Hail of vicious blows to head killed King Richard III, scans of skull show

King Richard III probably perished at the hands of assailants who hacked away pieces of his scalp and rammed spikes or swords into his brain as the helmetless monarch knelt in the mud.

So suggests a report, published yesterday, that in dry forensic prose exposes the horrific demise of one of English history's most controversial monarchs.

It backs anecdotal evidence, made famous by Shakespeare, that Richard was unhorsed before he met his doom.

Bringing together 21st century science and sketchy knowledge of 15th century history, the analysis provides a chilling tableau of the brutality of warfare in late medieval England.

Richard was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field in Leicestershire, central England, on August 22, 1485. His death was the culmination of a three-decade war for the throne, bringing the curtain down on the three-century dynasty of his Plantagenet clan, and ushering in the Tudors.

"The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect [lower part] 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 from the tip of an edged weapon," said Guy Rutty, a University of Leicester pathologist.

A halberd was a medieval battle axe with spiked point, and a bill was a hooked-tip blade on the end of a pole.