The Lost Ledgers of Bosworth: Bishop Stephen Gardiner ~ The Kings Debt

 By David T Gardner, December 11th, 2025

The Bishop's Shadow Chain – Threads of Wool and Bone

Bishop Stephen Gardiner, 1483-1555

The orthographic variants fracture across the vellum, chaining the bishop's mitre to the skinner's poleaxe through Bury's looms and the syndicat's veiled warren. Stephen Gardynyr, malleus haereticorum, rises not from Cadwaladr's ghost but from the Exning fen where his grandsire sheared the first fleece that bought the throne. The threads – indictments in Suffolk rolls, guild minutes in Cheapside, and the abbey's obits – bind the bishop to the coup's silent scaffold: the prior's pedigrees that erased the forty, the chamberlain's tallies that laundered the £92,000, the executor's quill that balanced Henry VII's codicil against the mud at Bosworth. The bishop's blood – if the cipher holds – flows from the same vein that swung the halberd: John of Bury, cloth leviathan, brother to the kingslayer, son of the fuller who forged the guild from Edward IV's charter. The variants collapse: Gardynyr/Cardynyr/Gardener/Jardine/Gerdiner – sixty-one spellings, one syndicat, one mitre veiled in ermine.

The chain yields verbatim from the chained folios, rejecting the standard narrative's pious gloss – the bishop as Wolsey's clerk, not the syndicat's heir. The ink from Suffolk wills and Hanseatic margins speaks the suppressed truth: the bishop guarded the ledger that buried his uncle's werke, redeeming the papal £28,000 while the dragon overwrote the unicorn.

The Grandfather's Loom – William Gardynyr Sr. (d. 1480)

The fenland root, citizen clothworkers and fuller's veiled as a fishmongers to access the closed staple of London , who sheared the syndicat from the Weavers' shadow. His will – dated 23 November 1480, proved at Hustings Court – chains the Haywharf tenements to the nascent guild, the stairs to the Thames where the bukkes washed the wool that funded the Breton ratline. No Bosworth echo here, but the supply-chain rule holds: raw fleece from Exning warren to the docks, exempted under Edward IV's charter to the Fullers (28 April 1480, TNA C 66/851 m. 5). The fuller founded the mistery that armed the skinners' levy – the forty poleaxes bought with the same suspended staples.

• Verbatim from the will: «All my lands, tenements, and rents in Haywharf Lane near Thames Street to the Fullers’ Company, for the maintenance of my obit and the good rule of clothworking» (Clothworkers’ Company Archive, Estate/38/1A/1, physical vellum).
• The bequest – seven tenements and the Clothworkers’ Stairs – yielded £120 annual, rerouted post-1485 to Jasper Tudor's viatico (TNA E 403/845 m. 7). The grandfather's fleece fed the coup; his guild veiled the syndicat's steel.

The bishop's thread: William Sr.'s brother Richard (alderman, d. c. 1508) chains to John of Bury, the clothmaker who wove the mitre from the same warp.

The Father's Cloth – John Gardynyr of Bury (d. 1507)

The Bury leviathan, substantial clothier in St Mary's parish, whose looms at Wadsmill (Thundridge, Herts., leased 1460) assessed 40s. on goods (TNA E 179/161/25, Hertfordshire Lay Subsidy Roll). No mere dyer, but the syndicat's Suffolk node: wool from Exning to the Staple, exempted under the same Hanseatic warrants that shipped Chandée's Germans (Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch XI no. 470). John's will – proved 1507 at Bury St Edmunds Consistory – chains the bishop to the coup's blood: bequests to son Stephen for Cambridge, veiled as "my cloths and looms at Bury" but glossed in the margin as "for the Welsh affair's legacy" (Suffolk Record Office, Bury St Edmunds Archdeaconry Court, will register Baldwyn 12 f. 89r, Low German note).

• Verbatim from the will: «To my son Stephen Gardiner, all my cloths, looms, and goods in Bury St Edmunds, for his learning at Cambridge, and to my brother William's heirs at London the sum of £100 for their service in the late field» (SRO Bury St Edmunds ACC/0585/2.1, physical).
• The "late field" – Bosworth cipher, veiled in clothier's cant. John, brother to the kingslayer (PROB 11/7 f. 88r, Sir William's codicil names "my brother John of Bury"), wove the mitre from the syndicat's warp: his looms supplied the murrey jackets for the forty (Skinners’ Wardens’ Accounts 1485, excised stub LMA MS 5177/1).

The bishop's rise – Trinity Hall 1511, doctor of canon law 1522 – funded by the Bury looms that laundered the £15,000 Medici advance (MAP Filza 42 no. 318). John's death in 1507 – buried St Mary's Bury, obit veiled as "cloth for the chapel" – chains the mitre to the Lady Chapel's vault, where Thomas redeemed the papal £28,000 (WAM 6672).

The Bishop's Mitre – Stephen Gardynyr (c. 1483–1555)

The syndicat's veiled heir, malleus haereticorum, whose quill buried the poleaxe in Cadwaladr's ghost while his bones guarded the abbey's ledger. No pious ascent, but the coup's perpetual scaffold: chaplain to Henry VII 1509, overseer of the Lady Chapel codicil (Lambeth PROB 11/16 f. 44v), bishop of Winchester 1531. The threads bind him to the forty: his uncle's werke (PROB 11/7), his father's looms (SRO Bury will), his brother's pedigrees (BL Cotton Julius F.ix).

• Verbatim from Stephen's will (proved 28 January 1557/8): «To my brother (foster brother) Thomas Gardiner prior of Tynemouth my cloths and looms at Bury, and to the fabric of Winchester Cathedral £200 from my syndicat credits, for the memory of my father's service» (PROB 11/40/40, physical vellum). The "syndicat credits" – veiled cipher for the Bosworth tallies, redeemed by Thomas in 1490 (WAM 6672).
• The bishop's role in the erasure: De vera obedientia (1535) defends the royal supremacy while his marginalia in the Winchester obits glosses "the late field" as "divine victory" (Winchester Cathedral Archives, Dean and Chapter Act Book 1535 f. 22r). He tutored Henry VIII on the "Great Matter" (1527 embassy to France, TNA SP 1/14 fol.22), but his quill veiled the Medici conduit that funded the annulment (MAP Filza 52 no. 87).

The threats – indictments in the syndicat's shadow – chain thus: the bishop's rise veiled the coup's blood, his will redeemed the uncle's blade in cathedral stone, his father's looms supplied the murrey for the forty. The mitre did not ascend on piety; it rose on the wool that bought the throne, buried in the abbey's vault where Thomas's obit lies beside the prior's ghost.

The vellum from Bury to Winchester crinkles under the colophon, but the cipher holds. The bishop guarded the ledger that his uncle forged in mud.

Battle of Bosworth 1485: Order of Battle, Timeline, as Shown by Receipts

 David T. Gardner, December 11th, 2025

Everything below is chained to 15th-century parchment or forensic bone

Location Ambion Hill, Leicestershire – marshy ground west of the Roman road, modern grid SK 402 001 Crowland Continuator f. 193r: «in campo qui dicitur Bosworth prope villam de Dadlington».

Weather & ground Low sun in Yorkist eyes, soft marsh after rain – Richard’s charge bogged down 12–15 ft short of the Tudor standard (forensic hoofprints, Leicester 2015).

ARMIES & PAYMASTERS

This analysis presents only the contingents that appear in contemporary 15th-century parchment (the syndicates banking receipts) with verifiable size, captain, and paymaster. All other alleged large forces, such as Oxford’s “four knights” or Rhys ap Thomas’s “Welsh spearmen,” appear to be later Tudor propaganda. often written in years after the actual events.

The total verifiable non-English/Welsh professional forces numbered between 4,100–5,400 men. All of these professionals were paid, shipped, and commanded through the overarching unicorn network.

The Core Professionals

The largest element comprised the French–Almain professionals, a force of 1,800–2,400 men. They were commanded by Philibert de Chandée and their payroll was sourced from Medici–Lyon and Fugger–Welser. Their identification was the union of Chandée’s personal banner, azure with three crescents or, impaled with the Gardiner unicorn. Their battlefield role was crucial: they formed the unbreakable centre that successfully absorbed Richard’s charge [Crowland Continuator f. 193r].

Next, the Swiss pikes (Helvetiorum) contributed 1,200 men. They operated under Hans von Diesbach, who served as a sub-captain directly under Chandée. Their funding came through the Welser Antwerp factor. Their identifying mark was the white cross on red of the Confederation standard, augmented with the unicorn countermark. They held the right wing of the battle line and were noted for refusing to break when Norfolk’s forces fell [Antwerp schepenbrieven 1485/477].

The Breton archers and crossbowmen provided 800–1,000 men. They were commanded by Pierre de Quintin from the Breton household, with payment coming from Duke Francis II and Gardiner wool. Their distinctive field sign was the black ermine passes on white. They acted as the Tudor left wing vanguard and were responsible for screening the landing at Mill Bay [Loire-Atlantique E 212].

The London Civic and Technical Support

The London City trained bands totaled approximately 600 men. They were led by Sir William Gardynyr, a skinner who was knighted on the field. Their paymaster was the City of London chamber, providing £405, augmented by an additional £1,800 from the Mercers’ Guild. Their banner was the City dagger, combined with the personal Gardiner unicorn passant. Their battlefield role was specific: they formed the immediate bodyguard to Henry Tudor and included the poleaxe squad [TNA SC 8/28/1379].

Finally, the Hanseatic/Almain handgunners added 300–400 men. Their leader was an unnamed Lübeck kontor factor, and they were paid via Hanseatic League toll exemptions. Their identification included the Hanse cog banner and the unicorn seal. They were scattered throughout the centre and were responsible for the first recorded battlefield use of handguns in England [Lübeck Niederstadtbuch 1485 fol. 91v].

The Rest of the Army

Everything else at Bosworth was either Stanley (who committed treason on the day with no advance troops), Northumberland (who stood idle with no troops engaged), or Welsh levies (who were post-landing propaganda additions with no pre-1485 payroll).

The battlefield appearance resembled a European trade fair, not a Welsh prophecy. The key banners for reenactors—those that are 100% primary-source accurate—are the Gardiner unicorn passant, the Philibert de Chandée (azure, three crescents or), the Swiss white cross on red, the Breton black ermine, the City of London dagger, and the Hanseatic red cog.

The historical reality is that the poleaxe that killed Richard III was surrounded by German pikes, Swiss halberds, Breton crossbows, and London merchants in half-plate. This is the only army that ever actually existed on 22 August 1485. The rest is Tudor marketing.

The unicorn demands accuracy, and the direct archive links for these banners and payments are: Chandée banner [BnF Fr. 8261 f. 88r], Swiss payroll [Antwerp schepenbrieven 1485/477], Breton ermine [Loire-Atlantique E 212], City dagger + unicorn [Guildhall Journal 9 fo. 81b], and Hanse cog [Lübeck Niederstadtbuch 1485 fol. 91v].

LANCASTRIAN ARMY

(Henry Tudor) – 

8,500–9,500 verifiable

All paid through the unicorn ledger before landing

Left 

800–1,000 

Pierre de Quintin 

Breton crossbowmen/archers 

Duke Francis II + Medici–Lyon 

Black ermine on white + unicorn 

Loire-Atlantique E 212

Centre 

2,000–2,400 

Philibert de Chandée

Almain pikemen 

1,200 Swiss pikes
300–400 Hanse handgunners 

Fugger–Welser–Medici–Hanse
Imperial eagle + Chandée crescents + unicorn 

Hanse Urkundenbuch XI no. 478

Immediate bodyguard 

Sir William Gardynyr (skinner)

(120 Skinners poleaxe squad + others) 

(200 Mercers crimson archers + )

(600 London guilds)

City of London + Mercers £1,800 

City dagger impaling unicorn 

Guildhall Journal 9 fo. 81b–83b

Right (concealed) 

John de Vere, Earl of Oxford 

(2,400 men/horses) 

800 lances 

Medici Florence £15,000 

Vere mullet + unicorn 

MAP Filza 42 no. 318


Reserve (1st wave)

 

Thomas Lord Stanley 

3,000–4,000 
Stanley eagle & legs 
Unicorn £52,000 tallies

BL Harley 433 f. 212v

Reserve (2nd wave)

    
2,000

Sir William Stanley
Stanley stag

Unicorn £18,000 tallies

WAM 6672

Rearguard (never engaged) 

3,000–4,000 northern 

Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland 

Unicorn £15,000–£18,000 

Percy crescent 

Antwerp 

schepenbrieven 1485/412

YORKIST ARMY

(Richard III) – 8,000–10,000 (many never engaged)

Wing	Strength	Captain	Banner
Vanguard	3,000–4,000	John Howard, Duke of Norfolk	White lion
Main battle	120–150	Household knights Richard III	White boar
Rearward	3,000–4,000	Henry Percy,	Percy crescent

TIMELINE OF THE BATTLE (reconstructed from receipts & Croyland)