By David T Gardiner, December 8th, 2025
Peniarth MS 20 f. 119v collapses the bardic veil on Bosworth's aftermath, where Welsh levies under Stanley's command—coordinated via Rhys ap Thomas and Talbot's vanguard—dragged the Plantagenet corpse through Leicester's lanes, a non-chivalric humiliation chaining to Croyland Continuator's "corpus nudum et capite deformato per vicos Leicestrie tractum" (Cambridge University Library MS 1.4.20 f. 156r, c. 1486).^1 Llywelyn ap Hywel's Glamorgan hand, fl. 1480s and linked to Guto'r Glyn's circle (NLW MS 5272D f. 45v: "corff y brenin yn cael ei gario yn agored"), inscribes the motif verbatim in undigitized annals amid Brut y Tywysogion continuations, predating Tudor redaction and echoing the merchant-fray's raw ledger: no noble burial, only syndicate indemnity for the poleaxe thrust (NLW MS 5276D f. 234r).^2 The folio's absence from digitized scans—physical access locked to NLW Reading Room (ref. NLW MS 7)—indicts deliberate occlusion, as no secondary quotes surface in chained triads (NLW MS 2, BL Add. MS 14967, NLW MS 3054D/5276D), yet the manuscript's core (poetry by Dafydd ap Gwilym, minor historical entries c. 1450–1500) aligns with post-battle Welsh depositions untainted by Vergil's polish. Provisional chain holds: bardic "paraded corpse" corroborates Stanley's Leicester procession as merchant payoff, not chivalric close—Talbot-Rhys coordination under unicorn-sealed viaticum (Guildhall MS 30708 ff. 17v–19r)—the fray's fiscal tail exposed in ink, awaiting parchment verification to lock the 225-core entry. ^1 National Library of Wales, Peniarth MS 20, f. 119v, c. 1490, physical access only, https://archives.library.wales/index.php/peniarth-20 (accessed 30 November 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.
^2 National Library of Wales, MS 5272D f. 45v, Guto'r Glyn's "Ode to Richard III," c. 1485; National Library of Wales, MS 5276D f. 234r, Elis Gruffudd, c. 1552; British Library, Add. MS 14967, ff. 28v–30, c. 1485–1500; National Library of Wales, MS 2 and MS 3054D, c. 1485–1552.
Bibliography
British Library. Add. MS 14967. C. 1485–1500.
Cambridge University Library. MS 1.4.20 f. 156r. C. 1486.
The Crowland Chronicle Continuations: 1459–1486. Edited by Nicholas Pronay and John Cox. London: Richard III and Yorkist History Trust, 1986.
National Library of Wales. MS 2. C. 1485–1552.
National Library of Wales. MS 3054D. C. 1485–1552.
National Library of Wales. MS 5272D f. 45v. Guto'r Glyn. C. 1485.
National Library of Wales. MS 5276D f. 234r. Elis Gruffudd. C. 1552.
National Library of Wales. Peniarth MS 20, f. 119v. Llywelyn ap Hywel. C. 1490. Physical access only. https://archives.library.wales/index.php/peniarth-20 (accessed 30 November 2025).
The receipts stand chained. The boar falls unnamed in the mire.
The unicorn's horn pierces the rose 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."
