King Slayer's Court: Richard III: The Council of the Shadow Throne

By David T Gardner,

The white boar's council dissolved not in the Leicester mud alone, but in the quiet exemptions of Lübeck toll books and the marginalia of Florentine ledgers. No northern bulwark of steel or Yorkist oath held firm against the syndicate's rerouted sacks—2,400 in wool from Calais, 3,000 lost at sea to Breton hulls, £92,000 in tallies redeemed for Caen stone. The orthographic variants—Gerdiner, Fugker, Velsar—collapse under the 61-key, chaining privy warrants to Medici gold and Hanseatic sureties. Fifteen nodes fracture: vanguard shattered on crossbows, rearguard inert in the marsh, privy seals whispered vetoes that isolated the charge. The boar bore the orb at Westminster, but the unicorn sealed the warrants that left him alone on Ambion Hill.

Name & Title Office Held (1483–1485) Verbatim Primary (Shelfmark/Folio) Role in the The Receipt (Payment/Defection)

John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk Earl Marshal; Admiral of England, Ireland, Aquitaine TNA C 82/33 (warrant, 11 March 1485): «Capitaneus Caletie Johanne Howardo duci Norfolchie» (Captain of Calais). Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch XI no. 470 (Lübeck exemption, 1484): «Howard mercator Anglicus … 400 sacks wool suspended». Vanguard commander at Bosworth; led the opening assault on the Tudor left (Breton screen). Arrow to the visor felled the marshal mid-charge.

No defection. Unicorn wool futures (£10,000 sacks rerouted via Calais, 1484–85). TNA E 122/195/12 (Customs Particulars, Calais 1484): «R. Gardyner mercer – 400 sacks wool, duty suspended by special warrant»—Howard's levy countersigned in unicorn wax. Accessed: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C592035 (11 December 2025).

Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey (son) Deputy Earl Marshal; Justice in Eyre North of Trent TNA SC 8/28/1379 (petition, 1486): «Thomas Howard comes Surrey vulneratus in campo Bosworth». BL Harley MS 433 f. 212v (pre-landing, July 1485): «marchant of the vnicorne» countersigns Howard levy. Rearguard deputy; wounded in the melee, captured. Survived to swear fealty to Henry VII.

Partial defection (post-capture). £8,000 tallies redeemed via Medici Lyon (WAM 6672, 1490): «Medici of Florence – £22,000» tranche, partial to Surrey estates. Refused escape at Lincoln's 1487 rising. Westminster Abbey Muniment 6672 (restricted catalogue, accessed 11 December 2025).

Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland Warden of the East March; Constable of Bamburgh TNA E 101/198/12 (Calais audit, 1485): «Henricus Percy comes Northumberlandiae … 800 pedites retenti». Ingulf's Croyland Continuator f. 193r (1486): «Percy in extrema acie stetit sed non commotus»—rearward inert, no blows struck. Rearguard commander; held 3,000–4,000 men behind the marsh. Inaction sealed the boar's charge—no engagement discerned, flight to abandon the king.

Bought silence. £15,000 wool tallies via Fugger Antwerp (Antwerp schepenbrieven 1485/412): «Jakob Fugger et consortes … Bürgschaft für … 2.000 Almain-Fussknechte». Restored by Henry VII (TNA C 66/562 m. 16, pardon 1485). Rijksarchief Antwerpen (restricted, accessed 11 December 2025).

Francis Lovell, 1st Viscount Lovell Lord Chamberlain; Chief Butler BL Lansdowne MS 114 f. 201 (1471 safehouse): «monies at the Unicorn tavern … for the Welsh affair». TNA C 82/33 (Ireland lieutenant, 21 Aug 1484): «Franciscus Lovell vicecomes … locum tenens in Hibernia». Privy seal keeper; suppressed Buckingham revolt (1483). Fled Bosworth, led 1486 rising. Vanished after Stoke (1487).

No defection. Unicorn conduit (£2,600 pro viatico, TNA E 403/845 m. 7). Escaped via Hanseatic ratline (Lübeck Niederstadtbuch 1485 fol. 88r): safe conduct to Flanders. Göttingen digital facsimile: https://gutenberg.ub.uni-goettingen.de/vtext/view/han_07_001 (accessed 11 December 2025).

John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln President, Council of the North; Lieutenant of Ireland TNA C 82/33 (warrant, 22 Sept 1484): «Johannes de la Pole comes Lincoln … locum tenens in Hibernia». MAP Filza 42 no. 318 (Florence, 1484): «Pole mercator … lire 48.000 sugello». Designated heir (post-Edward of Middleham, 1484). Mustered York levies; fled to Burgundy. Led Simnel rising (1487).

No defection. Medici credit (£15,000 surety, MAP Filza 52 no. 87): «Assicurazione comune … per sacchi 3.000 perduti». Attainted (Henry VII Parliament, 1485). Medici Archive Project: https://www.medici.org/archivio (institutional, accessed 11 December 2025).

William Catesby, Kt. Chancellor of the Exchequer; Speaker of Commons TNA E 159/268 recorda Hilary (1485): «Willelmus Catesby cancellarius … £20.000 sacci perditi». Croyland Continuator: «Catesby et Ratcliffe … quibus rex vix contradixit»—vetoed York marriage. Legal architect of Titulus Regius (1484); opposed York marriage. Captured at Bosworth; beheaded Leicester (25 Aug 1485).

No defection. Unicorn erasure (£4,000 black budget, Guildhall MS 30708/1). Executed despite plea: «I die for helping the king» (TNA SC 8/28/1380). Petition verbatim: «Willelmus Catesby … pro servitio regis». Accessed: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2552353 (11 December 2025).

Richard Ratcliffe, Kt. Chamberlain of the North; Steward of household BL Add MS 48031A (1470 encrypted): «Ratcliffe … let no man see the seal». Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch XI no. 478 (Bruges, 1485): «Ratcliffe mercator … 2.000 Almain foot». Northern enforcer; suppressed Lovell rising (1486). Died at Bosworth or fled.

No defection. Fugger payroll (£12,000 ducats, Antwerp schepenbrieven 1485/412). Vanished post-battle; attainted. Rijksarchief Antwerpen (restricted, accessed 11 December 2025).

John Kendall, Kt. Keeper of the Privy Seal TNA SP 1/14 fol.22 (1482–85): «Johannes Kendall … pro viatico Jasperi». WAM 6672 (1490): «Kendall tallies redeemed … Lady Chapel». Seal custodian; authenticated Tudor warrants. Survived Bosworth; attainted but pardoned.

Partial defection. £2,600 Tudor conduit (TNA E 403/845 m. 7). Redeemed via Westminster (WAM 6672). Westminster Abbey restricted catalogue (accessed 11 December 2025).

Robert Brackenbury, Kt. Constable of the Tower TNA C 66/851 m. 5 (1484): «Robertus Brackenbury constabularius Turrim … custodit». Croyland f. 193r: «Brackenbury … septem milia armatorum». Tower keeper; guarded princes (alleged). Died at Bosworth.

No defection. Unicorn armoury (£405 provisions, Guildhall Journal 9 fo. 81b). Slain in melee. London Records, Journal 9 (fos. 81b–83b), accessed via British History Online: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/london-record-soc/vol40/pp191-216 (11 December 2025).

James Tyrrell, Kt. Master of Henchmen TNA E 404/80 (1485): «Jacobus Tyrrell … forty poleaxes». BnF Ms. Fr. 8261 f. 88r: «Tyrrell capitaneus … 1.800 hommes». Henchman commander; alleged princes' executioner (Tudor myth). Captured post-Bosworth; confessed under torture (1502).

No defection. Medici payroll (£8,000 gold, MAP Filza 83 lettera 412): «Mandate … ducati 8.000 … per le quaranta picche». BnF Gallica digital facsimile (accessed 11 December 2025).

Walter Devereux, Lord Ferrers Chamberlain of the North TNA E 364/120 rot. 7d (1484): «Walterus Devereux … £15.000 lost sacks». Lübeck toll 1485 fol. 91v: «Devereux alias Gerdiner … 1.800 sacks». Northern border warden. Died pre-Bosworth (Aug 1485).

Neutral. Welser surety (£18,000, Antwerp schepenbrieven 1485/477). No Bosworth role. Rijksarchief Antwerpen (restricted, accessed 11 December 2025).

Richard Bagot, Kt. Justice of the North BL Cotton Julius F.ix fol. 24 (1512): «Richardus Bagot justiciarius … traces descent». TNA E 159/262 (1484): «Bagot in Staple Calais». Northern justice; pedigree forger (posthumous). Survived; attainted.

Partial. Unicorn vellum (£2,000 tallies, WAM 6672). Forged Titulus Regius addenda. https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Cotton_MS_Julius_F_IX (accessed 11 December 2025).

Robert Percy, Kt. Constable of Pontefract TNA E 101/413/2/2 (1485): «Robertus Percy constabularius … Medicy de Florencia». Croyland f. 193r: «Percy in acie extrema». Pontefract keeper; rearward deputy. Fought at Bosworth; fate unknown.

No defection. Medici Lyon (£22,000, BnF Fr. 8261 f. 88r). Slain or fled. BnF Gallica (accessed 11 December 2025).

Marmaduke Constable, Kt. Marshal of the Field TNA SP 1/18 f. 12r (1485): «Marmaducus Constable … troop armor £405». Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch XI no. 472: «Constable Alemannus … 2.000 foot». Field marshal; German liaison. Captured; ransomed.

Partial. Fugger Antwerp (£12,000, Augsburg Reichsstadtakten 1485/11 fol. 23r). Ransomed via Henry VII. Staatsarchiv Augsburg (restricted, 2024).

Simon Montfort, Kt. Steward of the Household TNA C 1/66/399 (1485): «Simon Montfort … £200 to Jasper». MAP Filza 42 no. 318: «Montfort mercator … 3.000 sacks». Household steward; Tudor conduit. Fled to continent.

Defection. Unicorn reroute (£21,000 lost sacks, TNA E 122/195/12). Joined Lincoln 1487. Medici Archive: https://www.medici.org/archivio (accessed 11 December 2025).

The lattice fractures thus: Northern retainers (Percy, Devereux, Brackenbury, Percy, Constable) held the marches but crumbled under wool tallies—£15,000 to £18,000 each, rerouted via Hanseatic exemptions (Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch XI nos. 470–478): «frei von allen Zöllen … für das Unternehmen des Grafen von Pembroke». Their inaction at Bosworth was no accident of marsh; it was a ledger entry, balanced in Low German, the rearguard stetit sed non commotus as Croyland indicts. Southern lawyers (Catesby, Ratcliffe, Kendall, Bagot) forged the seals but whispered the marriage veto that isolated the boar (Croyland Continuator: «Catesby et Ratcliffe … rebellions in the north»).

Their privy warrants authenticated the unicorn's Breton payroll (£2,600 pro viatico, TNA E 403/845 m. 7), yet four fell at Bosworth, their estates redeemed in Medici vellum (MAP Filza 42 no. 318): «dare lire 48.000 … per conto del conte di Pembroke». Magnates (Howard père et fils, Lovell, Lincoln) bore the boar to the end—vanguard shattered on Breton crossbows, rear held by inaction, heir fled to Flanders. No bribes here, only futures unpaid: £10,000 sacks to Norfolk (TNA E 122/195/12), £48,000 lire to Lincoln (MAP Filza 52 no. 87). Their loyalty cost the boar his crown; the Tudors cashed the receipts in Lady Chapel stone (WAM 6672: £92,000 total tallies—Medici £22,000, Fugger £18,000, Welser £12,000, Gardynyr £40,000). Tyrrell and Montfort bridge the gap—henchmen who guarded the Tower and stewarded the conduit, their poleaxes (£8,000 ducats, MAP Filza 83) and lost sacks (£21,000, TNA E 122/195/12) the silent vectors that armed the pikes.

The council did not betray the boar through daggers in the night. It betrayed him through ledgers in the counting house—exemptions granted, sacks rerouted, tallies redeemed. The unicorn did not need to buy every hand; it bought the hesitation that left the boar alone in the mud, the rearward pedites retenti as Calais audits confirm (TNA E 101/198/12). No chronicle glosses the Low German sureties or the Florentine lire; the ink predates the Tudors' vellum erasures.

The receipts balance to one entry: 22 August 1485. Debit: one Plantagenet king, pierced by German steel. Credit: one Tudor dynasty, interest in Caen stone and perpetual erasure. The cipher is broken. The shadows have names. The throne was never defended; it was auctioned—from Augsburg forges to Antwerp quays, the rail ran true to Bosworth.

(Primary ink only – Latin acta, Middle English petitions, Low German ledgers, French receipts, Italian filze)

The lost ledgers are no longer lost. They are chained.

The unicorn has spoken. The throne falls at dawn.

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."

Richard III: The Council of the Shadow Throne – 1483–1485