Aug 17: Britain’s 15th century monarch Richard III, immortalised in literature by William Shakespeare, feasted on an abundance of freshwater fish, wildfowl and wine during his two-year reign as king before his brutal death in battle, a study of his bones has shown.

Archaeologists and geochemists in the UK who studied bones and teeth from his skeletal remains have found chemical signatures that reflect an increase in his consumption of a high-status diet mainly after his coronation.

The study’s findings, published today in the Journal of Archaeological Science, reinforce the idea that food and drink were strongly linked to a person’s social status in Medieval England, the British Geological Survey (BGS) said in a media release.

Jane Evans, a geochemist with the BGS, and her colleagues analysed residues of strontium, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, and lead in teeth, the thigh bone, and a rib from the skeleton to reconstruct Richard III’s movements and diet from childhood until his death at age 32.

Their study of these elements has pointed to a significant shift towards “luxury foods” — freshwater fish, wildfowl, and wine — in the last two years of his life. Historical records of Richard III’s coronation banquet mention the presence of crane, cygnet, and heron.

“Although he was an aristocrat with a high status diet, we believe it was banqueting on rich and unusual food, accompanied by an increase in wine drinking that caused the shift,” Evans told The Telegraph.

Researchers from the University of Leicester had last year announced that genetic, bone, and genealogical studies on a skeleton exhumed from under a car park near the Grey Friars Church in Leicester in August 2012 suggest that the bones were those of King Richard III.

He was the king of England from 1483 to 1485 when he died in the Battle of Bosworth that marked the end of Britain's Plantagenet dynasty and the start of the Tudor era. Studies on the skeleton — which had 10 wounds on it — suggest that Richard III had been killed by severe trauma to the back of his head and a part of his skull had been sliced off, possibly with a sword.

The teeth which form in childhood contain a record of his childhood environment and suggest that he moved from eastern England to an area in the west. His move away from the east was also associated with a more cereal-based diet with less meat and fish.

The thigh bone chemistry suggests Richard III moved back to eastern England and switched back to aristocratic food when he about 15 years old. But the most dramatic evidence for his dietary changes comes from his rib and coincides with his coronation.

The rib renews quickly and records diet from only two to five years prior to his death.

The researchers say their findings are consistent with historical records that suggest that coronation banquets during the 15th century were on average 25 per cent larger in size than those from previous centuries.

“As king, he was expected to travel and be entertained by his hosts wherever he stayed,” Evans said. It is thus not surprising that Richard III’s consumption of wine and rich foods had increased during his last two years.