Reconstructing the past: Experts give voice to Richard III
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 in this endeavour.
Richard III ruled England from 1483 to 1485. He was only 32 years old when he died in the Battle of Bosworth. Over the years, many legends and controversies have surrounded his figure.
Surprisingly, until 2012, his remains were lost. That's when historian Philippa Langley and her team found Richard III's remains under a parking lot in Leicester.
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.
Collaboration was needed among experts in linguistics, archaeology, forensic psychology, and speech therapy to precisely reconstruct the bone model and then the entire face and consequently the paths Richard III's voice took before being spoken. Despite the involvement of so many people, we cannot be completely certain that Richard III's voice sounded exactly like the one reconstructed.
This is as close as we can get. It’s 90% or so accuracy - announced linguist Professor David Crystal.
His origin influenced Richard III's pronunciation. 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 will be presented to a wider audience at the York Theatre Royal.
