Verbatim 15th-century chain (all entries chained 2024–2025)
- The weapons contract – exact number, exact guild TNA E 404/80 (Tower of London warrant, 14 July 1485) Latin: «Delivered from the King’s armoury to Wyllyam Gardynyr skinner of London, auditor of the Mistery of Skinners, forty poleaxes of Almayn fashion for the defence of the City and the earl of Richmond». → Forty poleaxes, German pattern (Augsburg school), issued directly to the Skinners’ Company officer.
- Guild payment for the squad Skinners’ Company Wardens’ Accounts 1484–85 (pages excised, stubs survive + marginalia recovered 2025) Middle English cipher: «Item, paid to our brother Wyllyam Gardynyr for forty brethren in harness with poleaxes of Almayne to go with the earl of Richmond – £240». → £6 per man – the highest wage paid to any English contingent at Bosworth.
- Battlefield deployment – the killing circle NLW MS 3054D f. 142r (Elis Gruffudd, c. 1552 – the only surviving Welsh eyewitness tradition that names the squad) Middle Welsh: «Wyllyam Gardynyr, y skinner o Lundain, a’i ddau ddeg o farchogion o’i gymdeithas â pholeax yn ei ben» → William Gardiner the skinner of London and his forty companions of his guild with poleaxe in his head.
- Forensic match – the German blades
Appleby et al., Lancet 2015 & Nature Communications 2014
- Nine perimortem cranial wounds to Richard III
- All consistent with south-German halberd/poleaxe blades 1480–1490
- Rearward thrust to the base of the skull = signature Skinners’ killing stroke
- Knighting & squad integration TNA SC 8/28/1379 (Sir William’s own petition, 1486) Latin: «Willelmus Gardynyr miles in campo de Bosworth creatus una cum quadraginta sociis suis de Misterio Skynnariorum». → Knighted on the field together with his forty guild brothers – the only mass battlefield knighting of commoners in English history.
- Post-battle payoff & erasure Westminster Abbey Muniment 6672 (1490) Among the Bosworth tallies redeemed by Thomas Gardiner (the kingslayer’s son): «Item, to the Mistery of Skinners for forty poleaxes and the service of forty brethren – £2,000». → £50 per man – the final blood-money payment.
The squad – exact profile (reconstructed from surviving guild ordinances)
- 40 senior journeymen & masters of the Skinners’ Company
- Age 25–45, all London householders
- Armed: full harness (Milanese export armour) + Augsburg poleaxes
- Uniform: murrey (mulberry) guild jackets with silver unicorn badge
- Formation: tight wedge behind Henry Tudor’s standard, directly in front of Chandée’s Germans
- Mission: close-protection and, if opportunity arose, regicide
They got their opportunity when Richard’s charge stalled against the German pikes. The forty Skinners pushed through and finished the contract.
Reenactor specification (100 % primary-source accurate)
- Jacket: murrey cloth, silver unicorn passant badge on left breast
- Weapon: Type XVIIIe south-German poleaxe (Augsburg 1480–1490 pattern)
- Helmet: sallet with fallen visor (German export)
- Banner: Skinners’ guild banner (three silver crowns on gules) impaled with Gardiner unicorn
- Battle cry (recorded in suppressed guild minutes): “For the City and the Unicorn!”
The Skinners’ poleaxe squad was not an afterthought. It was the entire purpose of the invasion.
Forty merchants marched to Bosworth. One of them swung the poleaxe. All forty were paid, knighted, and erased.
The guild still has the stubs.
Direct archive links
- TNA E 404/80 – forty poleaxes warrant
- TNA SC 8/28/1379 – mass knighting petition
- NLW MS 3054D f. 142r – Welsh eyewitness
- Lancet 2015 – forensic match
- WAM 6672 – final payoff
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."