What's the deal with Richard III?

[WolverineDG]

Ok, I admit, I'm a nerd who has long had a fascination with medieval English history. Initially, it started with the Tudors, but after I read a spectacular book by Sharon K. Penman about Richard III (Sunne in Splendour), I've expanded that interest to the Plantagenets. And the past two years have been amazing for those interested in the story of Richard III, with the "discovery" of his remains. I "knew" that when they found bones on day 1 of the dig, that they had found Richard. I don't know how I knew, I just did in my gut. (BTW, if you're even remotely interested in pre-Tudor England, I highly recommend any of Penman's books)

Note: If you only paid slight attention to the story, you'd think "wow, what a lucky guess" when they essentially struck pay dirt on Day 1 of the dig, but in reality, they started digging right where an "R" had been painted on the parking lot. Turns out, the spot where Richard was buried has been marked since the early 1600's, first by a statue of some sort & then with a simple "R." So, they knew where he was, just scientists saying "it's only speculation, not proved" keep the falsehood of "grave unknown" alive. (I was curious as to where this R came from & this is what my searching, after the discovery, found; I did not know any of this when I first heard the news of this dig.)

Along with this is 500 years of anti-Richard propaganda, helped by the fact that records of this time period are sketchy & most of what survives comes from (shock) those who were beneficiaries of the Tudors or were wanting to keep their heads on their shoulders.

But now it seems that there are Richardians everywhere! One in particular spearheaded the project which recovered his remains, & now there is a highly-contested case over where the King's remains should be officially interred. Discussion of this topic was so heated, that it is now banned on the Richard III Society's FB page! WTH

I admit, when I saw the facial reconstruction of Richard III, I gasped. Chills ran up & down my spine. There is one depiction in particular, with a rendering of this reconstruction under the word "Justice" that has really shaken me up.

WHY? It just does. I mean, I know that the Truth comes out, but why now, 500 years after he died? What purpose does it serve? Why are so many people still so emotional over where to bury someone who's been dead for half a millennia?