Identification of the remains of King Richard III

King, Turi; Fortes, Gloria G.; Balaresque, Patricia; Thomas, Mark G.; Balding, David J.; Delser, Pierpaolo Maisano; Neumann, Rita; Parson, Walther; Knapp, Michael; Walsh, Susan; Tonasso, Laure; Holt, J. W.; Kayser, Manfred; Appleby, Jo; Forster, Peter; Ekserdjian, David; Hofreiter, Michael; Schürer, Kevin

doi:10.1038/ncomms6631

Cited by 172 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 36 publications

(66 reference statements)

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“…For example, they have enabled identification of the remains of King Richard III (King et al 2014). Such studies, however, have not yet been conducted on the human remains of the basilica.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA profiling of Hungarian King Béla III and other skeletal remains originating from the Royal Basilica of Székesfehérvár

Olasz

Seidenberg²,

Hummel³

et al. 2018

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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A few decades after the collapse of the Avar Khaganate (c. 822 AD), Hungarian invaders conquered the Carpathian Basin (c. 862-895 AD). The first Hungarian ruling dynasty, the Árpáds played an important role in European history during the Middle Ages. King Béla III (1172-1196) was one of the most significant rulers of the dynasty. He also consolidated Hungarian dominance over the Northern Balkans. The provostry church of the Virgin Mary (commonly known as the Royal Basilica of Székesfehérvár) played a prominent role as a coronation church and burial place of medieval Hungarian kings. The basilica's building and graves had been destroyed over the centuries. The only royal graves that remained intact were those of King Béla III and his first spouse, Anna of Antioch. These graves were discovered in 1848. We defined the autosomal STR (short tandem repeat) fingerprints of the royal couple and eight additional individuals (two females and six males) found in the Royal Basilica. These results revealed no evidence of first-degree relationship between any of the investigated individuals. Y-chromosomal STR profiles were also established for all the male skeletons. Based upon the Y-chromosomal data, one male skeleton showed an obvious patrilineal relationship to King Béla III. A database search uncovered an existing Y-chromosomal haplotype, which had a single-repeat difference compared to that of King Béla. It was discovered in a person living in an area close to Hungary. This current male line is probably related paternally to the Árpád Dynasty. The control region of the mitochondrial DNA was determined in the royal couple and in the remains of the inferred relative. The mitochondrial results excluded sibling relationship between the King and the patrilineal relative. In summary, we successfully defined a Y-chromosomal profile of King Béla III, which can serve as a reference for the identification of further remains and disputed living descendants of the Árpád Dynasty. Among the examined skeletons, we discovered an Árpád member, whose exact affiliation, however, has not yet been established.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA profiling of Hungarian King Béla III and other skeletal remains originating from the Royal Basilica of Székesfehérvár

Olasz

Seidenberg²,

Hummel³

et al. 2018

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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“…Subsequently, the remains were examined in great detail and the research team was able to announce that the remains were indeed those of King Richard III. 5,6 One of the several strands of the evidence used to confirm their claims was the fact that the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) isolated from the skeleton matched that of the two people identified by genealogical studies as being maternal descendants of the sister of Richard III.…”

Section: The Discovery Of Richard Iii's Remains and Subsequent Intermentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…25 The team also sequenced the mtDNA from both Michael Ibsen and Wendy Duldig. These complete mtDNA sequences do have the mutations expected for haplogroup J1c2c3 and therefore indicate that the three persons are likely to be closely related.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the larger haplogroups the population estimates are rounded to the nearest million people. 23 But it has not been generally appreciated that J1c2c3 has not been identified in any people living in Europe. However, in this study we are able to describe a further seven lineages, all from the USA, that match the mtDNA haplogroup of Richard III, and to discuss the features of Richard III's mtDNA that make it so very special.…”

Section: Mtdna Haplogroupingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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King Richard III and his mitochondrial DNA haplogroup J1c2c3

Logan¹,

Brinkman²

2017

JGFH

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King Richard III has been a controversial figure for centuries and the finding of his skeletal remains under a car park in 2012 has only raised his profile. But what is generally unknown is that he belongs to an exceedingly uncommon mitochondrial haplogroup, J1c2c3. Two maternal descendants of his extended family have already been traced by orthodox genealogical methods, but no other possible descendants have been found in Europe. In our study we have identified a total of seven lineages containing people in haplogroup J1c2c3 through the use of direct-to-customer DNA testing. All the lineages are American, and unfortunately they do not link back to King Richard III, as yet. However, we do suggest that because of the small size of haplogroup J1c2c3 the people we have identified may well be descendants of the immediate family of King Richard III.

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“…The identification was achieved using primary, secondary and tertiary identifiers [1], including a DNA match with modern maternal-line relatives [2], archaeological evidence of the burial structure and location, and osteological analysis of the skeleton, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%