Thursday 7 February 2013

Reburying Richard III

richard iii take 2

People  seem to be missing a rather important point concerning the mortal remains of the last Plantaganet king. Richard III was laid to rest in a monastic church in Leicester. That church building was destroyed by the son of Henry VII, the Tudor usurper who had defeated Richard on Bosworth field. What is more, the Church to which Richard belonged, the Catholic Church, was similarly laid waste by the son of the first Tudor King . So how would it be right to re-inter Richard's remains in a church building confiscated by his enemy's son with a rite invented by that same pretender? There is a petition to have him reburied with Catholic rites in a Catholic Church. But in the end, I can't get too excited about all of this - leave the dead to bury their dead. We have a more pressing calling - "Come, follow me".