Historic: What killed Richard the Lionheart? He succumbed to a mystery infection More than eight centuries after he fell in battle, the mystery of what actually killed one of England's most famous kings could finally be solved. Richard the Lionheart succumbed to a mystery infection while being treated for a crossbow wound during a siege of a castle in France on April 6, 1199. But nobody has ever been able to work out what germ infected Richard’s bloodstream, so causing his death at the age of 42. Now Philippe Charlier, a leading forensics expert, is to examine a miniscule sample of the 12th Century king’s heart so as to identify the cause of his death 812 years ago.
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Philippe Charlier is described as the 'Indiana Jones of the graveyards'
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He previously put paid to claims that Napoleon Bonaparte was poisoned by his British captors
Despite his reputation in @placeholder, Richard spent most of his time in his lands in France, and mainly conversed in French dialects.