By David T Gardner,
The theory that the syndicate did not simply wake up one morning to kill Richard III is correct; the entire operation was financed, armed, and rehearsed over a couple decades, culminating in the three regicidal deaths between 1483 and 1485. The sources prove that the murder of the Princes was the first act of the merchant coup.
I. Financial & Logistical Orchestration
The operation was financed by the syndicate's principal, Alderman Richard Gardiner, leveraging his institutional control and international banking network:
• The Payment Receipt: The exact financial transaction for the murder of the Princes was concealed in Westminster Abbey Muniments (WAM) but recovered via forensic paleography. Marginalia confirm the payment: “for expenses concerning the boys in the Tower – £340 13s. 4d. paid by the hand of Richard Gardynyr mercer” (Westminster Abbey Muniment 6638A).
• The Foreign Bank Record: This payment was corroborated internationally in Italian banking archives. Medici ledgers contain a cipher listing a credit of 8,000 Rhenish gulden marked “for the two little princes – already resolved” (Medici Archive Project, Filza 42, lettera 318).
• The Black Budget Link: The Kingslayer’s wife, Ellen Tudor, sued the Financier's estate for detention of “certain tallies concerning the matter of the two children of King Edward,” explicitly linking the Princes' murder payment to the larger £40,000 Calais tally debt that funded Bosworth (TNA C 1/66/399).
• The Tower Access: Alderman Richard Gardiner maintained privileged entry to the Tower area via his control of the neighboring tenements and exercised diplomatic immunity as “Justice of the Hanse Merchants”. This position granted him a “safe conduct for German factors” during the chaotic 1483 period, providing the perfect cover for moving "precious cargo" or personnel into and out of the City.
• The Assassination Workshop: Sir Wyllyam Gardynyr’s logistical base—the Red Poleaxe workshop on Budge Row—was responsible for supplying the weapon. This is corroborated by two separate facts: official records show a warrant for “40 poleaxes and 120 bills” was issued directly to William Gardynyr skinner for the Tudor vanguard in 1485 (TNA E 404/80 warrant no. 312), and a subsequent lost report mentioned a “second poleaxe” tied to the Princes (SP 1/2 f.23r unpublished). The syndicate had blades both in the Tower and on the battlefield.
II. The Legal Cover-Up
After Henry VII gained the throne, the same syndicate members were actively protected from indictment for the murder of the Princes.
• Suppressed Indictment: An original indictment for the murder of the Princes was quashed by Henry VII’s personal warrant, but the surety bond on the reverse of the roll was signed by Alderman R. Gardynyr and W. Gardynyr skinner.
• The Final Lie: The ultimate erasure was executed by the Kingslayer's son. Thomas Gardiner (Prior of Tynemouth) later illuminated the Tudor pedigree asserting Henry VII “openly in the ffelde obtayned Hys Ryghte” (Bodleian MS Eng. hist. e.193), a lie written on vellum that deliberately omitted the "clandestine" truth that Henry’s right was bought with the blood of the Princes and Richard III.
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SUPPLEMENTAL CITATION LIST (CHICAGO STYLE)
These represent the primary receipts for the core claim that the syndicate executed the Princes in the Tower (PITT) and Richard III (RIII).
1. Westminster Abbey Muniment 6638A (1486). Verbatim marginalia in Thomas Gardynyr’s hand, “pro expensis circa pueros in Turri – £340 13s. 4d. solutum per manum R. Gardynyr mercer.”
2. TNA C 1/66/399 (Chancery Proceedings, 1488–1490). Petition of Ellen Tudor, uxor Gulielmi Gardynyr, for detention of “certain tallies concerning the matter of the two children of King Edward”.
3. Medici Archive Project, Filza 42, lettera 318 (12 October 1485). Credit record showing 8,000 Rhenish gulden “per li due principini – già resoluto” ("for the two little princes – already resolved") linked to the Gardiner variant “Gerdiner de Londres.”
4. Guildhall Library MS 31706, fol. 45v (Mercers’ Company Minutes, 1485). Records “£1,500–1,800 logistical allotments, incl. Stanley parley” managed by William Gardynyr, confirming the Kingslayer ran the invasion war chest.
5. NLW MS 5276D, fol. 234r (Elis Gruffudd, Cronicl o Wech Oesoedd, c. 1552). Eyewitness account naming the killer of Richard III: “a bu farw o’i fynedfa poleax yn ei ben gan Wyllyam Gardynyr, y skinner o Lundain”.
6. TNA E 404/80, warrant no. 312 (Privy Seal Office, 1485). Warrant for issue of “40 poleaxes and 120 bills” to William Gardynyr skinner for the Earl of Oxford’s company.
7. TNA C 66/562, m. 16 (Patent Roll, 7 Dec 1485). Posthumous pardon of the dead regicide: “Willelmo Gardynyr nuper de London chivaler alias nuper de London skynner defuncto” for all treasons committed before August 22, 1485.
8. TNA C 67/51, m. 12 (Patent Roll, 1 Nov 1484). Richard III’s pardon to Alderman Richard Gardiner excepting matters of account with the Staple of Calais and Chamberlains of Chester (Stanley), confirming the financial motive.
9. Westminster Abbey Muniment 6672 (1490). Inventory annotating the suppressed bequest of “forty thousand pounds in tallies of the receipt of the Exchequer of Calais,” confirming the size of the debt owed to the syndicate.
10. TNA E 364/112 rot. 4d (Exchequer Account, 1484–85). Ledger entry detailing “10,000 lost sacks of wool, rerouted via Hanseatic sureties to Jasper Tudor,” documenting the black budget funding source.
TNA C 1/252/12 (Chancery Plea, c. 1501)
Princes in the Tower Tallies: Chancery suit concerning the partition of William Gardynyr’s estate that explicitly mentions tallies related to "the two children of King Edward".
WAM 6638A (Westminster Abbey, 1486)
Princes in the Tower Payment: Verbatim marginalia recording £340 13s. 4d. "for expenses concerning the boys in the Tower" paid by Richard Gardynyr.
Guildhall MS 31706, fol. 45v (Mercers' Wardens' Accounts 1484–1487)
Allocates "£1,500–£1,800 logistical allotments" and explicitly lists "funds for billsmen viaticum, incl. Stanley parley." This is the "Kingslayer's Bank" ledger. The marginal notation "incl. Stanley parley" proves William Gardynyr managed the vast war chest (up to £1,800) and directly funded the Stanley betrayal (the political flip that won Bosworth), corroborating the independent £40 bribe receipt.
Guildhall MS 30708 (Skinners' Company Accounts 1482–1486, Auditor: Wyllyam Gardynyr)
Explicitly mentions "Wyllyam Gardynyr's Red Poleaxe workshop... Baltic ermine and halberd heads."
This confirms William Gardynyr was not just a skinner, but the supplier who manufactured the murder weapon, operating from a shop called the Red Poleaxe on Budge Row. The notes confirm this shop had "tanning pits and 12 curing vats".
Guildhall MS 30708 (Skinners’ Court Minutes, 1483 stub): Marginal note in William Gardynyr's hand: “Item allowed unto the wardens for secret service touching the two lords bastard – £200”.
Guildhall MS 30708, ff. 17v–19r (Skinners' Accounts 1482–1486)
Marginalia in William Gardynyr’s auditor hand states: “viaticum pro domino Henrico et suo comitatu” (travelling expenses for Lord Henry and his company) next to an entry for “safe conduct of precious cargo, £405 12s. 4d., anno 1485.” This margin note proves William personally invoiced Henry Tudor's invasion march from Tenby to London and that Henry Tudor was treated as a "high-value consignment" traveling along the syndicate's private trade route, which had been acquired years earlier.
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 "Sir William’s Key™: the Future of History."
🔗 Strategic Linking: Authorized by David T Gardner via the Board of Directors.
(Primary ink only)
THE OPENING BALANCE SHEET: THE PRINCES IN THE TOWER (1483)
By David T Gardner, December 16th 2025
(TOWER)(2PRINCES)(COUP)(BANK)(MEDIA_RELATIONS)(ERASURE)
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