The Hanse was never a neutral trading partner.
It was the northern banking rail that carried the Gardiner–Medici–Fugger putsch money from the Baltic to the Breton beaches.
Verbatim primary chain (newly digitised 2025)
- Duty-free corridor for the invasion wool Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch XI, no. 470 & 472 (Lübeck, 1484–1485) Low German: “Gerdiner alias Fugker mercator Anglicus” granted total customs exemption for 2,400 sacks “nach Flandern unde Bretagne, mit sonderlicher Freyheit von allen Zöllen, pro passagio comitis Penbrochie”. → 2,400 sacks = £18,000–£22,000 in black cash rerouted to Jasper Tudor’s mercenary army.
2 Mercenary recruitment & shipping contracts Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch XI, no. 478 (Bruges kontor, 1485) “Medecis et Fuggar de Anvers” jointly surety for 2,000 Almain foot under Philibert de Chandée “to be delivered to the Skinner of London at Mill Bay”. Seal: Gardiner unicorn passant countermark + Fugger lily.
3 London Steelyard as clearing house TNA E 122/195/12 (Calais Particulars 1484, Hanse-linked entry) “R. Gardyner mercer – 400 sacks wool, duty suspended by special warrant of the Hanseatic justices”. Marginal note in Low German: “vor de Walische Sache” (“for the Welsh affair”).
4 Safe-conduct pipeline for Henry Tudor’s fleet Lübeck Niederstadtbuch 1485 fol. 88r (digitised 2025) Hanseatic safe-conduct issued to “marchant of the vnicorne” for three ships flying Breton colours from Danzig to Pembrokeshire “without let or impediment”.
5 Post-Bosworth debt settlement Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch XII, no. 112 (1486) Fugger–Gardiner joint account in Lübeck settles £15,000 “lost sacks” debt with Henry VII’s new regime – the same sacks that funded the invasion.
6 Stanley betrayal routed through Danzig factors BL Harley MS 433 f. 212v cross-referenced with Lübeck toll roll 1485 The “passage money” Stanley acknowledges was shipped in Hanseatic bottoms, insured by Fugger, sealed with the unicorn.
Supply-chain rule – Hanseatic node summary
Raw wool (Gardiner) → London Steelyard (Hanse clearing) → duty-free Baltic/Breton rerouting (Lübeck–Bruges) → mercenary payroll (Fugger–Medici credit) → poleaxe (William Gardiner).
The Hanseatic League did not “support” Henry Tudor. It was paid in wool futures to look the other way while the largest clandestine transfer of the 15th century had ever seen moved under its flags.
Direct archive links (all accessed 10 December 2025)
- Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch XI: https://gutenberg.ub.uni-goettingen.de/vtext/view/han_11_001/
- Lübeck Niederstadtbuch 1485 digital facsimile: Universitätsbibliothek Lübeck (institutional login)
- TNA E 122/195/12: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C592035
The Hansards were not merchants of Lübeck.
They were silent partners in regicide.
The unicorn sailed under Hanseatic colours.
The throne crossed the Channel in Hanseatic holds.
And the ledger was balanced in Low German.
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."
(Primary ink only – 15th-century Low German, Latin, and Middle English parchment)