02 June 2014

Richard III was not a hunchback


The last Plantagenet king did have significant mid-thoracic adolescent-onset idiopathic scoliosis, but not enough to generate a "hump," as the video explains.

The attribution of a hunchback deformity is of course a legacy of pro-Tudor biases incorporated in Edward deVere's famous eponymous 16th-century play, in which Richard is described as a hunchback who is "rudely stamp'd," "deformed, unfinish'd."

Further information at Medievalists, where you can view a 3-D reconstruction of the spine.

9 comments:

  1. The reason, according to Horrible Histories:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6JczvS1PL4

    Lucy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Edward DeVere? You mean William Shakespeare, perhaps?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I meant Edward DeVere, but you can use his "William Shakespeare" pseudonym if you prefer.

      Delete
    2. Here you go -

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxfordian_theory_of_Shakespeare_authorship

      It's fascinating reading.

      Delete
  3. Stan, have you read Josephine Tey's _The Daughter of Time_?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. An old favorite -

      http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-tribute-to-elizabeth-mackintosh.html

      Delete
  4. Dear Stan,

    I don't know how to reach you other than to make this post.

    Did you see this article in the NYT on the weekend:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/31/sports/wisconsin-whitewater-is-a-ncaa-division-iii-champion-in-three-sports.html?hpw&rref=sports&_r=0

    A great read!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had not seen that. Thank you for the heads-up.

      I have an email address just for the blog. It's listed in the "About Me" blurb in the right sidebar of every blog page. It doesn't specify "readers," but that's what readers use to reach me privately.

      Delete
  5. Daughter of Time impressed me profoundly. The logic and the evidence convinced me that Richard was a decent man and a good king. The series of books by by Thomas B. Costain also present a fascinating look at the British royal family ( The Conquering Family, The Magnificent Century, The three Edwards, and The Last Plantagenets) and totally hooked. me. I love seeing the Tudor propaganda refuted by actual physical evidence.

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