Reconstructing history: Richard III's voice brought to life
Decades of research on language, history, and anatomy have allowed us to hear what the king who ruled England in the 15th century sounded like. Historians and experts worked on reconstructing Richard III's voice, and advanced technology-assisted them in this endeavour.
Richard III ruled England from 1483 to 1485. He died at the Battle of Bosworth at the age of 32. Over the years, many legends and controversies have arisen around his figure.
Surprisingly, until 2012, his remains were lost. That's when historian Philippa Langley and her team found Richard III's remains in Leicester's car park.
The voice of the ruler was reconstructed. It started with the skull
Specialists from Liverpool John Moores University worked on reconstructing the English ruler's voice. The team began by creating a digital model of the ruler's head, starting with his skull.
For a precise reconstruction, first of the bone model and then the entire face, and consequently the paths Richard III's voice took before being spoken, collaboration was needed among experts in linguistics, archaeology, forensic psychology, and speech therapy. Despite the involvement of so many people, we cannot be completely certain that Richard III's voice sounded exactly like the reconstruction.
This is as close as we can get. It’s 90% or so accuracy - announced linguist Professor David Crystal.
Richard III's pronunciation was influenced by his origin. The ruler was born in Northampton but lived most of his life in Yorkshire, and the dialect and pronunciation of that region had a decisive impact on his speech.
Voice coach Yvonne Morley-Chisholm worked on recreating Richard III's voice, aided by actor Thomas Dennis - physically quite similar to the English king. They based the reconstruction of Richard III's voice on the ruler's letters and notes. The revived voice was presented to a wider audience at the York Theatre Royal.
