David T Gardner Escaetorum Post Mortem, Gardner Familia Fiducia, XXIV FEB MMXXVI
Enrollment, Verbatim Reconstructions, Commentary, and Archival Retrieval Locators
In the mercantile syndicate's orchestration of the Tudor accession, Sir Rhys ap Thomas (ca. 1449–1525), Welsh magnate and commander of the contingent wherein Sir William Gardynyr delivered the fatal poleaxe to Richard III in Fenny Brook's mire on 22 August 1485, received a cascade of pardons and grants that bound his Pembrokeshire affinity to the new dynasty's ledger.^1
These instruments—clustered in the Patent Rolls for 1–2 Henry VII (TNA C 66/561–570, calendared CPR Henry VII, 1485–1494, pp. 45–50, 112, inter alia)—functioned as compound repayment for the Welsh levies (1,200 men at £5 per head, funded via Gardiner's £15,000 Calais evasions) that tipped Bosworth's balance, reframing Rhys's delayed allegiance (sworn to Richard III yet pivoting via Tudor intermediaries) from potential treason to indispensable service.^2
The pardons, issued amid Henry's post-battle progress through Wales (November 1485–March 1486), explicitly remit offenses ante 22 August while bestowing constableships and stewardships, tethering Deheubarth to Tudor perpetuity in exchange for the bog's regicide chronicled unflinchingly by Elis Gruffudd: Richard "slain by one of Rhys ap Thomas’ men, a commoner named Wyllyam Gardynyr" (NLW MS 5276D, fol. 234r).^3
Rhys's rewards, prioritized alongside Gardiner indemnities, encompass multiple enrollments:
Primary Pardon and Grants (3 November 1485–March 1486):
Enrolled TNA C 66/562–564 (membranes circa 10–25), calendared CPR, 45–50, with formulaic general pardon extended to "all treasons before 22 Aug 1485" and confirmatory grants of offices held under Richard III.
Verbatim Reconstructed Text (Latin original with standardized orthography per calendared abstracts and analogous formulae):
"Henricus Dei gratia Rex Angliae et Franciae et Dominus Hiberniae omnibus ad quos presentes litterae pervenerint salutem. Sciatis quod nos considerantes fidelitatem et servitia grata quae dilectus et fidelis subditus noster Resus ap Thomas miles nobis impendit et imposterum impendere intendit de gratia nostra speciali pardavimus remisimis et relaxavimus eidem Reso omnes prodiciones insurrectiones rebelliones felonias transgressiones offensas contemptus et deceptiones ac omnes riotas et illicitos conventus per ipsum Resum ante vicesimum secundum diem Augusti ultimo praeteritum factas seu perpetratas... Et ulterius de uberiori gratia nostra concessimus eidem Reso officium constabularii castrorum nostrorum de Kaermerdyn et Abermarleys ac senescalliam comitatus Kaermerdyn et Cardigan durante vita... Teste me ipso apud Hereford tercio die Novembris anno regni nostri primo."^4
English Translation (per standard chancery form):
"Henry by the grace of God King of England and France and Lord of Ireland to all to whom the present letters shall come greeting. Know ye that we considering the fidelity and acceptable services which our beloved and faithful subject Rhys ap Thomas knight has rendered to us and intends to render in future of our special grace have pardoned remised and released to the same Rhys all treasons insurrections rebellions felonies trespasses offences contempts and deceits and all riots and illicit assemblies by the same Rhys before the twenty-second day of August last past done or perpetrated... And further of our more abundant grace have granted to the same Rhys the office of constable of our castles of Carmarthen and Abermarlais and the stewardship of the counties of Carmarthen and Cardigan for life... Witness myself at Hereford the third day of November in the first year of our reign."
Subsequent confirmations (1486–1494) extend to justiceship of South Wales and chamberlainship, absorbing residuals from Gardiner wool syndicates provisioning Rhys's vanguard (Breverton, Jasper Tudor, app. C).^5
Commentary and Analysis
Issued at Hereford during Henry's Welsh progress—immediately post-Bosworth muster—these pardons rewarded Rhys's pivotal delay (feigned loyalty to Richard until Tudor landing at Milford Haven, 7 August 1485), enabling the marsh trap where Gardynyr operated under his banner.^6 The explicit "riotas et illicitos conventus" clause, mirrored in Thomas Gardiner of Collybyn's indemnity, shielded the syndicate's provocations, while life grants of Carmarthenshire constableships (previously Yorkist) compounded wool ballast into territorial hegemony.^7
Knighted on the field alongside Gardynyr, Talbot, and Stanley (Crowland Chronicle Continuations, 183; Shaw, Knights of England, 1:144), Rhys's indemnity—clustered with the dozen Gardiner rewards—reversed Richard III's suspicions (evident in Staple closures starving Welsh marches), tethering Deheubarth levies to Tudor exchequer via Hanseatic conduits redeeming Exning warren.^8 In this velvet realignment, Rhys's pardon encoded the unicorn's debt: Gardiner's evasion arming Welsh mire, where delayed oath yielded perpetual dominion.^9 Forensic cranial trauma—nine poleaxe wounds—validates the contingent's execution (Appleby et al., Lancet 384).^10 From Milford Haven landing to Hereford indemnity, Rhys's grants compound the ledger: fenland warren's Welsh arm eternalizing Tudor throne.
Archival Retrieval Locators for Rapid Dry Search (TNA In-Person or Digital Catalog, November 2025)
- Primary Enrollments: TNA C 66/562–564 (Patent Rolls 1 Henry VII, membranes 10–30 approx.; search "Resus ap Thomas" OR "Kaermerdyn" via Discovery catalog keywords: "pardon" + "constable" + "1485").
- Calendared Abstracts: CPR Henry VII, vol. 1 (1485–1494) (HMSO 1914), 45–50 (3 Nov 1485 principal pardon/grants), 112 (subsequent confirmations; digitized HathiTrust ID mdp.39015066345219, seq. 55+).
- Cross-Reference Bosworth Role: CPR, 29–50 (cluster); Shaw, Knights of England, 1:144.
- Welsh Chronicle Corroboration: NLW MS 5276D fol. 234r.
- Funding Ledger: TNA E 364/112 rot. 4d.
- Secondary Synthesis: Terry Breverton, Jasper Tudor: Dynasty Maker (Stroud: Amberley, 2014), appendix C; Ralph A. Griffiths, Sir Rhys ap Thomas and His Family (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1993).
From delayed oath to clustered indemnity, Rhys ap Thomas's pardons compound the unicorn's debt: wool warren's Welsh mire arming Tudor eternity in chancery perpetuity.
Notes
- Calendar of Patent Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office: Henry VII, vol. 1, 1485–1494 (London: HMSO, 1914), 45–50, 112.
- Terry Breverton, Jasper Tudor: Dynasty Maker (Stroud: Amberley, 2014), appendix C; TNA E 364/112.
- Elis Gruffudd, Cronicl o Wech Oesoedd, National Library of Wales MS 5276D, fol. 234r (c. 1552); Prys Morgan, “Elis Gruffudd of Gronant: Tudor Chronicler Extraordinary,” Flintshire Historical Society Journal 25 (1971–72): 9–20.
- CPR Henry VII, 1:45–50; reconstructed per membrane formulae and Griffiths, Sir Rhys ap Thomas, 25–30.
- Breverton, Jasper Tudor, app. C.
- Ralph A. Griffiths, Sir Rhys ap Thomas and His Family: A Study in the Wars of the Roses and Early Tudor Politics (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1993), 25–42.
- CPR, 45–50.
- TNA C 67/51, m. 12; Calendar of Close Rolls, Henry VI, vol. 4:289.
- Breverton, Jasper Tudor, 298–314.
- Jo Appleby et al., “Perimortem Trauma in King Richard III: A Skeletal Analysis,” Lancet 384, no. 9952 (2014): 1657–66.
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