A forensic study of King Richard III's remains has revealed how the monarch immortalized by Shakespeare died in battle, Reuters reported.
King Richard III, the last English king to die in battle, was attacked by multiple assailants who pierced his body 11 times with medieval weapons during the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, scientists found.
Nine of the wounds were to the king's head, two of which were potentially fatal, according to the forensic study published Wednesday in The Lancet journal.
"The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull - a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury form the tip of an edged weapon," said professor Guy Rutty, a pathologist on the research team from the University of Leicester.
A lack of defensive wounds on the fallen king's arms and hands suggests he was wearing armor. The head wounds, however, supports the theory he was not wearing a helmet, researchers said according to Reuters.
King Richard III's remains were discovered underneath a parking lot in Leicester, England, in 2012. Since then, scientists have been able to separate fact from fiction surrounding his life. The king was not, for example, a "hunchbacked toad" as described by William Shakespeare.
His death occurred at the end of the War of the Roses, a 30-year war between rival houses for the throne of England. Richard's defeat paved the way for his enemy, Henry Tudor, to become King Henry VII.
