William Gardner (knight)

Sir William Gardner (c. 1450 - c. 1495) was a mercenary, warrior, and knight during the Medieval Era who was noted for [...] King Richard III on August 22, 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth.

Early life

Wyllyam Gardynyr (as his name was written in Welsh accounts) was born in 1451 at Oxfordshire, England. He was a commoner and cloth merchant before he was hired as a mercenary during the War of the Roses. Although he was sometimes recorded as a 'Welsh halberdier', he was most likely of French, Scottish, and English ancestry.

Battle of Bosworth

The Welsh accounts state that Sir William Gardner killed King Richard III with a poleaxe. The Welsh account reads, "Richard’s horse was trapped in the marsh where he was slain by one of Rhys Thomas’ men, a commoner named Wyllyam Gardynyr."[citation needed] Afterwards, Gardner was knighted for bravery.

The only dispute of this action is credited to English historians who stated that King Richard III was killed in battled with a poleaxe mistakenly by Rhys ap Thomas. Although it was Rhys ap Thomas' military prowess which led to the downfall of King Richard III's forces, it was indeed William Gardner who killed the last King of England to die on the battlefield. Both Gardner and Thomas were knighted on the battlefield by King Henry VII.

King Richard III was considered one of the greatest British heroes today. However, he was looked upon as an evil villian. The Battle of Bosworth was looked upon as good defeating evil. The single act of William Gardner [...] King Richard III led to the English Reformation.

Later life

William Gardner, Gardiner, or Gardynyr, later married Helen Tudor and lived at "the Bank" in Surrey, England. He lived his life as a cloth merchant. It is most likely that Gardner later died from natural causes.

He is most noted today for being the father of Stephen Gardiner.

References

http://www.tudors.org/component/fireboard/?func=view&catid=11&id=120

  • "Gardiner Generations & Relations, Vol. I" by Richard Thomas Gardiner
  • "The Making of the Tudor Dynasty" by Roger Thomas