Early on Leicester Cathedral appointed a Liturgy Committee to come up with a plan for the reinterment of Richard III. The result has now been revealed.
In a sense it was never complicated. Any Christian Church is of course familiar with carrying funeral, memorial or reinterment services through with dignity and honour. We need closure and the church has provided this since Easter AD 33. And even if reinterments are not carried through that often, they do happen; for instance this was the case after the two World Wars, when the remains of soldiers in some instances were brought back to be reinterred in family vaults etc.
However, in this case matters soon got complicated. It stands to reason that the most natural thing would have been to have Richard III, an anointed king, laid finally to rest in Westminster next to his wife and with the proper honour and dignity accorded to him by for instance the presence of the full Royal Family (the Queen); one might even have taken the effort to have his coffin wrapped in a proper copy of his standard and decorated with St. Edwards Crown from 1661, said to have been made from the melted gold of the original crown (which Richard wore at his coronation).
What happened was, of course, that city councillors, MP’s from the greater region of Leicester and other interested parties worked tirelessly to keep his remains “at home”. It was soon obvious that a substantial sum of future tourism income had glinted in the future; something, which also dazzled the good people of York, who tried on the way to catch the prize.
As was foreseen from the beginning, though, Leicester caught the plum. Very early on in the process leading up to the reinterment of Richard III, Leicester Cathedral accordingly appointed a committee to oversee the actual service accompanying the remains to his final resting place in the Chapel of Christ the King just behind the sanctuary. The goal was obviously to have as dignified a reinterment service as possible, mixing medieval and modern elements in a thoughtful blend.
Today the world – or at least that part, which had access to the live transmission at Channel 4 – had the chance to witness, what a millennium of carefully worked out order and liturgy may provide as sustenance and help, when called upon.
Away were the stumpy pall and the tacky “medieval” crown, which had covered the coffin during the last few days, when more than 25.000 people had passed before Richard III lying in repose.
Instead we were treated to a Cathedral full of sombre people, standing in attendance while the coffin was carried solemnly up the nave, where the present Duke of Gloucester afterwards poignantly placed Richard’s prayerbook on a stool behind it; that prayerbook, which it is believed was with Richard in his tent at Bosworth. Right after this we were treated to a exquisite piece of medieval chant, Psalm 114 accompanied by In Paradisum, which is the antiphon traditionally sung as the dead person is carried to the grave. And then afterwards we had a proper sermon by the Bishop of Leicester and the final laying to rest of the man by the Archbishop. After which followed some more music now modern in the setting. The full programme can be perused at leisure here
In no way does this foreshortened presentation of the actual liturgy pay tribute to the massive work, the committee obviously had to carry out. However, looking from afar there is ground for congratulations. This was no invention of tradition, but rather a careful worked out variation on an ancient theme.
Well done!
Karen Schousboe
SOURCES:
The Reinterment of King Richard III – Provided by the official website on King Richard in Leicester
READ MORE:
The Music at the Reinterment of Richard III
