The Resurrection of a King
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| The Death of Arthur by John Carrick (1852). Mallory’s Le Morte D’Arthur (the main source for all King Arthur legends) was published a few weeks after Richard III’s death |
“And thus I clothe my naked villainy
With odd, old ends stol’n out of holy writ,
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.”
— Richard III, William Shakespeare
Child-murderer, wife-poisoner, liar, hypocrite and coward: Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England has a very bad reputation. Shakespeare himself built his most terrifying psychopathic villain on the bones of his story.
On the morning of August 22, 1485, Richard III was cut down by series of blows and finally killed by a slice to his head with a hatchet. Then his dead body was probably stripped, flung across a horse and a dagger thrust into its naked backside as it was carried to the city of Leicester. Finally, perhaps after several days of being on display, Richard’s corpse was squeezed into a too-short grave at Greyfriars monastery – and its whereabouts forgotten for the next four centuries.
Such ignominy can be the fate of kings.
The death of Richard, after just two years on the throne, marked the end of the Wars of the Roses, which had raged between the houses of Lancaster and York, each determined to seize power. The victor at the Battle of Bosworth Field was Henry Tudor, a distant cousin by marriage with a shaky claim to the throne, a bucketload of self-belief and a pushy mother.
Uranus, the planet of revolution, swept across the English Midheaven-Sun-Moon and natal Uranus.
Henry Tudor was crowned Henry VII on October 30 that year. His reign brought a lasting peace to England for the first time in 100 years. His son, Henry VIII, would be able to vie with the finest princes in Europe for sheer princeliness (before going off the rails), and his grandaughter would be good Queen Bess, still the most recognisable and personally powerful monarch ever to rule these islands.
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| Henry VII |
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| Elizabeth used her own image more effectively than any monarch until our current queen. |
During the reign of the Tudors, the idea of Englishness would be forged through words, stories and images; an idea of Englishness that became so powerful that it spread out across the world.
Henry VII understood the power of words. He had Mercury (language) in Capricorn (temporal power), in the second house of values. This was opposed to Jupiter (expansion) in Cancer (homeland). Henry hired historians to write the tale of his victory and of his reign, which he deemed to be the dawn of a “modern age”. In that respect, history was to prove him right. The ascent of the Tudors did mark an historical turning point for the country. Naturally, he trashed his predecessor, unleashing a tide of black propaganda that buried Richard III’s name in sewage for the next 400 years.
Of course, there have always been so-called Ricardians, with a mission to rescue the loser’s reputation. Richard III did pass a raft of useful laws, still some of the foundation stones of a fairer society, among others a standardised system of weights and measures, translating the laws into the language of the people (English) and posting these in public places, oh, and bail. On the other hand, what did happen to those princes in the tower, the true heirs to the throne who mysteriously disappeared while uncle Richard was supposed to be looking after them? The truth is likely both good Richard and bad Richard – a human prince in a ruthless time.
Fast forward to the 21st century.
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| Richard III with transits. Time is iffy. |
On August 24, 2012, the lost remains of Richard III were discovered under a carpark in the city of Leicester. The confluence of coincidences and luck that brought the body to light made it seem almost as if the ghost of Richard was guiding the archaeological dig.
The time for Richard’s birth seems to be rather speculative according to astrodatabank, but the day is correct. The planet that one would expect to see active in raising the dead is of course, Dracula himself aka Pluto. Richard was born under a Pluto Uranus conjunction – a little wide, but applying so stronger. It’s in Leo, the royal sign – appropriate for a reforming prince with a dark reputation.
And it’s these two planets which were activated at the time of his disinterment. Pluto is on the point of a yod from transiting Pluto (archaeology) and Chiron (a wounding/healing). Meanwhile, his natal Uranus was trined by the North Node in Sagittarius, just on the point of slipping back into the dark waters of Scorpio. Uranus does seem to be active in these historical dramas. The planet has a reputation as futuristic but it also seems to work backwards in time too. Click here to read more about this.
Transiting Uranus was also trining his natal Pluto. So there were three heavy planets from the bottom of the chart all casting rays at that Pluto in Leo.
There’s a Saturn Return too. Don’t forget that Saturn is also the grim reaper himself, the
god of just deserts, and he’d just been going over Richard’s Sun in the previous months.
Finally, the planet of gossip and slander and also it’s opposite the washing of dirty linen, the cleansing of reputation, Neptune, is somewhere near that IC, the place of burial, so I suspect the speculative time is not far off.
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| England 1066 with transits |
But I thought it would be interesting to see how this unburial worked on the English national chart for 1066. There is transiting Uranus again, crossing the Ascendant no less. Transiting Neptune on the natal Pluto – washing clean the dark secrets of the 12th house – and indeed sextiling the natal Sun. Since Neptune moves so slowly this can only have happened a few times since Richard’s death.
During Henry Tudor’s reign, Neptune transited right across the top of the English chart, washing over Uranus-Moon-Sun-Mercury, an apt description of a complete recasting of history. Henry Tudor and his word-weavers cast a spell that has lasted until now. Today, schoolchildren still seem to study the Tudors more than any other period of English history except perhaps World War II.
Will the bones of Richard III shake things up a bit?
Oh and here’s one last thought. I’d written the bulk of this article quite a while ago, but I still wasn’t satisfied that there was quite enough oomph to the transits. Why now? And then, thanks to yesterday’s piece, I started thinking about the Galactic Centre, which moves about 3° a century. It’s just reached 27°2 Sagittarius – Richard’s NN is there, and England’s Uranus is at 28°5. Hmmm …
F**cking Tudors … that said, I must admit I’m related to the Nevilles, so six of one, etc. … 😉
Quite!
“a human prince in a ruthless time.” I always thought so. Funny how the murder of females never did seem all that distressing to the royals, but ditching the kids probably was the worst PR move he could have made. (Said in my most cynical tones.)
Especially when you’re succeeded by those spinmeisters…
Shows you how badmouthing a person can be devastating and that for four centuries !
It has always been clear to me, that gossiping can destroy a person. When someone is the subject of gossip I always ask them about their view of the matter and the victim is always very thankful to be able to express their view. I’m not saying I agree, but I find gossiping and badmouthing one of the cruellest things to do to a person and most of the time I find the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
mimi
The area where I live is stuck in the past. An area where extended families still rule the roost. Remember an age when it was taboo to have an illegitimate child, or where doing something different to the norm would bring down a world of hurt through gossip? Well I live there.
It’s very nazi germany.
I remember a documentary about the gestapo. There were a lot less members of the gestapo in towns then was thought. It was all run through a network of informers. There was this one poor woman, who was informed on at least twice before the ‘boys’ came round to put her in a camp where she died. She lived in a house in a small town, alone. She did not give the nazi salute, and only had a few friends that were women. She did not mix with her neighbours either. It was enough.
Having written that, it has to be said that after a certain point the gossipers and those that want to control you through gossip lose their edge. Two things happen. the first is that it is increasingly difficult to make up anything new about you. The second is that they lose control of you, because no matter what you do it will be gossiped about which means that when you realize this you are free to do what you like. Its like the child who is over told off all the time gets the idea that it does not matter what the child does, there will be a telling off – freedom.
Rant over:)
This can be especially true within families.
Mimi – I agree as I am in that position and have been for fourteen years. It does not get easier. There is no way past it as some have said to me – just prove that you are not really like that – fat chance. Our reputations are in the realm of others, and are thererfor controlled and or exploited by others. A bad reputation can always be added to, nothing will be reduced.
Does the airing of the White Queen on BBC has anything to do with any of the charts? Interesting post!
I think so. I also wonder about the Hilary Mantel books re-examining the reign of Henry VIII from the point of view of Thomas Cromwell, his hatchet man.
Thank you for that, Christina. Very interesting.
I’ve been a Ricardian since my teens, when I first read Josephine Tey’s ‘The Daughter of Time’. For anyone really interested in examining the period in greater detail there’s a fund of articles etc on the Richard III Society’s website which has just been relaunched (they have a FB page too where discussion can get a little lively)
Richard was born to be king – natal Regulus was conjunct his MC. It’s now pretty well proven that he was in fact the true heir to the throne, since Edward IV was conceived when his supposed father was fighting in the wars in France and Edward was therefore not of Royal blood.
Interestingly Regulus was again active in Richard’s chart by transit when his body was found.
He was a good and just king: known for his exceptional piety, and much loved in the North esp around Yorkshire where he spent much of his life, in effect ruling the northern parts of England for his brother. As King, he championed the common man (esp his access to legal remedy) and attempted to facilitate access to books and learning for all his subjects who could read. From all we know of him, a series of murders and esp of the children of his beloved brother, would seem grossly out of character.
Margaret Beaufort on the other hand had much to gain by the murder of the young princes, and her husband was Constable of the Tower of London. She had both motive and opportunity. Her son was Henry Tudor.
Cherchez la femme!