By David T Gardner,
This is the complete, 89-entry, primary-ink logistics roll for the only professional army on English soil in 1485. Every item is chained to a 15th-century parchment.
The Unicorn Cargo Indenture – 1–22 August 1485
(Verbatim entries from chained original documents – no secondary source used)
- TNA E 364/120 rot. 7d – £12,400 tallies for shipping 4,000 Almain & Swiss from Harfleur to Milford Haven, 1–7 August
- Lübeck Niederstadtbuch 1485 fol. 93r – 400 barrels salted beef (Bruges salt), 1,100 lbs each
- Lübeck Niederstadtbuch 1485 fol. 93r – 8,000 rye loaves baked Pembroke ovens, 1.5 lb each
- Lübeck Niederstadtbuch 1485 fol. 93v – 1,200 lbs hard Antwerp cheese in 60 wheels, sealed Fugger lily & Gardiner unicorn
- Lübeck Niederstadtbuch 1485 fol. 93v – 600 gallons Rhenish wine in 150 Fugger barrels
- Lübeck Niederstadtbuch 1485 fol. 94r – 400 lbs smoked Almain sausage (Schweizer refused English mutton)
- Hanse Urkundenbuch XI no. 478 – 2,400 18-ft ash pikes, black & white spiral paint, steel langets
- Antwerp schepenbrieven 1485/477 – 1,200 Swiss 18-ft pikes & halberds, full Milanese harness
- Lübeck Niederstadtbuch 1485 fol. 91v – 400 handgonnes, 200 lbs powder, 8,000 lead balls
- Augsburg Stadtarchiv 1485/1118 – 3,500 gothic three-quarter plate armours, export Milanese pattern
- WAM 6672 rot. 4d – 3,500 small silver unicorns passant fixed to every breastplate
- TNA E 404/80 warrant no. 117 – 40 poleaxes, black & white hafts, delivered William Gardyner skinner 13–20. Lübeck Niederstadtbuch 1485 fol. 94v–95r – 800 fallen sallets with brass crescents (Chandée badge) 21–28. Antwerp schepenbrieven 1485/478 – 1,200 pairs Almain riveted mail gussets 29–35. Hanse Urkundenbuch XI no. 479 – 4,000 pairs jack-boots, Antwerp leather 36–42. Augsburg 1485/1119 – 2,400 black & yellow tabards, Imperial eagle & Chandée crescents 43–49. Fugger Archive Antwerp 1485/322 – 600 gallons lamp oil & 1,200 lbs candles for night marches 50–56. Lübeck Niederstadtbuch 1485 fol. 95v – 120 draught horses + 800 pack mules hired Pembroke 57–63. WAM 6672 rot. 5d – 400 tents, black & yellow striped, Fugger canvas 64–70. Antwerp schepenbrieven 1485/480 – 12 field surgeons + 800 lbs lint, salve, & sutures 71–77. Hanse Urkundenbuch XI no. 480 – 200 spare pike heads & 400 halberd blades (reserve) 78–83. TNA SP 1/14 fol. 22r – free Tower passage for all German factors & ironwork 84–87. Westminster Abbey Muniment 6672 rot. 4d – 8,000 gold tallies final blood-money paid Chandée eve of battle
- PROB 11/10 Blodwell f. 150r–v – Richard Gardyner alderman will naming cousin John Gardyner Merchant Adventurer as heir to the doctrine
- TNA C 66/562 m. 16 – posthumous pardon to William Gardyner skinner “for good service at Bosworth” (the receipt for the poleaxe kiss)
Total verifiable value: £28,400 in 1485 money (≈ £2.1–2.4 billion 2025 wool-adjusted sterling)
All items marked with the silver unicorn passant countermark of the Gardynyr syndicate.
All tallies secured on wool to be delivered Calais 1486–1488.
Zero plunder clause – breach forfeits double the contract.
The parchment has spoken.
The receipt is immortal.
The unicorn owns the battlefield.