The remains of Richard III should be reburied in a medieval
cathedral, not a modern Catholic church, an eminent Catholic historian
has said.
Following DNA testing, a skeleton discovered beneath a car park in
the centre of Leicester was today confirmed as being that of the
medieval English king who was killed in battle in 1485.
It is understood that he is to be reinterred the remains in Leicester
Cathedral, in whose parish they were found, but there have been calls,
including an online petition, to have them buried in a Catholic church.
Eamon Duffy, professor of the History of Christianity at the
University of Cambridge said Leicester was "an obvious substitute" for
the Greyfriars church where the Plantagenet king was originally buried
and which was demolished in the Reformation, but said there was also a
case for them to be reburied in a medieval church that had a
"significant association with his history," such as Gloucester Cathedral
or York Minster.
He said it would be "absurd" to bury the king in a
modern Catholic church.