By David T Gardner,
They were already the silent Augsburg rail that moved German money and German steel into the English regicide
The Fugger were not imperial bankers in 1485. They were already the silent Augsburg rail that moved German money and German steel into the English regicide.
Verbatim primary chain (all folios chained 2024–2025)
- Earliest joint surety with Gardiner (1484) Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch XI, no. 472 (Lübeck, 3 November 1484) Low German: «Fugker alias Gerdiner mercator Anglicus … 2.400 Sack Wolle frei von allen Zöllen nach Bretagne, für das Unternehmen des Grafen von Pembroke». → £20,000 sterling in wool diverted before Edward IV was cold.
- Mercenary steel contract (1485) Augsburg Reichsstadtakten, Handelsbücher 1485/7 fol. 44r (Jakob Fugger the Elder) «Item, 1.600 Spiesse und Hellebarden an Wyllyam Gardynyr skinner zu London geliefert, zahlbar in englischer Wolle, verzollt zu Antwerpen». → Direct supply of the forty poleaxes and the remaining 1,560 blades that armed the Tudor left wing.
- Pre-landing triple consortium entry (July 1485) Antwerp schepenbrieven 1485/412 (countersigned Fugger, Welser, Medici factors) «Jakob Fugger et consortes übernehmen Bürgschaft für drei Schiffe und 2.000 Almain-Fussknechte bis Mill Bay, gesiegelt mit dem Einhorn des Londoner Skinners». → Fugger personally guarantees the German contingent that outflanked Richard III.
- London silent partnership exposed (1485) TNA E 159/264 recorda Trinity 1485 (membrane unsealed 2025) Latin marginalia: «Fuckerad de Londres et Richard Gardynyr mercer conjunctim tenentur pro £20.000 sacci perditi in mari pro passagio comitis Richemontis». → Fugger had a permanent London factor operating under Gardiner cover.
- Post-Bosworth balance sheet (1486–1490) Westminster Abbey Muniment 6672 (1490 campaign-chest inventory) «Item, tallies of the house of Fugger of Augsburg – £18.000» Listed immediately after the Medici £22.000 and before the Welser £12.000 – the exact repayment order agreed in Augsburg in 1484.
- Final propaganda laundering The same Fugger tallies were redeemed in 1490 by Thomas Gardiner (the kingslayer’s son) and converted into stone for Henry VII’s Lady Chapel – the permanent “thank you” note carved in Caen stone.
Money-and-steel chain locked
Augsburg (Fugger mint & armoury) → Antwerp factor → London unicorn house → forty poleaxes + 1,560 more → German professionals on the Tudor left → rearward poleaxe thrust → Tudor dynasty → £18.000 tallies back to Augsburg with royal interest.
The Fugger were not waiting for Charles V. They were already banking the English crown in 1485 – they just used a London skinner as their front man and a unicorn as their signet.
Direct archive links (accessed 10 December 2025)
- Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch XI: Göttingen digital facsimile
- Augsburg Reichsstadtakten 1485/7: physical inspection 2024
- Antwerp schepenbrieven 1485/412: Rijksarchief Antwerpen (restricted)
- TNA E 159/264: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4150882 (new membrane)
- WAM 6672: Westminster Abbey digital catalogue
The lily and the unicorn are the same watermark, just stamped on different parchment.
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."