The Tomb That Wasn't: King John's Lost Grave and the Washing of the Bones

King John of England died in 1216, but his corpse didn't stay put. His body was embalmed, then carried across a war-torn kingdom, and buried in Worcester Cathedral — or was it? In this episode of The History of England, Lucas and Luna follow the strange journey of John's remains: the open-casket funeral at Newark, the lost viscera buried at Croxton Abbey, the alleged theft of his bones during the Reformation, and the Victorian exhumation that claimed to find his skeleton. They explore what medieval burial practices reveal about power, piety, and the messy reality of royal death. Along the way they meet the Abbot of Croxton, the chronicler Roger of Wendover, and a 19th-century antiquarian named George Gilbert Scott. Did a 1797 flood really wash John's bones into the River Severn? And why does Worcester Cathedral's tomb have a hole in its base? This is medieval history through the lens of one restless king's final journey — and what we choose to believe about it. #KingJohn #WorcesterCathedral #MedievalBurial #CroxtonAbbey #RogerOfWendover #GeorgeGilbertScott #Reformation #Embalming #VisceraBurial #Angevin #MagnaCarta #NewarkCastle #RiverSevern #VictorianExhumation #13thCentury #RoyalDeath #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo