Bartlett Library hosted program on King Richard III

The Bartlett Library put on a program on April 24 called "Richard III: The Historical King and Shakespeare's Villain" because the recent discovery of his remains sparked renewed interest in the historical King Richard III.

Richard III's body was found in September, 2012, at Grey Friars Friary Church, Leicester, England. A scientific team at the University of Leicester ran many tests in order to confirm that the remains were in fact Richard III. It was concluded that those were his remains on Feb. 4, 2013.

Shakespeare Scholar John Nygro compared accurate information about Richard III's body and contemporary accounts of his personality with Shakespeare's portrayal of him as a malformed, evil manipulator.

Richard III, King of England was born in 1452, and died in 1485, when he was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field.

Shakespeare wrote about Richard III in two plays: "Henry VI, Part 3" and "Richard III." However, Shakespeare wrote them in 1591 and 1592 respectfully. That means that these two works were written over 100 years after Richard III's actual death.

Presenter Nygro explained that how Shakespeare portrayed Richard III was not very different from other historical accounts written about various other famous figures. Shakespeare based his character off of a combination of transferred history, dramatic embellishment, rumors and politics.

The character of Richard III had a withered arm, one leg shorter than the other, walked with a limp and had a hunched back. These were not accurate portrayals. However, what Shakespeare wrote correctly was how Richard III fought with bravery, was able to fight in battle despite his scoliosis and his right shoulder was higher than his left.

The actual remains of Richard III were later reburied at Leicester Cathedral in March 2015. He was buried in a lead coffin in a wooden ossuary constructed by cabinet maker Michael Ibsen, who is a descendent of Richard III.

To conclude the program, Nygro shared that both scientific history and drama are "absolutely essential to the understanding of our past and present reality," meaning that in order to learn about something truly, one must look at all accounts in order to gain a grasp of the portrayals.

An upcoming adult program at the Bartlett Library is the "Community Blood Drive" on Thursday, April 28 from 1-7 p.m. You can save three lives when you give blood at the Bartlett Library's community blood drive, sponsored by LifeSource. To schedule an appointment, visit https://donateblood.lifesource.org. The Library sponsor code is 141D. Donors must be at least 17 (16 with parent permission).

For more information and a complete listing of scheduled programs, call 630.837.2855 or visit www.bartlettlibrary.org.