Modern forensic analysis of the skeletal remains of King Richard III – the last English monarch to die in battle – has revealed a “blow-by-blow account” of the injuries the King suffered on August 22nd, 1485, when he died at the Battle of Bosworth Field.
Image credit: University of Leicester
In February 2013, scientists from the University of Leicester in the UK identified human remains excavated from beneath a parking lot in downtown Leicester as being the skeleton of King Richard III. The parking lot had been the original site of Greyfriars Church, where Richard had been buried following the battle.
For centuries, a local legend claimed that Richard’s bones had been thrown into a nearby river when the church was demolished in 1536.
However, an archaeological dig at the site in 2012 unearthed the skeletal remains of an individual with battle wounds and severe curvature of the spine that were consistent with both contemporaneous descriptions of Richard III’s appearance and accounts of his death.
A combination of skeletal examination, radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis – using DNA from two of Richard III’s living descendants as a comparison – led the Leicester team to conclude that they had discovered the King’s remains.
Now, to more precisely determine the nature of the King’s wounds, the Forensic Pathology Unit and the Department of Engineering at the University of Leicester have used whole body computed tomography (CT) and micro-CT scans of the injured 500-year-old bones.
Published in The Lancet, the results show that a total of 11 wounds were inflicted upon Richard around the time of his death. Nine of these were battle wounds to the skull, which would suggest that Richard had either lost or removed his helmet.
Sarah Hainsworth, study author and professor of Materials Engineering at the University of Leicester, explains:
“Richard’s injuries represent a sustained attack or an attack by several assailants with weapons from the later medieval period. The wounds to the skull suggest that he was not wearing a helmet, and the absence of defensive wounds on his arms and hands indicate that he was otherwise still armored at the time of his death.”
Prof. Hainsworth outlines the team’s findings in the video below.
Three wounds were considered to have been potentially fatal. Two of these were to the skull and one was to the pelvis.
However, the researchers suggest that the pelvis wound may have been inflicted after Richard’s death, as in battle his armor would have shielded this area of his body from these kind of wounds.
“The most likely injuries to have caused the King’s death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull,” says co-author Prof. Guy Rutty from the University of Leicester’s East Midlands Pathology Unit, “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.”
“Richard’s head injuries are consistent with some near-contemporary accounts of the battle,” Prof. Gutty says, “which suggest that Richard abandoned his horse after it became stuck in a mire and was killed while fighting his enemies.”
Writing in a linked comment, Dr. Heather Bonney, from the UK’s Natural History Museum, describes the new study as “a compelling account, giving tantalizing glimpses into the validity of the historic accounts of his death, which were heavily edited by the Tudors in the following 200 years.”
“Wherever his remains are again laid to rest,” she says, “I am sure that Richard III will continue to divide opinion fiercely for centuries to come.”