Richard III: The Man, The Myth, The Rediscovery

On August 22, 1485, King Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth. His naked corpse was taken to Leicester and paraded before being buried at Greyfriars monastery church. The church was later demolished and its location forgotten.

Nobody knew the resting place of the murdered king. In 2012 the mystery began to unfold. A skeleton was discovered in a car park. Could this skeleton be a clue to one of the greatest mysteries ever known?

The skeleton has 10 wounds inflicted around the time of death, including 8 to the head, suggesting that the individual’s helmet had been knocked off. Swords or similar weapons hacked away the back of his skull and penetrated into it.

The bones of the skeleton are gracile, suggesting that they belonged to someone with a slender, feminine build. This matches historical descriptions of the king. The height of the person would have been about 172cm – above average for the time.

Samples taken from the skeleton reveal that the individual had a high-protein diet – including a lot of seafood – which suggests a person of high status. Archaeologists wondered, “could this really be the king?”

The bones of the feet are missing from the skeleton. They may have been dislodged during 19th-century building work on the site of the former church, or possibly even when the skeleton was dug up in 2012.

The Wars of the Roses were a series of battles fought in England between 1455 and 1487. Throughout this period, the Houses of Lancaster and York struggled for control of the English throne.

The Wars get their name from the insignia of the two sides: the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York. The key battle was fought in 1485 at Bosworth, where the Yorkist King Richard III, last of the Plantagenets, was killed by Henry Tudor. 

On May 4, 1471, the House of York overwhelmed forces loyal to the House of Lancaster at the Battle of Tewkesbury. The victory consolidated Edward IV's grip on the throne, and Yorkists continued to rule for another 14 years.

The prominent heraldry is that of the Lancastrian House of Beaufort. The leader of the House of Beaufort – the Duke of Somerset – was captured and executed by Yorkist forces at Tewkesbury on May 6.

Richard III was only 18 at the time of the Battle of Tewkesbury. He was the younger brother of the king, Edward IV, and at that time held the title of Duke of Gloucester. 

The White Boar was the personal badge of Richard III. One possible explanation for this choice is that "boar" (or the alternate spelling "bore") was a play on the first four letters of "Eboracum", the Latin name for York.

This is the inside of Richard III’s tent, known as a pavilion, where he spent the night before the Battle of Bosworth on August 22, 1485. The King’s squires likely pitched his tent on Ambion Hill, in the countryside on the border between Leicestershire and Warwickshire.

Some have documented that Richard suffered from nightmares the night before the battle. Shakespeare described a series of ghosts invading his dreams, each one telling him to “Despair, and die!”

Richard’s highly polished armour lies ready for fitting. The armour was carefully crafted to protect the wearer from all but the most violent blows.

Richard’s gilded coronet is tied to his sallet helmet with ribbons. Richard led his forces into battle wearing the crown, a powerful symbol that marked him out as King of England and Lord of Ireland.

The chests contain some of Richard’s portable wealth. These were pillaged after the battle.

The king took a spiked hammer into battle, probably because this is an ideal weapon for close-combat horseback fighting. Without a long handle or blade, the hammer is easy to manipulate, enabling Richard to quickly tackle warriors on both sides. 

Here, Richard III’s squires and servants have dressed him for battle. Armour was always personally fitted to ensure it fitted exactly over the wearer’s padded undergarments. This allowed the wearer full movement, which was important in combat, without painful rubbing. 

The armour Richard wore on his torso was designed to accommodate the spinal curvature caused by his scoliosis, which also altered the shape of his rib cage.

Richard wears the royal coat of arms over his iron armour. This, together with his gilded coronet, tells everyone on the battlefield that he is the king and anyone fighting against him is a rebel.

Richard had proven himself to be a capable warrior, but leading the Yorkists into battle against almost overwhelming odds required mental preparation. Putting on the suit of armour will have helped to focus his mind on the imminent battle.

This is Richard’s view in the later stages of the Battle of Bosworth. He is surrounded by enemies, having been charged by William Stanley’s forces, and has lost his horse in the marsh. The opposing men smile as they sense victory, and they move in for the kill.

To Richard’s left, in black and white, is Rhys ap Thomas. Once one of Richard’s men, he has turned traitor. Welsh lore says Rhys dealt the fatal blow to Richard. He holds a poleaxe and is poised to attack.

To Richard’s right, another man senses the power of imminent victory swings at the king with a sword.

Directly in front of Richard stands one of his household knights. He is accosted from three sides by men with polearms and swords. They are relishing the slaughter they are enacting as they begin to sense victory.

A few hundred metres away, the forces of the Earl of Oxford are defeating Richard’s right flank, which is under the command of the Duke of Norfolk. Richard’s left flank, under the Earl of Northumberland, remains immobile.

This sequence shows the final moments of Richard’s life at the Battle of Bosworth. [Images from the graphic novel “Richard III: The King Under the Car Park”, written by Mathew Morris and Richard Buckley and illustrated by John Agg. Courtesy of John Agg and Leicester City Council]. 

Although guns were used in the 15th century, battles were generally fought using traditional weapons. The main attack came from mass formations of archers, firing at the enemy from a distance. For close combat, soldiers used swords, polearms and daggers.

Analysis of Richard’s skeleton revealed numerous injuries probably sustained on the battlefield. Some torso wounds are in areas usually covered by armour, which has led historians to speculate that these wounds were inflicted for humiliation after Richard’s death.

As Richard rode into battle, his spur hit a stone on a bridge. When his naked corpse was carried back over the bridge, his head struck the same stone and split open. According to legend, a seer foretold this.

A beautiful building has been constructed beside the site where the bones of one of the most famous men in history were discovered.

Philippa Langley, president of the Richard III Society’s Scottish branch, was convinced that the king lay buried here, and so she lobbied Leicester University to excavate the site where his body was indeed discovered.

Buried without ceremony and missing a foot, the skeleton of Richard III lay hidden for 527 years. Here, the position in which the skeleton was found is immortalized by rays of light.

Inspired by Ken Adam’s design for Willard Whyte’s office in the James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever”, this building was constructed over the excavation site in the car park where Richard’s body was found. 

Archaeologists had high hopes that the skeleton could be Richard III’s, but on first inspection the pelvis seemed too feminine. Further analysis revealed that scoliosis – a condition Richard suffered from – would cause a thin, feminine pelvis. The team’s excitement grew. 

Here we see a 3D-printed reconstruction of Richard’s spine. Much of the mythology surrounding Richard III stems from Shakespeare's depiction: a man with a withered arm and a hunchback. 

Historians were unsure whether this reflected reality or was propaganda intended to please the descendants of Richard's enemies. The skeleton showed a twisted spine caused by scoliosis. 

Bioarchaeologists at the University of Leicester used X-rays to produce digital images of each of the skeleton's vertebrae. These were then 3D-printed in plastic and pieced together to create an accurate model of the spine.

Scoliosis is a medical condition characterised by abnormal twisting and curvature of the spine. The condition affects around 2% of the population. 

Richard’s scoliosis was not very severe. In 2014 a man with the same form of scoliosis took part in a cavalry charge while wearing a suit of armour, proving that scoliosis would not have stopped Richard being an able fighter.

Using forensic Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) reconstruction methods, the Face Lab Research Group at Liverpool John Moores University, led by Professor Caroline Wilkinson, used the discovered skull and DNA information to reconstruct Richard III’s face.

The team used CT scans of the skull to generate a digital model. 

Facial features including the lips and eyes were chosen from a database. The nose was created by making calculations based on measurements such as the size of the nasal cavity and the angle of the surrounding bone.

3D printing was used to construct the layers of facial muscles. Although it is not possible to produce a model that is 100% accurate, it is a very good estimate based on the age, gender and race of the individual. 

In 2014, DNA testing carried out at the University of Leicester showed that Richard III's hair was probably blonde-brown rather than black, as is traditionally depicted. His eyes were blue. The original reconstruction was updated to reflect these findings.

Richard III’s presence had long been suspected in Leicester, but at last in 2012 it was confirmed. DNA tests compared with living descendants identified beyond doubt that the skeleton in the car park was that of Richard III.

Philippa Langley’s incredible insight was proven correct. 

This magnificent statue of Richard III holding his crown was given to the City of Leicester in 1980 by the Richard III Society. Here we see the Sun rise behind Richard’s crown, symbolising that the veil of mystery surrounding this amazing King has been lifted at last.

Discovered in a car park, anonymous and forgotten, but buried finally in a place of honour, King Richard III was re-interred at Leicester Cathedral on March 26, 2015. 

On that occasion, the Bishop of Leicester said: "From car park to cathedral... today we come to give this king, and these mortal remains, the dignity and honour denied to them in death."

King Richard III has cast a long shadow throughout history. His life has inspired a famous play by Shakespeare, films, books and even urban myths. Now, at last, his story has come to an end.