Discoveries

Was Richard deformed?

No surviving source from Richard’s lifetime refers to any remarkable physical features, although there are various indications that his short stature was noted. As early as 1490 the Warwickshire antiquary John Rous wrote that Richard was ‘small of stature, with a short face and unequal shoulders, the right higher and the left lower’ (BL Cotton Vespasian A XII – this can be viewed at https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/john-rous-history-of-the-kings-of-england The words ‘left’ and ‘right’ were added into gaps in the manuscript at a later date, suggesting that Rous had to check this out).

When Richard’s skeleton was discovered the spine had a pronounced curve. According to osteologists, this is evidence of adolescent onset scoliosis which ‘may have meant that his right shoulder was notably higher than his left’. This curve would also account for his shorter stature. More evidence about his spine can be found at https://le.ac.uk/richard-iii/identification/osteology/scoliosis . Useful information about scoliosis can be found at https://sauk.org.uk/scoliosis-information/what-is-scoliosis/ .

When a person with scoliosis bends forward a part of their back may appear particularly prominent. This has given rise to suggestions that it was the sight of the king’s naked body thrown over a horse after the battle of Bosworth that led to the first rumours of a ‘hunchback’. While Shakespeare’s depiction of Richard III is famous for equating physical ‘deformity’ with moral depravity, recent scholarly studies have emphasised the fact that there were many different responses to such physical conditions in the Middle Ages. They were by no means universally assumed to be a sign of wickedness or incompetence. A useful introduction to this with further reading can be found at http://research.jyu.fi/jargonia/artikkelit/jargonia21_kuuliala.pdf

Why go in search of Richard's grave?

The search for Richard’s grave was essentially two searches in one. The Looking for Richard Project, instigated and conceived by Society member Philippa Langley, set out to discover Richard’s lost grave, whilst also searching for the historical Richard III. Richard was one of only a handful of British monarchs who had no known resting place. It therefore seemed right to locate him, and give him an honourable reburial, particularly as part of the proposed search area was up for sale and threatened by redevelopment. Thanks to the work of many Tudor writers and, of course, Shakespeare’s play, Richard III has become one of our most controversial monarchs. Therefore, the opportunity to identify Richard’s remains via his recently discovered mtDNA sequence and to shed new light on the historical Richard on UK television seemed particularly appropriate in the nationally important year of the London Olympics and the Queen’s Jubilee.

Why were Richard's remains described as 'hunchbacked' at the grave site?

When the remains were uncovered it was clear that the spine was curved. In addition, the head was upright with the chin resting on one shoulder. It therefore appeared that he might have had kyphosis (a curvature of the spine that causes the top of the back to appear more rounded than normal). However, when the remains were analysed, it was discovered that the spine exhibited a sideways curve (scoliosis) and that the grave had been cut too short for his body. The head had been pushed forward when the body was lowered into the grave. On 29th May 2014, the University of Leicester published its findings in The Lancet confirming that Richard was not ‘hunchbacked’ but that the sideways curvature was ‘well-balanced’ so that his head and neck were straight.

How can we be sure that the facial reconstruction is how Richard really looked?

Prof Caroline Wilkinson, at the University of Dundee, is one of the country’s leading anthropologists and experts in craniofacial identification. She has been undertaking facial reconstruction work for almost 20 years. The reconstruction begins with an extremely detailed, and intricate, 3D CT scan of the skull. The reconstruction follows a process based on the anatomy of the head and neck, where anatomical standards are used to interpret the skeletal structure and predict facial features. The skull and muscle structure are directly related to each other and the proportions of the skull determine the proportions of the face. Tissue depth data from living individuals is used to predict the amount of fat and skin over and above the muscle structure.

The finished head is replicated in plastic by a process known as stereolithography and after this the hair and eyes are added. At this point, Caroline and her team would have researched the portraits of Richard to get an idea of the colour of the skin, hair and eyes, and the style of the hair.

The facial reconstruction process has been blind tested at the University of Dundee using living people, CT scans and facial photographs, and the accuracy tested using recognition levels and anthropometry. These blind tests suggest that the reconstruction should be recognisable and facial features such as the nose and eyes have high levels of reliability. This is why we can be sure that the face is the most likely depiction of Richard III based on the available material.

You can learn more about the Looking for Richard Project here.