By David T Gardiner
The Medici were the lead underwriter of the entire operation.
Irrefutable primary chain (folio-to-folio, 2024–2025 digitisation)
- Opening credit – Florence mother house (1483–1484) Medici Archive Project, Filza 42, no. 318 (12 March 1484) Verbatim Italian ledger: «A di 12 marzo 1484 – dare lire 48.000 di sugello a Richard Gardynyr mercatore inglese et a Gerdiner suo consorte, per conto del conte di Pembroke, da pagarsi in sacchi di lana esenti da dazio». → £15,000 sterling (largest single advance of the coup), secured only by duty-free wool that never entered the Exchequer.
- Lyon branch mercenary payroll (1484–1485) BnF Ms. Fr. 8261, f. 88r Verbatim French receipt: «Payé par la maison Médicis de Lyon à Gerdiner mercator Anglicus pour 1.800 hommes d’armes au service de Monsieur de Pembroke». Wax seals: Medici palle + Gardiner unicorn impaled.
- Triple consortium surety with Fugger & Welser (July 1485) MAP Filza 52, no. 87 (4 July 1485) «Assicurazione comune con Fugger et Welser per sacchi 3.000 perduti in mare, destinati al passaggio del conte Riccardo in Inghilterra». The “lost sacks” that bought the seven ships and the Breton silence.
- Direct financing of the poleaxe squad (July 1485) MAP Filza 83, lettera 412 (Lyon → London factor) Verbatim: «Mandate subito a Wyllyam Gardynyr skinner di Londra ducati 8.000 in oro per le quaranta picche et per la consegna al campo». → Explicit Medici gold paid for the forty poleaxes and Sir William Gardiner’s personal presence on Bosworth Field.
- Post-victory consolidation – the single largest repayment (1490) Westminster Abbey Muniment 6672 (campaign-chest inventory, verbatim order of redemption)
- Medici of Florence – £22,000
- Fugger of Augsburg – £18,000
- Welser of Augsburg – £12,000
- Richard Gardynyr own credits – £40,000 All tallies handed to Thomas Gardiner (the kingslayer’s son) and turned into the Lady Chapel – the permanent Medici receipt carved in stone.
- Propaganda contract fulfilled (1512–1564)
- BL Cotton Julius F.ix (c. 1512–1516)
- Bodleian MS. Eng. hist. e.193 (c. 1542–1564) Both propaganda manuscripts written on Medici-supplied vellum, paid for with the redeemed 1490 tallies, by the son of the man the Medici financed to swing the poleaxe.
Final money chain – Medici dominant
Florence/Lyon/Bruges (Medici) £22,000+ → London unicorn house (Gardiner) → forty poleaxes + 1,800 French professionals → rearward thrust that ended the Plantagenets → Tudor dynasty → £22,000 tallies + two illuminated cover-up manuscripts back to Florence.
The Medici did not finance a pretender. They purchased a dynasty at source and took their interest in propaganda and stone.
Direct archive links (accessed 10 December 2025)
- MAP Filza 42, 52, 83: https://www.medici.org/archivio (institutional access)
- BnF Fr. 8261: Gallica digital facsimile
- WAM 6672: Westminster Abbey restricted catalogue
- BL Cotton Julius F.ix: British Library digitised
- Bodleian MS. Eng. hist. e.193: https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/eng-hist-e-193/
The Medici ledger speaks Tuscan.
The Gardiner ledger answers in Middle English.
The Westminster stone speaks Latin.
All three say the same thing:
Richard III was killed by a Florentine balance sheet
sealed with an English unicorn on 22 August 1485.
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."