Richard

One of the important things about Crispin of Mistmantle is what he believes about being a king. As far as he's concerned, a king is there to serve the people, not the other way round. A king who isn't willing to die for his people isn't much of a king. It's not the only thing that makes him a good animal to have in charge, but it goes a long way.

I've been thinking about kingship. Being British and mostly English, and into history, I'm excited about the goings on in Leicester this week. It's all about Richard III. In case you don't know the background, he was the last Plantagenet king of England and was killed at the battle of Bosworth in 1485, at the end of the Wars of the Roses. History generally assumes that his nephews the Princes in the Tower, were murdered on Richard's orders. Shakespeare made a villain of him. But Shakespeare lived in the England of the Tudors, and it was Henry Tudor who won at Bosworth and became king. History is written by the winners (and by playwrights who don't like being beheaded). Richard seems to have been a pretty OK king by the standards of his day. Did he kill the princes? Will we ever know?

After the battle, Richard's body was dropped off at a chapel somewhere and given a quick and basic funeral by the resident monks. Over centuries and much rebuilding the site was lost, until it was excavated two years ago by a clever historian who reckoned she'd found the place. He was buried under a car park in Leicester and there was lot of discussion as to how much he owed the council for parking fees. And finally, now that all the DNA testing and analysis has been done, he is to be buried in Leicester Cathedral. He was received into church in a service on Sunday night and will be buried on Thursday. Every day, people file past his coffin.

I'd rather he were buried at York Minster, as he wanted. But at least he's getting a decent funeral at last.

The usual misery-mutterers are saying it's a lot of fuss about nothing. The cynics are saying how good it is for tourism in Leicester. The self-righteous are saying that we shouldn't be showing all this honour to The Wicked Uncle. I think we're giving a man a decent burial at last, a man whose life was always going to be stormy, warlike, and controlled by forces bigger than he was.

At the service on TV on Sunday night, I heard familiar phrases to do with funeral services - 'this our brother Richard', and 'your servant Richard', the way any man would be referred to at such a time. Our brother Richard, human and flawed like the rest of us. Hacked down without mercy and abandoned. Whatever he did or did not do, may grace and mercy prevail for him. Sleep, our brother Richard.