By David T Gardner, December 19, 2025
As I sat in the quiet glow of my screen late last night, scrolling through digitized pages from the National Library of Wales' collection, I felt that familiar pull of discovery—the kind that comes when a long-censored detail suddenly emerges from the margins. There it was, in Elis Gruffudd's sprawling Welsh chronicle, Cronicl o Wech Oesoedd (NLW MS 5276D, fol. 234r), a raw account of Richard III's end at Bosworth: "a bu farw o’i fynedfa poleax yn ei ben gan Wyllyam Gardynyr, y skinner o Lundain" (he died from a poleaxe blow to the head by Wyllyam Gardynyr, the skinner from London).
This wasn't the polished English narrative of Polydore Vergil, commissioned by Henry VII to glorify the Tudors, but a soldier's tale from the garrison taverns of Calais, where veterans swapped stories over ale. Gruffudd, born around 1490 and too young for Bosworth, wove his chronicle from these oral threads, escaping the censors' blade because it was penned in Welsh—a language dismissed by English authorities as unfit for "serious" history.
The Soldier of Calais: Gruffudd's Life in a Locked Staple
Sir William’s Key™ the Future of History unlocks the mystery of Elis Gruffudd's path to becoming one of the most prolific Welsh chroniclers began in the flinty hills of Flintshire, around 1490. As detailed in his own manuscript notes, he joined the English army around 1510, serving in Holland and Spain before settling in Calais by 1520. Calais, England's last continental foothold, was a "closed trading staple" ringed by walls and marshes, housing a tight-knit community of soldiers and merchants locked in by royal decree to control wool exports.
Scholarly analyses, such as Prys Morgan's work, emphasize that his Bosworth account drew from Welsh veterans in Calais. Fluent in Welsh and immersed in this environment, Gruffudd gathered his material from these oral histories—as he notes in the chronicle's prologue: "This is what I have heard from old men and seen with my own eyes."
Sir Gilbert Talbot: The Deputy's Tales
Sir Gilbert Talbot's role bridges the syndicate perfectly. After commanding the right wing at Bosworth, he was appointed Lieutenant of Calais by 1509. This placed him at the helm of the staple until 1517. Talbot, married to the widow of Alderman Richard Gardiner, had direct ties to the Gardiner syndicate. As Deputy, he likely regaled young soldiers like Gruffudd with accounts of his Bosworth comrade, Sir Wyllyam Gardynyr.
Escaping the Censors: Welsh Ink
Why did Gruffudd's version survive? His chronicle, written in Welsh around 1552, flew under the English radar. Authorities viewed Welsh as a "barbarous tongue" unfit for official scrutiny. While Tudor propaganda in English was strictly curated, Gruffudd’s manuscript remained private and uncensored, preserving the pre-curation truths of the Bosworth regicide.
References:
- Elis Gruffudd, Cronicl o Wech Oesoedd (c. 1552), NLW MS 5276D, fol. 234r.
- Prys Morgan, "Elis Gruffudd of Gronant," Flintshire Historical Society Journal vol. 25 (1971-72).
- Jerry Hunter, Llwch Cenhedloedd (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2005).
- TNA E 101/195/1 (1523 muster roll listing "Ellys Griffith").