19th March 2015
A body buried in the Grey Friars friary just a few feet from Richard III has been studied by the University of Leicester team. It was found to be that of a woman aged over 60 who died about 100 years or more before Richard III. Her grave was far more opulent than that of her royal neighbour, who was buried without a coffin in a hastily dug, too-short trench.
This is one of four skeletons found near Richard’s that have been examined, all of them female. The woman’s body was found in a lead coffin inside a stone sarcophagus near the high altar, indicating a high-status individual, possibly an early benefactor of the friary. The only woman who died at the right time known to have been buried in the friary is Emma, wife of John of Holt, but we don’t know her age at death, or of any descendants, so she can’t be linked to the body, which will probably never be identified. No doubt our mystery lady would be most displeased that her expensive burial was concealed under a car park and her identity lost!
The general difficulty of identifying medieval remains shows just how lucky we are that Richard III could be identified, and that his body had not (as local legend claimed) been dug up and thrown in the river.