"...all he has to do is put a bird down his throat"
Posted on 09/04/2013 8:34:02 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Not only was Richard III one of England’s most despised monarchs, but it now turns out the hunchback king was probably infected with parasitic worms that grew up to a foot in length.
Researchers who dug up Richard III’s skeleton underneath a parking lot in Leicester last year now report they discovered numerous roundworm eggs in the soil around his pelvis, where his intestines would have been. They compared that to soil samples taken close to Richard’s skull and surrounding his grave. There were no eggs near the skull and only traces of eggs in the soil near the grave.
In a study published online Wednesday in the journal Lancet, experts say that suggests the eggs near the skeleton’s pelvis were from an infection during the king’s life, even though it’s unlikely the worms did him any serious damage. In children, roundworm can lead to stunted growth and a reduced IQ, but for a well-fed English king, the parasites were just a minor annoyance. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Except when one sticks its head out your butt and asks
What's for supper???
Its OK I hear he liked fishing.
Those weren’t worms they were dragons!
"...all he has to do is put a bird down his throat"
Butt dragons or Butt Draggins?
Contrast to today where our “Kings” ARE parasites.
Richard is a bit maligned though no doubt a bad man
And likely did have his dear nephews killed in the Tower
And not his only crimes
I believe he was not actually a hunchback but suffered from scoliosis
Surprised AP would not distinguish
/s
There is a defend Richard culture in the UK to refute some of Shakespeare’s descriptions and charges that were embellishment
>> Researchers who dug up Richard III’s skeleton... discovered numerous roundworm eggs in the soil around his pelvis, where his intestines would have been. &etc
I thought about going into academia in my college days. I’m glad I picked industry instead. :-)
Ping
How times have changed. In England, only the King was infected with parasitic worms. Today, our entire nation is infected with them. If only we could be as lucky as England and have only our King with a similar affliction.
I think this is soooooo wron....digging up bodies. They and their descendants own where they lie.
Probably ate a cockenthrice that wasn’t quite cooked properly.
Of course, if Henry VII had killed them, it would have been very unwise indeed for Shakespeare to write a play about Henry VII's murder of the princes, even if he had known it to be true.
Elizabeth I would have had Shakespeare rendered to Richard Topcliffe to have his gonads removed.
IIRC Shakespeare based his play on the official Tudor version of history. This incorporated Bishop Morton's vicious polemic against the dead Richard III. We can't treat Shakespeare's play as impartial evidence.
From a character point of view: the actions of the two kings while in office speak volumes.
Richard III introduced the concept of bail; allowing men freedom from jail until proven guilty.
Henry VII on the other hand invented the star chamber (a system of secret trial!).
Just out of curiosity, how were Richard’s remains reburied? Was he reburied with any ceremony? After all, he was a King.
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