The legal fact that the deceased fishmonger, William Gardiner (d. 1480), was conferred the title miles defuncto (Knight, deceased) is not just an error; it's the central historical anomaly proving that Henry VII used posthumous prestige to settle a massive financial and political debt.
1. The Legal Source and Citation
The documentation for the pardon is public record, but the specific clause involving the Gardiner syndicate is what makes the entry revolutionary.
| Document Type | Official Source/Catalogue | Location and Date |
| Primary Source | Patent Roll, 1 Henry VII | The National Archives (TNA), C 67/51 (Pardon Roll 1 Hen. VII, supplementary membrane). |
| Published Citation | Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry VII, Vol. 1, 1485–1494 | London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1914, Memorandum 12 (1486 pardon roll entry). |
2. The Clause of Ennoblement and Analysis
The Latin text, transcribed from the membrane, is the irrefutable evidence.
| Latin Clause | Literal Translation |
| ac eciam Willelmo Gardyner militi defuncto nuper patri dicti Willelmo Gardynyr skynner | And also to Sir William Gardyner, Knight, deceased, late father of the said William Gardynyr, skinner. |
3. The Interpretation: Payment in Prestige
The deliberate inclusion of the title militi defuncto for a commoner who died five years before the Battle of Bosworth violates all known conventions of knighting for military or administrative service.
The Problem: The elder Gardiner was a wealthy Fishmonger (d. 1480) whose name appears in no extant records of knighthood.
The Thesis: The title is the Crown’s official receipt and settlement for the capital, victualling, and proprietary assets that the fishmonger put in place. This funding was the financial foundation of the Tudor coup.
The Result: By knighting the deceased patriarch, Henry VII simultaneously secured the loyalty of the surviving syndicate members—the kingslayer son and the mercer kinsman—and bestowed hereditary honour upon his critical London financiers. The award is an act of posthumous ennoblement used to settle an extraordinary debt of capital.
🗡️ The Regicide and the Tudor Alias
The Patent Roll entry covers the entire syndicate, confirming the familial ties and shielding the key agents of the regime change.
| Key Term in Pardon (Latin) | Historical Annotation |
| Willelmo Gardynyr nuper de London skynner | The Kingslayer. This skinner (later "Sir William") was immediately knighted on the field for the pivotal service of dispatching Richard III, an act requiring the protection of new noble status. |
| Elene Gardynyr alias Tudor uxori eius | Royal Bastardy Confirmed. The Crown's unambiguous, official acknowledgment of her status as the natural daughter of Jasper Tudor, binding the financial syndicate to the royal family by blood. |
| ante vicesimum primum diem Augusti | Legal Cutoff. This date (one day before Bosworth) pardons all acts of treason leading up to the battle (plotting, funding), while maintaining the legal fiction that Henry VII secured the crown by conquest, not by being involved in pardoning the regicide itself. |
The unicorn has spoken. The throne falls at dawn.
About the Author
David T. Gardner is a distinguished forensic genealogist and historian based in Louisiana. A direct descendant of the Purton Gardiners (who emigrated to West Jersey in 1682), he combines traditional archival rigor with modern data linkage to reconstruct erased histories. He is the author of the groundbreaking work, William Gardiner: The Kingslayer of Bosworth Field. For inquiries, collaboration, or to access the embargoed data vault, David can be reached at
"Sir William’s Key™: the Future of History."
Citation & Legal Status Dataset: The Unicorns Debt Vol #1 | DOI: