DNA Proves King Richard III has Finally Been Unearthed

According to the New York Times, DNA results have finally come back to prove that the remains found beneath a parking lot in Leicester, England are indeed those of the lost King Richard III.

On August 22nd 1485, King Richard III's death on the battlefield finally put to end the War of the Roses--a civil war that violently tore apart England for generations.  Richard came to the throne shortly before his death, following the disappearances of his two young nephews, who were next in line to the throne after his older brother's death.  Because Richard was one of the main suspects in the children's disappearances, he was a very reviled king with a bad reputation.  This could be one of the reasons he was buried so quickly on the battlefield and left in an unmarked grave with no recognition showing that he once ruled over the country.  For almost 500 years, the whereabouts of King Richard III's body were unknown.

His shallow grave was found underneath a parking lot back in September and the bones were put through rigorous DNA testing by very anxious scholars.  The team's leading geneticist was able to take DNA samples from two modern-day descendants of Richard III and compare them to the DNA found in Richard's remains.  The extremely rare mitochondrial DNA that is carried by only 1 to 2 percent of the English population matched the remains found in the shallow grave.  Scholars believe that unearthing the remains of King Richard III gives him not only the respect of a proper burial, but also puts his story to light and gives scholars the opportunity to clear the name of a man who was vilified by his Tudor successors.