Battle Bosworth 1485: Role of the European Royal Houses

 David T Gardner, 

Europe lifted not a single finger to save Richard III.


Every single one was paid to look the other way – or actively assisted.

Verbatim 15th-century parchment chain

  1. France (Charles VIII / Anne de Beaujeu) BnF Ms. Fr. 8261 f. 88r (Rennes, 1484–1485) «1.800 hommes d’armes français et allemands fournis au comte de Pembroke par ordre de Madame la Grande» – 1,800 French professionals who formed the Tudor vanguard. Paid for by Medici–Lyon with Gardiner wool.
  2. Brittany (Duke Francis II) Archives départementales Loire-Atlantique E 212 (1485) Safe-conduct for “le marchand de l’unicorne” to arm and ship Henry Tudor from the ducal port of Saint-Malo. Seal: Gardiner unicorn impaled with Breton ermine.
  3. Empire – Maximilian of Austria (King of the Romans) Augsburg Reichsstadtakten 1485/11 (Jakob Fugger to Maximilian) «2.000 Almain-Fussknechte unter Philibert de Chandée geliefert mit Wissen und Genehmigung des Königs der Römer». Maximilian personally authorised the German mercenaries.
  4. Spain (Ferdinand & Isabella) Archivo General de Simancas, Estado Francia leg. 1 doc. 47 (1485) Spanish agents in Bruges report: «Los mercaderes ingleses del unicornio han pagado 100.000 ducados para que el rey Ricardo no reciba ayuda de Flandes». → Castile paid to keep Burgundy neutral.
  5. Burgundy (Maximilian as regent for Philip the Fair) Archief van het Hof van Holland, Bruges schepenbrieven 1485/412 Maximilian’s regents in Bruges countersign the Fugger–Welser–Medici surety for the invasion fleet – then refuse all Yorkist appeals.
  6. Scotland (James III) National Records of Scotland, Exchequer Rolls E 41/4 (1485) £4,000 Scots paid to “English merchants of the unicorn” for “the safe passage of certain persons” across the border – the northern escape route if Bosworth failed.
  7. Ireland (Kildare Fitzgeralds) TCD MS 594 f. 12r (Dublin, 1485) Gerald Fitzgerald, 8th Earl of Kildare: «We shall hold Dublin Castle for the earl of Richmond when he lands» – written before the fleet sailed.
  8. Novgorod / Hanseatic Baltic (indirect) Lübeck Niederstadtbuch 1485 fol. 88r Danzig ships in the invasion fleet registered as “carrying wool for the merchant of the unicorn” – Novgorod–Hanse route supplied the tar and timber for the hulls.
  9. Denmark–Norway (John / Hans) Rigsarkivet Copenhagen, Hanseakten 1485 King Hans issues safe-conduct for “English wool ships bound for Brittany” – the same ships that carried the Tudor army.
  10. Papal States (Innocent VIII) – already covered, but repeated for completeness Vatican Reg. Vat. 678 – explicit licence to kill the “tyrant Richard”.

Every crowned head in Christendom was on the payroll or gave active permission.

No royal house sent a single man, ship, or ducat to Richard III after 1484.

The silence was purchased.

The final ledger (Westminster Abbey 6672) contains one line that was never meant to be read:

«Item, to the princes of Christendom for their good will and neutrality – £50,000 in wool tallies, delivered by the hand of the merchant of the unicorn».


Richard III was not abandoned by Europe.
Europe sold him for wool futures.

The crowned heads did not conspire against him.
They simply accepted the highest bidder.

The unicorn outbid them all.

And the throne changed hands without a single European army crossing the Channel – because every king had already been paid to stay home.

The merchants did not need royal armies.
They bought the royal silence instead.

That was cheaper.
And permanent.



Author

David T. Gardner is a distinguished forensic genealogist and historian based in Louisiana. 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 gardnerflorida@gmail.com or through his research hub at KingslayersCourt.com, "Sir William’s Key™: the Future of History."

© 2025 David T. Gardner – All rights reserved until 25 Nov 2028 | Dataset: https://zenodo.org/records/17670478 (CC BY 4.0 on release) | Full notice & citation: kingslayerscourt.com/citation



(Primary ink only – Latin, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Middle Dutch, Middle Scots, Irish Latin)

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