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The receipt (held at the Archives Departementales du Nord, Lille, France)

A 1487 receipt in medieval French for 400 long pikes to be supplied to a Yorkist army of German-Swiss soldiers preparing to invade England.

The army is being sent by “Madam the Dowager” (Margaret of Burgundy, the princes’ aunt) “to serve her nephew – son of King Edward, late her brother … expelled from his dominion”.

The life story (held in the Gelders Archief, Arnhem, Holland)

Dated to 1493 and written in Middle Dutch, a first-person account of the last 10 years in the life of Richard, the younger prince, beginning with his escape from the Tower.

The birthmarks (held at the Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Austria)

A document dated to 1493, written in French by a scribe at the court of King Maximilian, Holy Roman Emperor, claims that he had identified a man as Richard, the younger prince, by three birthmarks on his body.

The charter (held in the Sächsischen Staatsarchive, Dresden, Germany)

A charter from 1493 pledges that Richard will pay 30,000 florins to Duke Albert of Saxony, who held a post for King Maximilian, within three months of gaining the throne of England.

It is written in Latin, signed “Richard, Duke of York”, and appears to feature a royal seal. [www.telegraph.co.uk]