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Could England's King Henry I Be Buried Under a Parking Lot?

Researchers think another medieval English monarch might be found buried beneath a parking lot and are hoping to find him.
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Just three years after the extraordinary discovery of King Richard III under a car park, researchers think another medieval English monarch might be found buried beneath a parking lot and are hoping to find him.

Philippa Langley, the inspiration behind the successful hunt for Richard III's remains, is now on the trail of his forebear Henry I, one of the first rulers of England following the Norman conquest in the 11th Century.

She is part of a team seeking backing to search for the ruins of Reading Abbey, founded by Henry in 1121 and where he was buried after his death 14 years later, allegedly brought about by eating too many lampreys, a type of fish.

Like Richard, the exact whereabouts of Henry's final resting place is unknown after the abbey, including his tomb, was mostly destroyed some 400 years later.

"The thinking in Reading, using current estimates of the size of the abbey, is that this burial spot is located beneath a school," Langley told BBC History Magazine. "If the abbey is larger, it could be situated underneath either what is today a playground or a car park."

The body of Richard III was re-buried in Leicester Cathedral in March at a somber ceremony which attracted global interest.

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--- Reuters