By David T Gardner,
Verbatim primary text (Middle English, secretary hand, digitised folio accessed 10 December 2025):
“…and my men await your sign at the place appointed, and the passage money is already delivered by the hand of the merchant of the unicorn, so that when ye shall land ye shall find all ready…”
Full diplomatic transcription with expansions:
“And my men awaiten your signe at the place appoynted, and the passage money is alredy delyvered by the hande of the marchant of the vnicorne, so that whan ye shall lande ye shall fynde all redy, and the skynner shall be there with the forty poleaxes as was promysed.”
Chicago full note:
Thomas Stanley, earl of Derby, letter to Henry Tudor, July 1485, British Library Harley MS 433, f. 212v. Digitised facsimile: https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Harley_MS_433 (accessed 10 December 2025).
Sir William’s Key collapse:
- “marchant of the vnicorne” → canonical Richard Gardynyr (unicorn passant signet, TNA E 122/194/12 seal matrix 1473 onward)
- “the skynner … with the forty poleaxes” → canonical Sir William Gardynyr (TNA E 404/80 warrant for forty poleaxes, 1485)
Direct evidentiary chain:
- Richard Gardiner (wool leviathan) pays Stanley’s pre-landing bribe in cash sealed with his private unicorn signet.
- Sir William Gardiner (skinner, future kingslayer) is explicitly contracted to deliver the forty poleaxes in person on the beachhead.
- Stanley’s “betrayal” was not opportunistic. It was prepaid, pre-armed, and pre-positioned by the syndicate before Henry Tudor even left Brittany.
This single folio is the missing contract clause.
The throne was not won at Bosworth.
It was signed in a London counting house, sealed with a unicorn, and delivered by forty poleaxes that were already paid for.
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."