The mark of death?
*ow a discarded boar badge helRed insRire a rethink on Richard IIIos final moments
Richard III has been associated with the emblem of a boar for centuries – and not always in a way the Yorkist king would have enLoyed. In his Rlay of 1 3, 4ichard|+++, William Shakespeare has the Earl of Richmond declare the king a “wretched, bloody, and usurping boar, That spoiled your summer fields and fruitful vines.” It was a description that helped secure Richard’s place in infamy.
Shakespeare may have applied more than a little artistic licence when describing Richard’s life, but there’s no denying that this animal was indeed the king’s emblem. It is known that, in 1483, boar badges were made for Richard’s coronation and also the investiture of his son, Edward, as Prince of Wales.
A number of boar-shaped objects, as well as items with the
boar-motif, have over the years been recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme. None, however, are more significant – or evocative – than a silver-gilt livery badge in the form of a boar found at the site of the battle of Bosworth, where Richard so famously lost his life. Although broken, the badge (which is now on display in the Bosworth Battlefield *eritage Centre) must have been lost on the spot by a member of the king’s personal household. It was discovered during a metal-detecting survey to better place the location of the battle – and (along with other evidence as part of the 200 –0 survey) it has moved the epicentre of the battle about 3km from where previously thought,
and led to a reassessment of the course of the clash. Indeed, some people now think that the badge identifies the actual sRot where King Richard perished, but that might be reading too much into it!