King Richard III

The BBC reports on King Richard III:

Richard was born in 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire
His coronation took place in Westminster Abbey in 1483
Richard had one of the shortest reigns in British history – 26 months
He was the last English king to die in battle, killed at Bosworth in 1485

King Richard III was probably killed by two blows to the head during a “sustained attack”, according to new scientific research. Forensic teams studied the skeleton to determine the nature of the injuries and weapons that were used.

The English king was killed at the Battle of Bosworth on 22 August, 1485.

Forensic teams at the University of Leicester have now revealed he suffered at least 11 injuries, some possibly inflicted after death.

CT scans were used on his 500-year-old skeleton to help determine his injuries and the medieval weapons used.

His remains were found under a car park in Leicester in 2012.

The results of forensic analysis, published in The Lancet, show he had nine wounds to the skull and two to the postcranial skeleton.

Researchers said three of these “had the potential to cause death quickly”.

Sarah Hainsworth, study author and professor of materials engineering, said: “Richard’s injuries represent a sustained attack or an attack by several assailants with weapons from the later medieval period.

“Wounds to the skull suggest he was not wearing a helmet, and the absence of defensive wounds on his arms and hands indicate he was still armoured at the time of his death.”

Guy Rutty, from the East Midlands pathology unit, said the two fatal injuries to the skull were likely to have been caused by a sword, a staff weapon such as halberd or bill, or the tip of an edged weapon.

He said: “Richard’s head injuries are consistent with some near-contemporary accounts of the battle, which suggest Richard abandoned his horse after it became stuck in a mire and was killed while fighting his enemies.”

Investigators said they believed damage to the pelvis was caused by a thin dagger stabbed into the buttocks. While this injury could in theory have caused fatal bleeding, it was unlikely to have been the cause of death as Richard’s armour would have protected this part of the body.

They suggested this wound, along with another to a rib, was likely to have been inflicted after death, possibly when the body was slung over a horse.

Researchers said there could have been more wounds to soft tissue which left no trace on the skeleton.

King Richard’s skeleton is due to be reinterred at Leicester Cathedral in March.

The body of King Richard III was found in a parking lot. The physical appearance, including a curved spine, an arrowhead and other battle wounds, led scientists to believe it is King Richard III. DNA tests have since confirmed it is Richard.

Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat at the Battle of Bosworth Field was the decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses and is sometimes regarded as the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the subject of an eponymous play by William Shakespeare.

Richard’s death at Bosworth resulted in the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, which had ruled England since the succession of Henry II in 1154. The last male Plantagenet, Edward, Earl of Warwick (son of Richard III’s brother Clarence), was executed by Henry VII in 1499.

Richard’s Council of the North, derived from his ducal council, greatly improved conditions for Northern England, as commoners of that region were formerly without any substantial economic activity independent of London. Its descendant position was Secretary of State for the Northern Department.

In December 1483 Richard instituted what later became known as the Court of Requests, a court to which poor people who could not afford legal representation could apply for their grievances to be heard.[49] He also introduced bail in January 1484 to protect suspected felons from imprisonment before trial and to protect their property from seizure during that time.[50] He founded the College of Arms in 1484,[51] he banned restrictions on the printing and sale of books,[52] and he ordered the translation of the written Laws and Statutes from the traditional French into English.

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