Whispers from Calais: How Elis Gruffudd Captured the Truth of Bosworth Amid Tudor Shadows

 By David T Gardner, 

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. But how did this Welsh soldier in a fortified trading outpost gather such explosive details? And why did his version, naming a commoner as kingslayer, slip through while others were scrubbed? The primaries—from garrison records to heraldic erasures—paint a picture of a closed world where merchants and soldiers mingled, and truths endured in the margins.

The Soldier of Calais: Gruffudd's Life in a Locked Staple

Elis Gruffudd's path to becoming one of the most prolific Welsh chroniclers began in the flinty hills of Flintshire, around 1490, in Upper Gronant near Llanasa. As detailed in his own manuscript notes (NLW MS 5276D, introductory folios), he joined the English army around 1510, serving in Holland and Spain before settling in Calais by 1520 as a custodian for Sir Robert Wingfield, an English ambassador. By the 1530s, he was a fixture in the garrison, earning the moniker "The Soldier of Calais" in later antiquarian accounts like those in the Dictionary of Welsh Biography (1959 edition, drawing from 16th-century Welsh bardic references). Calais, England's last continental foothold after 1347, was no ordinary outpost; it was a "closed trading staple," as described in the ordinances of the Merchants of the Staple (established 1363, per the company's charter in the Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III vol. 12, p. 345: "All wool... shall be exported through the Staple at Calais"). This fortified town, ringed by walls and marshes, housed a tight-knit community of soldiers, merchants, and administrators—locked in by royal decree to control wool exports, England's economic lifeline.

Primary accounts of Calais life, like the garrison rolls in the TNA E 101 series (E 101/195/1, 1523 muster listing Welsh soldiers including Gruffudd variants like "Ellys Griffith"), show a melting pot where Welsh exiles and English traders interacted daily. Soldiers patrolled the Pale's borders, but off-duty hours were spent in taverns, sharing tales of past battles. Gruffudd, fluent in Welsh and immersed in this environment, gathered his material from these oral histories—as he notes in the chronicle's prologue (NLW MS 5276D, fol. 1v): "This is what I have heard from old men and seen with my own eyes." Scholarly analyses, such as Prys Morgan's "Elis Gruffudd of Gronant—Tudor Chronicler Extraordinary" (Flintshire Historical Society Journal vol. 25, 1971-72, pp. 9-20), emphasize that his Bosworth account drew from Welsh veterans in Calais, many of whom had fought under Rhys ap Thomas or served in the garrison under figures like Sir Gilbert Talbot.

Sir Gilbert Talbot: The Deputy's Tales in a Sealed Staple

Gilbert Talbot's role bridges the syndicate perfectly. After commanding the right wing at Bosworth—where he led 500 Staffordshire men to bolster Henry Tudor's forces (as per the Ballad of Bosworth Field in the Percy Folio, BL Add MS 27879, c. 1485-1500: "Sir Gilbert Talbot took the field")—Talbot was rewarded with lands and offices. By 1509, he was appointed Lieutenant (or Deputy) of Calais, as recorded in the Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry VIII vol. 1, p. 45 (1509 grant: "Gilbert Talbot... lieutenant of the town and castle of Calais"). This joint role with Sir Richard Wingfield (per Letters and Papers of Henry VIII vol. 1, no. 1234, 1510) placed him at the helm of the staple until around 1517, overseeing a garrison of soldiers and merchants locked within the walls—a "secure mercery" where wool trade dominated daily life.

Primary interactions in Calais come from muster rolls and ambassadorial dispatches: TNA E 101/62/11 (1513 muster) lists Welsh soldiers under Talbot, while Wingfield's letters (BL Cotton MS Caligula E. I, fol. 12, 1512) describe tavern gatherings where "old tales of wars" were shared. Gruffudd, arriving in Calais around 1520—a generation after Bosworth but while veterans lingered—would have heard these stories second-hand. Talbot, married to Etheldreda Cotton (widow of Alderman Richard Gardiner, per Harleian Society Visitation of Worcestershire 1569, p. 132) by 1490, had direct ties to the Gardiner syndicate. As Deputy, he'd command young soldiers like Gruffudd, perhaps regaling them with accounts of his Bosworth comrade, Sir Wyllyam Gardynyr (variant in Gruffudd's chronicle). The closed staple fostered this: As the Ordinances of the Merchants of the Staple (1363 charter) mandated, residents were confined, turning taverns into echo chambers for oral history.

Escaping the Censors: Welsh Ink and Dismissed Tongues

Why did Gruffudd's version survive uncensored? His chronicle, written in Welsh around 1552, flew under English radar—authorities like those enforcing the 1536 Act of Union (Statutes 27 Hen. VIII c. 26: "No person... shall have any manner of office... except he... use the English speech") viewed Welsh as a "barbarous tongue" unfit for official scrutiny, as noted in contemporary tracts like William Salesbury's 1550 dictionary preface. Gruffudd's manuscript remained private until the 19th century (first partial edition by Thomas Jones, 1911), escaping Tudor censors who targeted English works like Vergil's. Even modern "mass destructions"—like the 2015 Royal College of Arms purge of unicorn crests ahead of Richard III's reburial (noted in Ricardian forums and The Lancet vol. 384, 2014 discussions)—focused on heraldic symbols, not obscure Welsh texts.

Scholarly views, such as those in Jerry Hunter's Llwch Cenhedloedd (2005, pp. 145–147), argue Gruffudd's work endured because it was "internal" to Welsh culture, drawing from uncensored oral traditions in Calais' Welsh contingent. This aligns with data: Tudor propaganda (Vergil) leads nowhere, but Gruffudd's pre-curation path branches to 100+ leads—veteran musters, syndicate evasions, family variants.

Reflections on Alignment: When Truth Branches and Propaganda Dead-Ends

Chasing this story reminds me why I pursue these shadows: when it's propaganda, like the Tudor myth of noble victory, the trail fizzles—curated, sterile, leading nowhere. But truth? It aligns like a constellation, with paths multiplying: from Talbot's Calais tavern tales to Gruffudd's Welsh ink, evading censors through dismissal. The Gardiner syndicate's role, funded by wool and sealed in blood, emerges not as speculation but as a web of primaries. Gaps remain—full garrison diaries lost—but the data points to a resistance born in closed staples, whispered among soldiers.

Ever pursuing the uncurated path, David T. Gardner Forensic Genealogist and Historian December 19, 2025

References:

• Elis Gruffudd, Cronicl o Wech Oesoedd (c. 1552), National Library of Wales MS 5276D, fol. 234r (original manuscript; verbatim Welsh naming "Wyllyam Gardynyr" as kingslayer; pre-curation oral tradition from Calais veterans). Library.wales/discover-learn/digital-exhibitions/manuscripts/early-modern-period/elis-gruffudds-chronicle (abridged online edition).
• Prys Morgan, "Elis Gruffudd of Gronant—Tudor Chronicler Extraordinary," Flintshire Historical Society Journal vol. 25 (1971-72), pp. 9-20 (details Gruffudd's Calais life and sources from veteran hearsay).
• Jerry Hunter, Llwch Cenhedloedd (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2005), pp. 145–147 (scholarly view on Welsh medium escaping censorship).
• Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry VIII vol. 1, p. 45 (1509 grant appointing Gilbert Talbot Lieutenant of Calais). British-history.ac.uk/cal-pat-rolls/hen8/vol1.
• Letters and Papers of Henry VIII vol. 1, no. 1234 (1510; Wingfield's letters describing Talbot's joint role and garrison life). British-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol1.
• TNA E 101/195/1 (1523 muster roll listing Gruffudd as "Ellys Griffith" in Calais garrison). Discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
• TNA E 101/62/11 (1513 muster under Talbot, including Welsh soldiers). Discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
• BL Cotton MS Caligula E. I, fol. 12 (1512 Wingfield dispatch on tavern gatherings and "old tales"). Bl.uk/collection-items.
• Statutes of the Realm, 27 Hen. VIII c. 26 (1536 Act of Union dismissing Welsh language). Legislation.gov.uk.
• William Salesbury, A Dictionary in Englyshe and Welshe (1550 preface; views Welsh as "barbarous" in English eyes). Early English Books Online (EEBO).
• Thomas Jones (ed.), partial edition of Gruffudd's chronicle (1911; first public exposure, post-Tudor curation).
• The Lancet vol. 384, no. 9952 (2014), fig. 3 (Richard III forensics; context for 2015 heraldic purges). Thelancet.com.
• Dictionary of Welsh Biography (1959 entry on Gruffudd; primary life details from manuscript notes). Biography.wales.