Richard III’s Fate

“A Horse! a Horse! my kingdom for a horse!” With that desperate plea, the despised Richard III faced the end of his murderous reign–at least in William Shakespeare’s imaginings. Even in death, however, the last Plantagenet King may yet redeem his much maligned reputation. A new analysis of his remains, buried under a parking lot in Leicester, England, tell a violent tale of his last moments on earth–one that could reignite interest in the fate of the former King.

Notorious for his ruthless pursuit of the crown, Richard, who suffered from a severely curved spine, died at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. A long-forgotten medieval historian’s report that he was interred at Greyfriars Priory–a monastery that stood on what is now the parking lot–always intrigued royal scholars. That led scientists at the University of Leicester to go digging at the site last fall, and they were rewarded with a skeleton–one with a curved spine and savage battle wounds that bespoke a terrible end. And the discovery, it turned out, emerged just in time, as they learned once they began the process of verifying the identity of the bones with DNA testing.

The telltale genetic material they used is known as mitochondrial DNA, which changes little over the generations and is passed on only by egg cells–meaning a mother can pass it to all her children but only her daughters can pass it further. The investigators found two of Richard’s last living descendants. Both matched the toppled King’s DNA, and none of the descendants have any daughters–making them the last chances to confirm the find. British officials are debating where to rebury Richard with a dignity befitting his rank. After more than 500 years, this may be the last winter of his discontent.

READING BETWEEN THE BONES

HEIGHT 5 ft. 8 in.

THE KING’S HEALTH

Richard III likely couldn’t stand as tall as his full 5 ft. 8 in. [1], given the scoliosis that affected his spine. From a detailed analysis of his vertebrae, researchers believe that he was not born with the deformity but that the curvature [2] began around age 10 and grew worse. There is no evidence that he had a withered arm, as some accounts described, although the scoliosis may have caused one shoulder to sit lower than the other. The healthy state of his bones [3] suggests a well-nourished individual who was able to eat substantial amounts of protein, including fish.

BATTLE WOUNDS

The skeleton reveals 10 major wounds, most of which were inflicted during the Battle of Bosworth. Using high-resolution CT scans combined with forensic analysis of the marks left by weapons, the scientists pieced together the brutal and bloody end of Richard III’s life. One wound, possibly caused by a dagger or mace aimed squarely at the top of his head [4], left a depression in the skull but probably wasn’t fatal. A scar in the cheekbone [5] hints that he was struck with a square-bladed dagger as well. Two other blows near the base of the skull [6], one of which sliced off portions of bone, were likely responsible for killing the King.

MUTILATION

After Richard’s death, his enemies continued to attack his corpse, following the medieval tradition of humiliating those defeated in battle. A cut mark on the bottom of the right rib cage [7] suggests a postmortem stab with a knife or dagger, since he would have been wearing armor while he was alive, making it impossible to penetrate his chest. Another wound, in the right pelvis [8], suggests that a sword was thrust through the buttock penetrating the bone. This also would have been less likely if Richard had been alive and fully armored.

ANCIENT GENES

DNA can degrade over time, and cool and dry conditions are best for preservation; Leicester is wet and more temperate. So the team’s geneticist focused on extracting genetic material from the teeth [9] since those are protected by enamel and are more likely to be preserved–important when a corpse has had 500 years to degrade. Some DNA was also taken from the right femur [10]. The team couldn’t extract enough material to reconstruct Richard III’s complete genome, but it was sufficient to match up with the DNA from his living descendants.

Sources: University of Leicester; University of Bradford; Royal Armouries at Leeds