNA scan in essence can only reveal, where his (DNA dominant) ancestors came from (which for most Europeans is somewhere around India), while the research will tell us nothing about King Richard III himself and how he acted and how for example he treated his nephews, his wife, his subjects, etc.
So you see, my interest in the full DNA research is rather limited, as it will not reveal anything about King Richard III’s story and position in history. Except perhaps his tendency for some illnesses, but as King Richard III did not die in bed, but on a battlefield, that is not overly significant for his life as well.