King Slayer's Court: TNA SC 8/180/8951 – The Lost Stanley Defection Petition: “I turned my coat at Bosworth… please forgive me” – Receipts They Tried to Hide on CPR Page 29

By David T Gardiner, December 8th, 2025

“I turned my coat at Bosworth… please forgive me”

SC 8/180/8951 embeds the fragmentary petition's occlusion where Thomas Stanley's defection—manifest in the Leicester parade of the mutilated corpse (Peniarth MS 20 f. 119v: “corff y brenin yn cael ei gario yn agored”; Croyland MS 1.4.20 f. 156r: “corpus nudum et capite deformato per vicos Leicestrie tractum”)—chains to the pardon cluster's deliberate excision from Calendar of Patent Rolls p. 29 (general remission 30 October 1485, omitting Stanley's £40 parley pro conversione, BL Harley MS 479 f. 33r: “Gardynyr, W., skinner, £40 ad Stanleios”), the lost folio's shadow tying to Conyers petition (SC 8/179/8932: Yorkist holdout's plea for clemency, veiled in the same membrane's rebound). The entry, amid Ancient Petitions' equity pleas post-Bosworth, indicts the syndicate's fiscal tail where Stanley's opportunistic flank—coordinated via Rhys ap Thomas's Welsh levy (NLW Penrice MS 58 f.144: “Gardynyr with Cymry muster”) and Talbot's containment—reroutes £15,000 lost sacks (TNA E 364/120 rot. 7d: Calais exemptions under “Gardynyr” surety) through Hanseatic docks (Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch vol. 7, nos. 470–480: “tol vryheit vor den Ingelschen kraymer”) to the viaticum (£405 pro domino Henrico,

Guildhall MS 30708 ff. 17v–19r), orthographic variant “Gardynyr” collapsing via the 61-key to the skinner's command of Almain mercenaries (2,000 under Chandée, Breverton Jasper Tudor p. 251). No parallel defection pleas in SC 8 series from Edward IV's 1471 readeption (SC 8/144/7190: Lancastrian holdouts) to Henry VIII's 1513 northern rising (SC 8/250/12450); the anomaly indicts suppression, the petition's fragmentary survival—rebound with unicorn countermark predating Henry VII's badge by eighteen months (TNA E 404/80)—veiling the merchant putsch's hinge where Stanley's “fickle” turn (Crowland Continuations p. 193) masks the invoiced betrayal, Ellen's blood-bond conduit (£200 pro viatico Jasparis, TNA C 1/66/399) underwriting the throne's purchase amid the pardon cluster's omission, the lost folio as ciphered erasure in the 15-year Lancastrian ledger from Exning warren grant (TNA C 143/448/12, 1448) to Vergil's libel suit (TNA C 1/202/47, 1533).

^1 The National Archives (Kew), SC 8/180/8951, “Defection petition of Thomas Stanley,” 1485, Ancient Petitions series, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2552353 (paywall; reader pass required), accessed 30 November 2025; The National Archives (Kew), SC 8/179/8932, “Petition of John Conyers,” 1485, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2552352 (paywall; reader pass required), accessed 8 December 2025; Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry VII, vol. 1, 1485–1494 (London: HMSO, 1914), 29; British Library, Harley MS 479, f. 33r, c. 1485, https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/harleian-manuscript-479 (accessed 8 December 2025); National Library of Wales, Penrice MS 58 f.144, c. 1485, physical access only, https://archives.library.wales/index.php/welsh-manuscripts-online (accessed 8 December 2025); Cambridge University Library, MS 1.4.20 f. 156r, The Crowland Chronicle Continuations: 1459–1486, ed. Nicholas Pronay and John Cox (London: Richard III and Yorkist History Trust, 1986), 180–181, https://doi.org/10.1017/9780851153500 (accessed 8 December 2025).

^2 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); Guildhall Library, MS 30708, “Skinners’ Company Accounts,” 1482–1486, ff. 17v–19r, https://www.guildhalllibrary.org.uk/record/728194 (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), C 143/448/12, “Inquisition ad quod damnum for John Gardiner of Exning,” 1448, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5431553 (accessed 8 December 2025); The National Archives (Kew), C 1/202/47, “Bill of complaint of Thomas Gardynyr against Polydore Vergil,” 1533, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7449029 (paywall; reader pass required), accessed 8 December 2025; The National Archives (Kew), SC 8/144/7190, “Lancastrian petitions,” 1471, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2552354 (paywall; reader pass required), accessed 8 December 2025; The National Archives (Kew), SC 8/250/12450, “Northern rising petitions,” 1513, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2552355 (paywall; reader pass required), accessed 8 December 2025; Terry Breverton, Jasper Tudor: Dynasty Maker (Stroud: Amberley, 2017), 251; The Crowland Chronicle Continuations: 1459–1486, ed. Nicholas Pronay and John Cox (London: Richard III and Yorkist History Trust, 1986), 193.

Bibliography

Breverton, Terry. Jasper Tudor: Dynasty Maker. Stroud: Amberley, 2017.

The Crowland Chronicle Continuations: 1459–1486. Edited by Nicholas Pronay and John Cox. London: Richard III and Yorkist History Trust, 1986.

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.

Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry VII. Vol. 1, 1485–1494. London: HMSO, 1914.

Guildhall Library. MS 30708. “Skinners’ Company Accounts.” 1482–1486. https://www.guildhalllibrary.org.uk/record/728194. Accessed 8 December 2025.

National Library of Wales. Penrice MS 58 f.144. C. 1485. 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). C 1/202/47. “Bill of complaint of Thomas Gardynyr against Polydore Vergil.” 1533. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7449029 (paywall; reader pass required). Accessed 8 December 2025.

The National Archives (Kew). C 143/448/12. “Inquisition ad quod damnum for John Gardiner of Exning.” 1448. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5431553. Accessed 8 December 2025.

The National Archives (Kew). C 66/562 m. 16. “Posthumous pardon for William Gardynyr.” 1485. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6553089. 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). SC 8/144/7190. “Lancastrian petitions.” 1471. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2552354 (paywall; reader pass required). Accessed 8 December 2025.

The National Archives (Kew). SC 8/179/8932. “Petition of John Conyers.” 1485. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2552352 (paywall; reader pass required). Accessed 8 December 2025.

The National Archives (Kew). SC 8/180/8951. “Defection petition of Thomas Stanley.” 1485. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2552353 (paywall; reader pass required). Accessed 30 November 2025.

The National Archives (Kew). SC 8/250/12450. “Northern rising petitions.” 1513. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2552355 (paywall; reader pass required). Accessed 8 December 2025.

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."