Was King Richard III of England a limping hunchback?
King Richard III of England, of the house of York, was born on October 2, 1452, and died on August 22, 1485. He was the Regent from 1483 till 1485, Duke of Gloucester, and the last Yorkist king in England. From his death, the Tudors held the crown until the death of Queen Elisabeth I in 1603.
Richard’s reign could have been much more insignificant from a historical point of view if it hadn’t been for the play by William Shakespeare. The famous artist probably wrote his masterpiece somewhere around 1592 or 1593, more than a hundred years after the death of the King.
In his play, Shakespeare describes Richard as a hunchback with a limp and a withered arm. And from this point on, the King has always been described as someone with a deformed stature, small, and maybe with difficulty moving.
Shakespeare probably based his play on other literature from the 16th century, f.ex. History of King Richard III by Thomas More, Chronicles of England, Scottland, and Ireland by Raphael Holinshed, and others.
What all these books have in common is that they are all very pro-Tudor. Shakespeare was depending on patronage, and one of his patrons was Ferdinando Stanley, also known as Lord Strange. Ferdinando was a direct descendant of Thomas Stanley, who played an important role in defeating Richard and putting the crown on Henry VII’s head. Apart from Shakespears obvious reasons to portray Richard in a way that pleased his employer, the general rule of history is that it is written by the winners, not by the losers.
Richard III of England died in the battle of Bosworth in 1485. His death signified the end of the Wars of the Roses and marked the start of the Tudor age. He was also the last English King to die in battle in England. His successor was his opponent, Henry VII Tudor.
… But was he a hunchback or not?
In 2012 during excavations under a parking lot in Leicester, England, a skeleton was found that later was confirmed through DNA-tests to be that of the King. The curve of the KIng’s spine was immediately obvious to the researchers. It had a right-sided, spiral-shaped curve that peaked at thoracic vertebrae 8 and 9. The curve was well balanced, meaning that it got back in line by the time it hit his pelvis. As a result, his hips were even, and he should have had no problems breathing or moving.
He would have been of average length by that time, 5 feet, 8 inches (1.7 meters), but the curved spine would have taken a few inches off, thus making him shorter than average, but not much so.
He would also have had his shoulders uneven so that his right scapula was slightly higher than the left one. The trunk was short in comparison to the length of his legs.
The King probably didn’t have a limp and didn’t have a withered arm. The only thing you would have noticed was the uneven shoulder part, as the shorter trunk could easily have been disguised by clothing style and good tailors. He shouldn’t have been significantly obstructed in living an active life, something his participation in battles, as well as what we know about his biography, suggests.
For once, the great Maestro, William Shakespear was completely wrong. Still, the play is a masterpiece, and it doesn’t necessarily picture the last York-King, but any political predator ready to sacrifice anything for his personal winning. It’s an important play today more than ever.
Conclusion
No, King Richard III was not a limping hunchback, although he had a curved spine.
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