Our eternal resting place is often thought of as peaceful and a place in which loved ones can come to pay their respects. Such is not always the case, though, as this video from History Tea Time With Lindsay Holiday illustrates. Holiday showcases three tales of royal exhumation that may have churned up some major historical findings that no one saw coming.
One of the royal exhumations involves a posthumous queen of Portugal, Inês de Castro. Inês was born in 1335 in what is now known as Northern Portugal. She was of illegitimate birth but was a lady-in-waiting to Constanza de Castillo, who was the bride of Prince Pedro in Portugal.
Things got a bit intense when it was discovered that Pedro and Inês had begun quite a public love affair. The affair continued for quite some time because the two eventually had three children together.
When Constanza died after giving birth to their only son, Pedro wanted to make Inês his bride, but his father refused to bless the match due to Inês’ position in the royal court. Inês was then sent away to a nunnery, but that didn’t stop Pedro, as the two ended up getting married in secret.
When Pedro’s father found this out, his anger completely took over. He sent three of his knights to behead Inês in front of her three small children.
After Pedro’s father died, he was given the throne, and one of his first acts was having the hearts ripped out of the three knights who killed his lover and mother of his three children. The next move was to give Inês a royal name and proper burial as he had her body exhumed and her head sewn back on.
To learn the full story about Inês as well as the tale of royal exhumations involving Richard Cromwell as well as Richard III, check out the video.
