King Richard III was killed by a sword thrust from the base of the neck all the way up into his head, according to researchers at the University of Leicester who have located a major injury in the interior surface of the skull. Guy Rutty of East Midlands Forensic Pathology Unit, based at the University of Leicester, spotted the fatal wound while examining the skull of the last Plantagenet king. At that moment, video producer Carl Vivian was chronicling the investigation for a University of Leicester series of films. “During filming, professor Rutty noted a small traumatic lesion on the interior surface of the cranium,” osteologist Jo Appleby said. 7 Weird Things Found in and Under Parking Lots Rutty linked that lesion to marks on the vertebra and an injury to the base of the skull. “I was able to put the three injuries together on pathological grounds and we all realised I had identified the potential lethal injury to King Richard III,” Rutty said. Lining up with one another, the three injuries provided evidence for the direction of the blow and the depth to which the weapon had penetrated the skull. The sharp force trauma was probably inflicted by a sword or the top spike of a bill or halberd. Video: Decapitated Gladiators Found in England? The blow would have caused hemorrhage, injury to the brain or air embolus, leading to death within a short time. 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 in 2012 under a car park by archaeologists from the University of Leicester. All Hail King Richard! Details of Elaborate Burial Unveiled The 500-year-old skeleton, showing severe spinal scoliosis, has been widely examined by researchers. Mitochondrial DNA showed a match between Richard and two of his living relatives, confirming that the bones are indeed those of the king. Further analysis shed light on his diet and disease, and even provided a blow-by-blow account pf his final moments. “Using modern forensic examination, we have discovered that Richard’s skeleton sustained 11 wounds at or near the time of his death — nine of them to the skull, which were clearly inflicted in battle,” Sarah Hainsworth, professor of materials engineering at the University of Leicester, said. This Is What Killed Richard III “The injuries to the head suggest he had either removed or lost his helmet. The other two injuries that we found were to a rib and his pelvis,” she added. 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. In 2015, the curtain will finally come down on the last Plantagenet king. King Richard III will be finally reburied in Leicester Cathedral on March 26 at the end of a seven-day program of events in Leicester and Leicestershire to honor him. Image: The potential killer blow to King Richard III. Credit: University of Leicester. http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/richard-iii-killed-by-sword-thrust-upwards-into-neck-150212.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1