C4 Documentary reveals brand new research on Richard III's skeleton

17 August 2014

A brand new Channel 4 documentary, Richard III: The New Evidence features the work of scientists who have combined cutting-edge analysis of Richard's III’s bone chemistry with evidence from historical records to reveal that:

• His drinking habits changed significantly around the time he became king: during the last three years of his life, he consumed about a bottle of wine a day.  His overall daily alcohol consumption is likely to have been two to three litres
• His diet as King also changed: during the last three years of his life, Richard started consuming an array of incredibly rich food, composed of exotic meats and freshwater fish and likely to include birds such as swan, crane, heron and egret
• New research pinpoints Richard III’s location during pivotal moments in his life
• The TV documentary also reveals the existence of a living ‘body-double’, Dominic Smee, who shares Richard’s precise spinal condition and light build. Experiments conducted with Dominic demonstrate that, despite the scoliosis that severely twisted his spine, Richard III was physically capable of everything required to fight in a medieval battle.

Lifestyle and Diet

A recent study by the British Geological Survey, in association with researchers at the University of Leicester, has delved into the bone and tooth chemistry of King Richard III and uncovered fascinating new details about the life and diet of Britain’s last Plantagenet king. The study indicates a change in diet and location in his early childhood, and in later life, a diet filled with expensive, high status food and drink.

Isotope analysis of bone and tooth material from King Richard III has revealed previously unknown details of his early life and the change in his diet when he became King two years and two months before he was killed at the Battle of Bosworth. The research, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, examines the changes in chemistry found in the teeth, the femur and the rib; all of which develop and rebuild at different stages of life.

Isotope measurements that relate to geographical location, pollution and diet (strontium, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon and lead) were analysed in three locations on the skeleton of Richard III. The teeth, which form in childhood, confirmed that Richard had moved from Fotheringay castle in eastern England by the time he was seven. The data suggest that during this time he was in an area of higher rainfall, older rocks and with a changed diet relative to his place of birth in Northamptonshire. By examining the femur, which represents an average of the 15 years before death, researchers show that Richard moved back to eastern England as an adolescent or young adult, and had a diet that matched the highest aristocracy.

The third skeletal location, the rib, renews itself relatively quickly, so it only represents between two and five years of life before death. Data from the isotopes in this bone indicate the greatest change in diet. An alteration in the chemistry between the femur and the rib of Richard III could suggest that Richard had moved to live in a new location. However, the historical record shows that this wasn’t the case and so the chemical change is much more likely to represent a dramatic shift in diet coinciding directly with Richard’s time as King of England. The marked difference suggests an increase in consumption of freshwater fish and birds, which were popular additions to royal banquets at the time and included birds such as swan, crane, heron and egret.

Dr Angela Lamb, Isotope Geochemist and lead author of the paper says “The chemistry of Richard III’s teeth and bones reveals fascinating changes in his geographical movements, diet and social status throughout his life. Richard’s diet when he was King was far richer than that of other equivalent high status individuals in the late medieval period. We know he was banqueting a lot more, there was a lot of wine indicated at those banquets and tying all that together with the bone chemistry it looks like this feasting had quite an impact on his body in the last few years of his life.”

Richard Buckley from the University of Leicester Archaeological Services and lead archaeologist in the Richard III dig, said: “This cutting edge research has provided a unique opportunity to shed new light on the diet and environment of a major historical figure –Richard III.  It is very rare indeed in archaeology to be able to identify a named individual with precise dates and a documented life”. 

“This has enabled the stable-isotope analysis to show how his environment changed at different times in his life and, perhaps most significantly, identified marked changes in his diet when he became king in 1483.“

Richard III’s alcohol intake

As the Channel 4 documentary reveals, the analysis of Richard’s bone chemistry suggests that there was a 25 per cent increase in Richard’s consumption of wine when he became king – equivalent to an extra bottle of wine per day, every day. This was in addition to the large quantities of beer most medieval men consumed during that time, giving Richard an overall alcohol consumption of two to three litres per day.