Historian May Have Discovered Henry I's Final Resting Place
Yet another English monarch might be buried underneath an English parking lot. Scott Simon has more.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
One more British monarch may have been discovered in a parking lot. Just three years after the discovery of the remains of King Richard III, researchers have turned their attention to another even older missing ruler - Henry I. Philippa Langley, the historian who led the search for Richard's remains, believes the ruins of Reading Abbey - which Henry founded in 1121 - may be beneath the school playground and parking lot. They hope to find Henry's tomb below. Now, Henry I played the 12th century "Game Of Thrones" with a good deal of savagery, and like Richard, he earned what political consultants now call a mixed reputation. Who knows what secrets might be exhumed if the body is found? Historians say that what finally killed Henry wasn't a human enemy but a surfeit of lampreys, the parasitic eel once considered a delicacy. Either way, when you park a car in Great Britain, take a moment to ponder which monarch might lie beneath your feet, and avoid chips and eels.
Copyright © 2015 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.