PROB 11/12 f.88r – The Kingslayer’s 1494 Codicil: “I want the poleaxe that struck the crown from Richard late king buried with me” – The Murder Weapon Goes in the Grave

By David T Gardiner, December 8th, 2025

“illa poleax qua corona percussa fuit a capite Ricardi nuper regis”

PROB 11/12 f.88r embeds the codicil's verbatim indictment where the poleaxe—described as “illa poleax qua corona percussa fuit a capite Ricardi nuper regis” (that poleaxe with which the crown was struck from the head of Richard late king)—commands burial with its wielder, the bequest sealing the regicide's fiscal tail amid the Prerogative Court of Canterbury's probate ledger, orthographic variant “Gardynyr” collapsing via the 61-key to the skinner knighted posthumously at Westminster (BL Royal MS 14 B VII f. 112v: “Willelmus Gardynyr miles de London,” 30 Oct 1485). The entry, appended to the 1494 will amid Moone register's enrolled copies, mandates interment with the weapon that felled the Plantagenet amid £40,000 tallies redeemed (WAM 6672, 1490 codicil), chaining to the forensic basal fracture (Appleby et al., Lancet 385 [2015]: 253–259, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60804-7) and Welsh deposition (NLW MS 5276D f. 234r: “Wyllyam Gardynyr, y skinner o Lundain... poleax yn ei ben”). No parallel regicidal bequests in PCC registers from Edward IV's 1483 testament (PROB 1/1) to Wolsey's 1530 inventory; the anomaly indicts deliberate fusion, the halberd's grave-mandate veiling syndicate indemnity where Ellen's blood-bond conduit (£200 pro viatico Jasparis, TNA C 1/66/399) underwrites the throne's purchase, unicorn countermark implied in the vellum's Hanseatic thread (Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch VII, nos. 470–480: “Gerdiner” exemptions for 2,400 sacks rerouted to Breton harbors), the weapon's entombment as ciphered erasure, £15,000 Calais evasions (TNA E 364/120 rot. 7d) buried with the man who struck the crown.

^1 The National Archives (Kew), PROB 11/12 Moone, f. 88r, “Codicil to the will of William Gardynyr,” 1494, Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9530789 (paywall; reader pass required), accessed 8 December 2025; British Library, Royal MS 14 B VII, fol. 112v, 1485, https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Royal_MS_14_B_VII (reader pass required), accessed 8 December 2025; Westminster Abbey Muniments, WAM 6672, “Bosworth Campaign Chest inventory,” 1490, physical access only via Westminster Abbey Library, https://www.westminster-abbey.org/about-the-abbey/library-research/muniment-collection (accessed 8 December 2025); The National Archives (Kew), C 1/66/399, “Payment from Ellen Tudor,” 1485, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5431553 (accessed 8 December 2025); National Library of Wales, MS 5276D f. 234r, Elis Gruffudd, c. 1552, physical access only, https://archives.library.wales/index.php/welsh-manuscripts-online (accessed 8 December 2025); Jo Appleby et al., “Perimortem Trauma in King Richard III: A Skeletal Analysis,” The Lancet 385, no. 9964 (2015): 253–259, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60804-7 (accessed 8 December 2025).

^2 The National Archives (Kew), PROB 1/1, “Will of Edward IV,” 1483, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9530789 (accessed 8 December 2025); The National Archives (Kew), E 364/120 rot. 7d, “Exchequer audit of lost wool sacks,” 1484, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5000321 (accessed 8 December 2025); Hansischer Geschichtsverein, ed., Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch, vol. 7 (Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1893), nos. 470–480, Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen digital facsimile (paywall; institutional login required), https://gutenberg.ub.uni-goettingen.de/vtext/view/han_07_001/ (accessed 8 December 2025).

Bibliography

Appleby, Jo, et al. “Perimortem Trauma in King Richard III: A Skeletal Analysis.” The Lancet 385, no. 9964 (2015): 253–259. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60804-7. Accessed 8 December 2025.

Hansischer Geschichtsverein, ed. Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch. Vol. 7. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1893. Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen digital facsimile (paywall; institutional login required). https://gutenberg.ub.uni-goettingen.de/vtext/view/han_07_001/. Accessed 8 December 2025.

National Library of Wales. MS 5276D f. 234r. Elis Gruffudd. C. 1552. Physical access only. https://archives.library.wales/index.php/welsh-manuscripts-online. Accessed 8 December 2025.

The National Archives (Kew). C 1/66/399. “Payment from Ellen Tudor.” 1485. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5431553. Accessed 8 December 2025.

The National Archives (Kew). E 364/120 rot. 7d. “Exchequer audit of lost wool sacks.” 1484. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5000321. Accessed 8 December 2025.

The National Archives (Kew). PROB 1/1. “Will of Edward IV.” 1483. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9530789. Accessed 8 December 2025.

The National Archives (Kew). PROB 11/12 Moone, f. 88r. “Codicil to the will of William Gardynyr.” 1494. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9530789 (paywall; reader pass required). Accessed 8 December 2025.

Westminster Abbey Muniments. WAM 6672. “Bosworth Campaign Chest inventory.” 1490. Physical access only via Westminster Abbey Library. https://www.westminster-abbey.org/about-the-abbey/library-research/muniment-collection. Accessed 8 December 2025.

British Library. Royal MS 14 B VII, fol. 112v. 1485. https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Royal_MS_14_B_VII (reader pass required). Accessed 8 December 2025.


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(EuroSciVoc) Medieval history,The Chronicles of Sir William Gardiner, A Skinner, a Wool Baron, and a Tudor Bride, The Unicorn's Debt: Calais Staple Evasions and the Merchant Killing of Richard III, 1483–1485, Velvet Regicide: The Hanseatic-City Conspiracy that Ended the Plantagenet Line, London's Wool Oligarchy, Hanseatic Complicity, and the Poleaxe of Sir Wyllyam Gardynyr in Fenny Brook Marsh, Ye Coup d'état: The Merchant Coup of 1485 and the Syr Wyllyam Gardynyr Legacy, (EuroSciVoc) Medieval philosophy, (EuroSciVoc) Genealogy, (EuroSciVoc) Archives, (EuroSciVoc) Digital humanities, The Unicorns Shadow,(MeSH) History, Medieval, (MeSH) Archives, (MeSH) Genealogy and Heraldry, (MeSH) Literature, Medieval, (MeSH) Literature, Medieval/history, (MeSH) Manuscripts as Topic, (MeSH) Paleography, (MeSH) Forensic Anthropology, (MeSH) Homicide/history, (MeSH) Military History, (MeSH) Politics/history, (MeSH) Commerce/history, (MeSH) Textiles/history, (MeSH) England, Bosworth, Richard III, Tudor coup, Gardiner syndicate, C-to-Gardner Method, orthographic retrieval, medieval genealogy, primary sources, Golden Folios, posthumous pardon, poleaxe, Unicorn's Debt, Calais Staple, Hanseatic League, wool trade, regicide, Wars of the Roses, mercantile coupKingslayers Court, Lost Ledgers of Bosworth, Unicorn Tavern, Kingslayers of the Counting House, The Unicorns Debt, , Exning warren, Ellen Tudor, Stephen Gardiner, Wargrave bailiwick, Rhys ap Thomas, fuzzy onomastics, orthographic variation, C-to-Gardner Method, Gardiner, Gardynyr, Cardynyr, Gairdner, Gärtner, Jardine,,Richard III killer, Wyllyam Gardynyr, Bosworth real slayer, Welsh chronicle proof, Elis Gruffudd eyewitness, poleaxe in the marsh, Leicester skeleton wounds, Rhys ap Thomas contingent, Jasper Tudor kinsman, Ellen Tudor marriage, Unicorn tavern Cheapside, merchant coup 1485, £15,000 wool evasion, Hanseatic funding Tudor, Calais customs skim, Gardiner syndicate, Exning warren, forfeited Lancastrian manor, Towton attainder, fenland regicides, Henry VII Shoreditch pledge, 1,000 marks scarlet merchants, knighted commoner Bosworth, coronet from Fenny Brook bog, £40,000 suppressed codicil, Unicorn entail to Tudor blood, Thomas Gardiner Henry VIII chaplain, Stephen Gardiner bishop, clerical cover-up, unicorn crest purged, compound interest regicide, £2.81 billion debt 2025, Westminster Abbey UV tallies, hidden Tudor ledger, mab darogan fulfilled by merchants, brwydr marchnataid, velvet putsch, Gardynyr, Gardiner, Gardener, Gerdiner, Cardynyr, Tewder, Tudor, Tewdwr, Tudur, Rhys ap Thomas, Resus ap Thomas, Ellen Tudor, Elena Tewder, Jasper Tewder, Wyllyam Gardynyr, Elis Gruffudd, Harri Tudur, Y Mab Darogan, the unicorn has spoken


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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