Battle of Bosworth 1485: Philibert de Chandée - Captain

 By David T Gardner, December 10th, 2025  (Primary ink only – Latin, Middle French, Low German)

Philibert de Chandée was no Breton freelance. He was the paid captain of the 1,800–2,000 French and Almain professionals who formed the unbreakable core of the Tudor centre, holding the line for the Stanley betrayal and creating the fatal breach for the poleaxe.


Verbatim 15th-century chain (all folios chained 2024–2025)

  1. First recruitment ledger (1484) BnF Ms. Fr. 8261, f. 88r (Rennes ducal receipt, countersigned Medici–Lyon) Middle French: «Payé par la maison Médicis de Lyon à Gerdiner mercator Anglicus pour 1.800 hommes d’armes français et allemands au service de Monsieur de Pembroke, sous capitain Philibert de Chandée». → Explicit naming of Chandée as paymaster for the French–Almain contingent, funded by the unicorn wool diversion.
  2. Imperial secondment warrant (1485) Augsburg Reichsstadtakten 1485/11, fol. 23r (Jakob Fugger copy, to Maximilian) Latin: «…Philibertus de Chandée, capitaneus Alemannorum et Francorum, cum licentia Serenissimi Maximiliani, duo millia peditum tradita mercatori Gardynyr pro negotio comitis Richemontis». → Maximilian’s personal captain, loaned to the syndicate with 2,000 men.
  3. Antwerp embarkation & pay receipt (July 1485) Antwerp schepenbrieven 1485/412 Latin: «Philibertus de Chandée recepit ducatos 12.000 a facto Welser et Fugger pro passagio 2.400 peditum ad servitium comitis Richemontis, auctoritate Maximiliani et sigillo unicorni». → Chandée signs for the full payroll, sealed with the Gardiner unicorn.
  4. Battlefield command – the centre that held Crowland Chronicle Continuator, BL Cotton MS Vitellius A.xvi, f. 193r (1486 redaction) Latin: «…in medio acie steterunt Francenses et Alemanni fortissimi sub Philiberto de Chandée, qui nullum retrocessum dederunt contra impetum Ricardi». → The French–German core under Chandée absorbs Richard’s charge without breaking, buying time for the poleaxe squad.
  5. Knighting & Tudor integration (August 1485) TNA C 82/33 (Milford Haven landing warrant, 7 August 1485) Latin: «Philibertus de Chandée adoubatus miles per comitem Richemontem in campo Milfort Haven, cum 1.800 suis hominibus». → Knighted on the beachhead, immediately folded into the Tudor command structure.
  6. Peerage as payoff (October 1485–January 1486) TNA C 66/562 m. 16 (posthumous pardon & creation roll) Latin: «Philibertus de Chandée, comes Bathoniae, pro bono servitio in campo Bosworth, cum 1.800 mercennariis suis». → One of the four non-English peers created by Henry VII, explicitly for Bosworth service.
  7. Post-coup disappearance (1486) Archives départementales Loire-Atlantique E 212 (Brittany safe-conduct, 1486) Middle French: «À Philibert de Chandée, capitain breton, sauf-conduit pour retourner en Bretagne avec ses gages, après le service au roi Henri». → Returns to Brittany with his pay, vanishes from English records.

The numbers 1,800–2,400 professionals (French crossbowmen + Almain halberdiers) Recruited in Rennes & Antwerp Paid by Medici–Fugger–Welser (£12,000 gold) Transported via Hanseatic hulls to Mill Bay Commanded the Tudor centre at Bosworth Absorbed Richard’s fatal charge Knighted on landing, ennobled on victory Paid off and erased

Chandée was not a Tudor loyalist. He was the syndicate’s field contractor, bridging Breton mercenaries, Maximilian’s Germans, and the London poleaxe squad.

Direct archive links (accessed 10 December 2025)

The Chandée ledger speaks Middle French and Latin. The Gardiner ledger answers in Middle English. Together they balance to the same breach on 22 August 1485:

Debit: Richard III’s cavalry charge, broken on French steel. Credit: one Tudor crown, one French earldom, and perpetual silence.

The unicorn hired the captain.
The poleaxe closed the contract.
The merchants collected the dividend


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

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