One of England’s last Catholic kings has been re-interred in an Anglican cathedral 530 years after his death.
The mortal remains of King Richard III were re-interred in Leicester Cathedral on March 26, following five days of commemorations.
In 2012, the king’s skeleton was discovered under a parking lot near the cathedral.
He had been hastily buried in 1485 by Franciscan friars after the Battle of Bosworth, in which he was killed.
More than half a century later, commemorations included an interfaith service of compline in the cathedral in Leicester on March 22.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster preached a homily.
The cardinal described King Richard as a “child of war” who spent much of his early life as a refugee before he seized power “on the battlefield and only by ruthless determination, strong alliances and a willingness to employ the use of force, at times with astonishing brutality”.
On March 23, Cardinal Nichols celebrated a Requiem Mass for the repose of the soul of the king at the Holy Cross Priory of the Dominican order.
The cardinal wore the Westminster Vestment, a chasuble dating from the reign of Richard and which might have been seen by him during Masses at Westminster Abbey in London.
More 20,000 people filed past the king’s coffin in Leicester Cathedral
Thousands also lined roads to witness the passage of the king’s cortege.
The Archbishop of Canterbury led the prayers at the March 26 service.
Sophie, Countess of Wessex and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were among the guests there.
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, a distant relation of the king, read a poem by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
Richard III has been vilified in history for his alleged complicity in the deaths of his nephews, whom he had imprisoned in the Tower of London.
But some scholars have contended that Richard’s bad reputation was partially due to Tudor dynasty propagandists, including William Shakespeare.
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