By Vladimir Brezina
Once upon a time, I used to visit quite often a certain place that has lately been in the news.
Here it is in January.
And in May.
And in July…
Where is it?
I’ll give you a hint:
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Update February 9, 2013: This is Bosworth Field, about 15 miles west of Leicester, England. On August 22, 1485, this happened here:
In the Battle of Bosworth, the final battle of the Wars of the Roses, King Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England, was killed, and Henry VII, the first king of the Tudor dynasty, came to the throne.
Richard’s skeleton has now been discovered buried under a car park in Leicester.
“A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!“
Vladimir Brezina (RIP) 
Johna Till Johnson
Wind Against Current 
Plymouth?
I’ve never been back east, so I have no idea…
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A little further east than that…
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Leicester UK, that is Richard III.
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Dope! I should have gotten that!
(Vladimir could have hinted it was across the pond… ;) )
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:-)
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Right, Gayle! But… Leicester is a big (well, biggish…) city, but here there are only fields and woods…
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No matter where it is, I enjoyed the photos very much!
Nancy
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Thank you, Nancy! It was a lovely place to visit, any time of the year :-)
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Leicester UK? Great Photos… Like in my country, Indonesia… :)
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Thank you! Although I am sure it looks a little different from Indonesia ;-)
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But… I don’t see the car park :-)
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Exactly! I think the lack of car park is getting a lot of people stumped. Here’s another hint:
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It was easy when I saw the portrait !!! It is incredible Richard has been founded, isn´t it? They are still big surprises for the academic world! I imagine their excitment!!! (even me I was excited!!!! :) )
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Totally exciting!! :-)
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Quite a find isn’t it? :-)
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Yes, it is! I was reading the updates of the press conference where they announced their findings as they came out and the way it all came together, too… I think there’s another blog post in there somewhere :-)
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I also supposed it is Richard III, great, I am good :-). Thanks for sharing
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Yes, you are good :-)
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Absolutely loved the quiz! I live in the UK and I was about to reply, but well… I saw the post a bit too late ;-) Love the idea hehe, and the various hints etc…
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Hints for foreign readers… I was getting a little worried that nobody would come up with the answer ;-)
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Leicester, UK. “Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious spring….”
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:-)
I think by this time it’s “A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!”
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Sorry, I have no idea, but the place looks really lovely.
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And historic! — See the preceding comments :-)
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Oh yes, I’d saved your post last night and commented this morning, so the other comments weren’t there. I should have recognised Richard III, but I haven’t been watching the news lately. :D
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Once you gave the hint I got it, but before that I was lost :)
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But now it’s all clear… :-)
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:) Yup!
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Love quizzes Vladimir…more please!
Poor Richard…….for want of a nail etc..
I suppose you all know that the true heir to the Plantagenet throne is happily living in Australia?
Didn’t guess Bosworth: actually thought the shots were taken in the East Riding, flat though the land in them appears to be. Leicestershire is lovely, of course but there really is no place like my beautiful homeland of Yorkshire.
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Thanks, Pamela—glad you enjoyed it! I’ll see what I can do about future quizzes…
Yes, this could have been in quite a number of other English counties—although subtle regional distinctions are often there if you look closely.
I’d forgotten about the Plantagenet heir in Australia. Does that mean that he, with his Australian followers, might one day invade England and capture the crown just like Henry VII did? It’s fun to think how that would play out in this day and age… :-)
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Wow! What a beautiful place! I hope to visit some day! Thank you for sharing, and I enjoyed the history lesson too! Or should I say, the geography lesson! :) Either way, it was great and interesting! Thanks!
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You are most welcome, Becky! It’s a place well worth visiting—although, beyond the history, there’s nothing really that unusual about it. You can find a thousand other instances of such a landscape in the English Midlands. What makes this one unusual is the knowledge of what that peaceful landscape hides…
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Coincidentally I just finished reading the book, The Kingmaker’s Daughter, by Philippa Gregory. It is the story of Anne Warwick, the Queen Consort of King Richard III. Although it is a historical fiction, there is a lot of research involved when she writes her stories and I am more of the belief that he was a well-loved figure. While cruising the internet to find out more about Richard III, they also showed pictures of Leicester but since two places are quarreling over his remains, the other being York, could it be both? I think the first picture was where he fought his last battle where he lost his life? Otherwise without your hints, I was going to say it looks like the Cotswolds to me.
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Yes, all those photos are from around Bosworth Field, where Richard fought his last battle in 1485… But it’s pretty typical Midlands scenery—could have been many other places thereabouts.
Interesting that you mention The Kingmaker’s Daughter. One of my favorite books is about the Kingmaker himself, the Earl of Warwick: Warwick the Kingmaker, by Paul Murray Kendall (who also wrote a biography of Richard III, which I haven’t read). This is a book of straight history rather than historical fiction, but written for a general audience à la Barbara Tuchman. Highly recommended!
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I will check that out. Thank you!
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So did you just happen to have those photos or have you been planning this post for many years anticipating just such a discovery?!? Or do you have a time machine and visited May after the story broke? I prefer the latter – dont suppose you picked up the lottery numbers too…?
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Damn, I knew there was something I forgot! :-( I’ll be sure to pick up the lottery numbers next time…
No, I had no idea Richard’s body would be found. I took these photos some years ago, in 2007. But having them is not totally a fluke either. My mother used to live in Leicester, and when I visited her I often walked around Bosworth Field, the site of the 1485 battle, which was (and is) a beautiful country walk, but also resonant with the historical associations…
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How banal to find his remains under a car park, but also how exciting!
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Just as well that it was a car park…. If a house had been built on that spot he might never have been found…
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PS – did you study at Leicester University?
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No. I used to visit Leicester quite often because my mother lived there.
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This was such an exciting discovery for me! (I have been following the story) Your photos are really wonderful, and I’m glad that you brought this discovery to your readers’ attention!
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It’s strangely wonderful how these things come together… photos lying around for years acquire a new, unexpected significance :-)
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