ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors explore the discovery, treatment, and reinterment of Richard III's body and its role in heritage tourism as a series of inter-connected enactments in which the shift from the absence of the corpse to its presence is central. Sometimes the body of Richard III is a subject, given meaning and appropriated for a variety of ends, but it also demonstrates agency. The authors focus on five interlocking ontologies which they feel is key; Richard III's remains as archaeological and forensic enactment. They also explore the materiality of Richard III's corpse in historical narrative and his remains and national identity. The authors describe Richard III's remains as a legal enactment and his body as neoliberal subject and agent of inter-urban competition. The various enactments of Richard III's skeleton were central to broader processes of heritage, tourism, and inter-urban competition.
