This Is What Killed Richard III

Forensic analysis of King Richard III’s remains has provided a blow-by-blow account of the English monarch’s final moments, revealing he sustained 11 wounds at or near the time of his death.

Depicted by William Shakespeare as a bloodthirsty usurper, Richard ruled England from 1483 to 1485. He was killed in 1485 in the Battle of Bosworth, which was the last act of the decades-long fight over the throne known as War of the Roses. England’s last king to die in battle, he was defeated by Henry Tudor, who became King Henry VII.

The king’s twisted skeleton was found two years ago under a car park by archaeologists from the University of Leicester.

The skeleton, showing a severe spinal scoliosis, was widely examined by researchers.

The latest investigation, carried out by researchers at the University of Leicester, focused on the king’s final moments.

Modern forensic techniques, including whole body CT scans and micro-CT imaging, were used to examine the 500-year-old skeleton for trauma. The aim was to draw the most likely scenario of Richard’s death and determine which of the king's wounds might have proved fatal.

The researchers identified 11 wounds. Nine were found to the skull, suggesting Richard had removed or lost his helmet, and two to the rest of the skeleton. All injuries were consistent with the types of weapons used in the late medieval period.

"The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the (underside) of the skull -- a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury from the tip of an edged weapon,” said Guy Rutty, study co-author, from the East Midlands Pathology Unit at the University of Leicester.

Both the head wounds described by Rutty would have caused hemorrhage, injury to the brain or air embolus, leading to death within a short time. Most probably, it was the penetrating injury that went from the base of the skull through to the inner surface of the skull that led to immediate death.

According to the researchers, the head trauma confirms some near-contemporary accounts of the battle, which reported the king abandoned his horse after it became stuck in a mire and was killed while fighting his enemies.

“The injuries are highly consistent with the body having been in a prone position or on its knees with the head pointing downwards,” researchers wrote in the journal The Lancet.

Although it’s not possible to determine the order in which the injuries were inflicted, the researchers made some interpretation on the basis of what's known of medieval armor.

“There were no defensive injuries to the arms or hands suggesting he was still armored at the point of death,” Sarah Hainsworth, professor of materials engineering at the University of Leicester, told Discovery News.

The injuries represent either a sustained attack or an attack by several assailants.

“It is possible that he suffered a simultaneous attack from several assailants,” Hainsworth said.

She noted that at least three weapons were involved in causing injury to the skull. A rondel dagger was most probably used to create a square-shaped injury to the top of the skull, while a number of "shaving type" injuries were caused by a sharp bladed weapon such as a dagger or sword.

Of the two potentially fatal wounds to the base of the skull, one was most likely caused by a pole weapon such as a bill or halberd. The other injury, penetrating through the skull from the base to the inside, was again likely caused by a sword or dagger.

“It is therefore likely that more than one person was involved if each person held one weapon. But we can't say exactly how many people were there or how fast the injuries were sustained,” Hainsworth said.

In addition to the injuries to the base of the skull, the researchers found another potentially fatal wound. It was inflicted to the pelvis, one of the most vulnerable areas to attack in a medieval battle.

But Richard was wearing his armor, so it’s likely he was already dead when a fine-bladed weapon penetrated the right buttock and traversed the right side of the pelvic cavity.

“The most probable mode of injury is after Richard’s armor had been removed,” the researchers said.

Indeed, contemporary accounts of the battle describe Richard’s body as being slung over the back of a horse suffering insults.

“The angle of the injury to the pelvis is highly consistent with such treatment,” the researchers wrote.

The pelvis injury adds to other wounds, such as three face injuries, which were most likely caused after death.

Read more at Discovery News