Donna Fletcher Crow, Novelist of British History, has written more than 50 books specializing in British Christianity. These books include: The Monastery Murders, clerical mysteries; Lord Danvers Investigates, Victorian true-crime; The Elizabeth and Richard series, literary suspense; and Glastonbury, The Novel of Christian England. She loves research and sharing you-are-there experiences with her readers.
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Donna Fletcher Crow, Novelist of British History
A traveling researcher engages people and places from Britain's past and present, drawing comparisons and contrasts between past and present for today's reader.
Encounters with Richard III, Restoration and Recreation
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ January 31, 2025
Through the wonders of modern technology, we can now see and hear one of the most-debated rulers of history. Recent high-tech and scholarly achievements have added a whole new layer of meaning to an historic era that has held my interest for more than three quarters of a century.
From earliest childhood I have been fascinated by King Richard III. I was barely old enough to read when the picture of the Princes in the Tower in the Book of Knowledge encyclopedia captivated my attention.
Through the years various productions of Shakespeare’s tragedy added fuel to my perceived “villain” interpretation of the story of King Rihard IIIy. My perception did a complete turn-around, however, when I read Josephine Tey’s persuasive novel Daughter of Time which argued for an entirely different judgment—Richard as a kindly uncle to his fatherless nephews and a good monarch.
Then in September of 2012 Philippa Langley, a British writer and producer, followed a Medieval map to a large car park in Leicester, England. English singer and song-writer Colin Burns recounts it like this in the journal E-info, Issue 11, 2024: “The map and location did not quite line up but when she looked across to a smaller car park she felt prompted to go through the barrier. The minute she did her heart started racing, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and all the bones in her body went cold. Something said to her, ‘He’s here.’”
Peter Broster, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Langley acquired the services of a team from Leicester University’s archeological department and their efforts resulted in the amazing discovery of the remains of King Richard III. The event was not as random as it might sound, since what is now a Tesco’s carpark was, in 1485 when Richard was killed in the Battle of Bosworth, the site of the Church Choir in the north end of the Grey Friars Franciscan Friary, just 12 miles west of Leicester. Amazingly, “within inches of where a letter ‘R’ had indicated a Reserved parking space.”
A few months later, all this became more personal for me when the results of genealogical sleuthing and DNA testing named King Richard's descendants living today—someone I was actually acquainted with. Indeed, I had slept with him (in a manner of speaking). You can read the story here.
Yvonne Morley-Chisholm and Dr. Caroline Wilkinson
Now, two women have achieved great strides in helping modern students get to know the authentic Richard III. Dr. Caroline Wilkinson, forensic anthropologist and director of Facelab, recreated the king’s face from his skull. Using forensic and archaeological research she created a digital avatar. Taking advantage of the new science of motion capture, the performance of an actor was transferred onto a virtual image of Richard.
Yvonne Morley-Chisholm, voice coach and member of the Voice Care Network, led the project to recreate the king’s voice. She considered such factors as regional accents where he lived and his personality—based on what his contemporaries had written about him. Yvonne found “a professor in France who can predict the likely pitch range of a voice from a skeleton. She also had discussions with other experts such as dentists, ear, nose & throat specialists, speech & language therapists and forensic psychologists.” Finally, she considered some 300 actors before finally choosing Thomas Dennis to give voice to King Richard.
And, perhaps most astonishing of all, we can see and hear the results of these years of cooperative effort on our own devices, in our own time. In this brief video, King Richard speaks “a piece that [he] wrote for his son’s investiture as Prince of Wales: a proud dad talking about the qualities and characteristics in his son.
All this achieves one more important step in restoring the reputation of a man we now know was not a villain, but rather an excellent monarch and a good Christian. The E-info article recounts that “no monarch before or since has pushed through so much legal reform. He gave us the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, a fair jury, fair weights & measures and the forerunner to legal aid. He was not above speaking to the commoner and had a servant heart.
“Richard in his daily prayer acknowledged God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He acknowledged the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross over sin. He had a book of hours full of prayers, scriptures and devotional writings. It was quite small so that he could carry it with him. It was well thumbed and included his personally written notes.”
“An emissary of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, kept a private diary in which he wrote details about the various monarchs he met during his travels. He describes Richard as ‘truly magnanimous’ and reports no negative comments about him. This contrasts with his accounts of some other monarchs.”
Donna Fletcher Crow, Novelist of British History, has written more than 50 books specializing in British Christianity. These books include: The Monastery Murders, clerical mysteries; Lord Danvers Investigates, Victorian true-crime; The Elizabeth and Richard series, literary suspense; and Glastonbury, The Novel of Christian England. She loves research and sharing you-are-there experiences with her readers.
Read More: King Richard III
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Reader Comments:
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing this with your friends!
-Kathleen Best, February 3, 2025
This was VERY interesting, Donna! Thank you - as ALWAYS - for sharing your gained wisdom with those of us who are not so adept in research as you are, nor are we inclined to do such, although we certainly enjoy the results of your own that you generously share!!
-Carolyn H. Gilbert, February 3, 2025
Kathleen and Carolyn, how lovely to hear from both of you! As I said above I have been fascinated by Richard III all my life and the new information that is coming to light about his absolutely fascinates me. I am so glad you enjoyed it!
-Donna, February 4, 2025
Thank you for putting all this together. I remember the amazing Tesco car park discovery. And my husband has always said Richard was a good guy, despite Shakespeare's portrayal.
-SheilaDeeth , February 8, 2025
Aha, my mother always told me to listen to my husband!
-Donna, February 14, 2025
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