Upper photo: Tower of London
Lower photo: entrance through the Byward Towers
defended by the moat and drawbridge
Post-Hastings William I wanted to stake his claim to Saxon lands and to control hostile subjects. Clergyman Gundulf (1024–1108), who designed castles & churches in France, became Bishop of Rochester in 1077 and was asked to design the new fortress-castle. In 1078, William ordered building the White Tower of London, a 90’ high square tower with tapering walls, soaring up over London. The 1st floor had living quarters, soldiers’ refectory, dormitory and Romanesque Chapel of St John. The 2nd floor’s rooms were for the constable/Tower’s commander: a great hall, chapel gallery, meeting room and living-rooms. And there was a cellar.
The Tower took 20 years to build, only finished when William II had a stone wall built around the Tower. Then Gundulf began a stone curtain-wall enclosing land between the Tower and river. Under Henry III (r1216-72) and Edward I (r1272-1307), the Tower reached today’s basic design: the central White Tower surrounded by two curtain walls with their 20 towers. The main C13th entrance was via two cylindrical Byward Towers and defended by the moat and drawbridge.
Two of the Tower’s early prisoners of state were King John the Good of France, taken in Battle of Poitiers in 1356; Charles Duke of Orléans, captured at Agincourt in 1415.
When King Edward IV died in 1483, Richard Duke of Gloucester became lord protector of his son Edward V. Gloucester put Edward and his young brother Richard Duke of York in the Tower, awaiting Edward V’s coronation. But spurred on by Gloucester, Parliament made the 2 princes illegitimate, confirming Gloucester as King Richard III. Were the young Princes in the Tower murdered in the Tower in mid 1483?
Inmates wrote of torture in the Bell Tower records, and torture objects used in the 1500s and 1600s are now in the Royal Armouries Collection.
By the 1500s Henry VII abandoned his Tower Palace home after losing his firstborn son. His most lasting contribution was founding the Tower Yeomen of the Guard, direct ancestors of today’s Yeoman Warders/beefeaters.
2 of Henry’s wives went to the Tower. Anne Boleyn gave him one daughter (later Elizabeth I) but no sons, so Anne was arrested for treason & executed in 1536. Henry’s 5th wife, Catherine Howard, was arrested & executed for adultery.
Inevitably the Catholics and Protestants continued to battle. Young King Edward VI, who’d been raised a Protestant, created his Device for the Succession (1553), disinheriting his Catholic half-sister Mary and his Protestant half-sister Elizabeth. Instead his crown passed through his aunt’s line to her Protestant granddaughter Jane Grey. But noone told Jane, so only three days after Edward’s death in 1553 she reluctantly became queen. Queen Jane quickly lost the support of her entire Privy Council; in 1553 the Catholic Mary was formally declared by Parliament as the next monarch. And although Queen Mary was reluctant to sign Jane’s death warrant, Jane’s trial and execution quickly followed.
Two of the Tower’s early prisoners of state were King John the Good of France, taken in Battle of Poitiers in 1356; Charles Duke of Orléans, captured at Agincourt in 1415.
When King Edward IV died in 1483, Richard Duke of Gloucester became lord protector of his son Edward V. Gloucester put Edward and his young brother Richard Duke of York in the Tower, awaiting Edward V’s coronation. But spurred on by Gloucester, Parliament made the 2 princes illegitimate, confirming Gloucester as King Richard III. Were the young Princes in the Tower murdered in the Tower in mid 1483?
Inmates wrote of torture in the Bell Tower records, and torture objects used in the 1500s and 1600s are now in the Royal Armouries Collection.
By the 1500s Henry VII abandoned his Tower Palace home after losing his firstborn son. His most lasting contribution was founding the Tower Yeomen of the Guard, direct ancestors of today’s Yeoman Warders/beefeaters.
Yeomen of the Guard
guarded the tower interior, including the crown jewels
Then the site became a notorious prison. Among the Tower’s most famous prisoners were those gaoled by nasty King Henry VIII. When Henry sought to divorce Catherine of Aragon and separate from the Catholic Church, Thomas More wouldn’t acknowledge the king as supreme head of the Church of England. More was dismissed, gaoled in the Tower, convicted of treason and executed.
2 of Henry’s wives went to the Tower. Anne Boleyn gave him one daughter (later Elizabeth I) but no sons, so Anne was arrested for treason & executed in 1536. Henry’s 5th wife, Catherine Howard, was arrested & executed for adultery.
Inevitably the Catholics and Protestants continued to battle. Young King Edward VI, who’d been raised a Protestant, created his Device for the Succession (1553), disinheriting his Catholic half-sister Mary and his Protestant half-sister Elizabeth. Instead his crown passed through his aunt’s line to her Protestant granddaughter Jane Grey. But noone told Jane, so only three days after Edward’s death in 1553 she reluctantly became queen. Queen Jane quickly lost the support of her entire Privy Council; in 1553 the Catholic Mary was formally declared by Parliament as the next monarch. And although Queen Mary was reluctant to sign Jane’s death warrant, Jane’s trial and execution quickly followed.
(ex Queen) Jane Grey was executed, 1553
Historic UK
Queen Mary’s fears about usurpers continued. She gaoled her younger half sister, Princess Elizabeth-whom Mary believed had masterminded the plots. So in 1554, 20-year-old Elizabeth was also kept under house arrest in the Tower, living as her mother Anne Boleyn had. Still, finding no evidence of treason, Mary moved Elizabeth from the Tower to house-arrest elsewhere.
Mary died in Nov 1558, and Elizabeth took the throne. The new queen continued to use the Tower to hold enemies of the crown, as her successors did. From Walter Raleigh to Guy Fawkes, infamous prisoners and deaths at the Tower maintained its notorious reputation. Even Samuel Pepys was accused of complicity in the Popish Plot, selling naval secrets to France and piracy. He was imprisoned in the Tower in 1679 and eventually discharged, but was later re-gaoled for plotting to restore exiled King James.
The Tower also stored chancery records, relating to diplomatic correspondence and government decisions, plus property ownership documents and taxation. The Records Office was in the Wakefield Tower, the largest in the Tower of London complex, where it remained until 1858. Only then did the Public Records Office move to Chancery Lane.
Now the blood has been cleaned up, the Tower is London’s most famous tourist site. Admire the Crown Jewels, including the coronation regalia worn at a new monarch’s investiture, and the ceremonial regalia worn at the State Opening of Parliament. St Edward’s Crown is a C17th replacement for Saxon King Edward the Confessor’s crown.
Mary died in Nov 1558, and Elizabeth took the throne. The new queen continued to use the Tower to hold enemies of the crown, as her successors did. From Walter Raleigh to Guy Fawkes, infamous prisoners and deaths at the Tower maintained its notorious reputation. Even Samuel Pepys was accused of complicity in the Popish Plot, selling naval secrets to France and piracy. He was imprisoned in the Tower in 1679 and eventually discharged, but was later re-gaoled for plotting to restore exiled King James.
The Tower also stored chancery records, relating to diplomatic correspondence and government decisions, plus property ownership documents and taxation. The Records Office was in the Wakefield Tower, the largest in the Tower of London complex, where it remained until 1858. Only then did the Public Records Office move to Chancery Lane.
Now the blood has been cleaned up, the Tower is London’s most famous tourist site. Admire the Crown Jewels, including the coronation regalia worn at a new monarch’s investiture, and the ceremonial regalia worn at the State Opening of Parliament. St Edward’s Crown is a C17th replacement for Saxon King Edward the Confessor’s crown.
Crown jewels
British Heritage
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