During the Tudor Period there were dozens of thousands of executions that took place
inside of England.
Henry VIII for example executed 70,000 people during his reign and even had two of his own
wives executed inside the walls of the Tower of London.
There were a few methods of execution which were incredible savage, including beheading
by Axe or sword, or hanging, drawing and quartering.
The standard sentence for treason was this, and often it was commuted to beheading depending
on the relationship the condemned had with King or Queen.
But after someone lost their head, often it was placed upon display in a number of locations.
But there was one place in London where the heads of traitors were displayed that was
infamous.
London Bridge would be filled with spikes where heads were attached upon, and traders
would regularly pass under these and also people would see these everyday when they
crossed the river.
But there was a man who’s job it was to look after and display these heads.
Join us today as we look at the most brutal job in History, the Keeper of the Heads.
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The Old London Bridge was where the Heads were placed onto of.
Building work began on this in 1176 and finished in 1209 and the project must have cost a huge
amount to finish.
It was under King John when the work was finished, and the bridge spanned 282 metres long.
It had 19 different piers and 19 arches, and also a wooden drawbridge which could isolate
north to south.
There were also houses built on the bridge, and at one point there were 140 in the 14th
century.
Many were only very small, but then during the Tudor period many of these were rebuilt.
There were also a number of shops on the bridge, and the bridge actually became one of the
main shopping streets in the capital, and there was also a chapel.
Millions throughout the years would pass over the bridge, and would go under it, but it
was over the drawbridge tower where many of the heads of traitors were displayed.
When beheadings took place inside of London, they often took place at the public beheading
spot on Tower Hill.
People who were condemned would be held briefly inside the Tower of London or other prisons,
then taken to Tower Hill to be beheaded by axe.
They were also hanged, drawn and quartered mostly at Tyburn, but following the executions
the heads of the condemned were then taken to London Bridge.
The Bridge was seen as the head of the city, and the point of displaying the heads was
to strike fear into the hearts of the population, and to force them into submission.
It was mostly those who were deemed traitors who’s heads were displayed on the bridge
high up in the air.
The heads of the condemned were usually after execution brought to the Bridge, before they
were handed over to the Keeper of the Heads.
The Keeper of the Heads was the man who it was deemed in charge and in control of the
section of the bridge that dealt with the executed heads.
He was a man who would take instructions from the monarchy and the local government, and
then he would deal with the heads.
The heads would be tipped in tar and were often boiled by the Keeper to ensure that
they would stay preserved for longer, and that they would be protected from the elements
because of this.
It was he who would also take down the old heads that had stood for sometimes years high
up on the pikes, and then he would after bringing these down would throw them into the River
Thames.
After there was a pike free, the Keeper of the Heads would then place the newer and fresher
head on the pike in the air.
This was one of the most brutal and bloody jobs in History, and it was the Keeper of
the Heads job to keep the heads on the spikes fresh and also displayed well.
He was seen as preserving the judgement and will of the King’s law, and they would deal
with some very high profile heads in their jobs.
After the head was past it’s time on the pike, then he would throw them down and as
time has went on a number of skulls were found in the mud when the original bridge was pulled
down.
The first head it’s believed that was placed on a spike above London Bridge was William
Wallace, the rebellious Scottish military leader.
He had been found guilty of leading a campaign against Edward I, but after his execution
his body was sent to four corner’s of the realm of the King, before his head set on
London Bridge.
In 1450, Jack Cade who tried to lead a rebellion failed to overthrow the government and after
this they put his head on London Bridge to bring the population of London under submission,
and to tell the people what would happen if they rose up against the government and King.
But as the Tudor period came, the heads continued to roll, more so than they had before.
It was said that, ‘Upon this is built a tower, on whose top the heads of such as have
been executed for high treason are placed on iron spikes, we counted thirty.’
But one of the most famous heads placed above London Bridge by the Keeper was Thomas More,
who in 1535 was executed.
More refused to accept Henry VIII’s changes to the church, and when his head was placed
on a pike above the Bridge, the Keeper of the Heads let his head stay for a long time
suspended in the air.
It would have been expected that the gulls and birds would had feasted on his head, and
that nothing would remain except putrid flesh and the hollow eye sockets.
It was said that Thomas More’s daughter pleaded with the Keeper of the Heads not to
throw her father’s head in the river, and she asked her to give the head so it could
be interred along with his body.
But the Keeper allowed this request, but he was amazed when he pulled the head down from
the sky, then More’s head remained pink and looked as if he was sleeping and still
alive.
Also the head of Bishop John Fisher was placed above London Bridge during Henry VIII’s
reign, as was Thomas Cromwells.
These were all close with the King and were very high profile, so the sight of their heads
on the Bridge would have been shocking.
The last head was installed on London Bridge in 1661, and then after this heads were placed
on other places such as Temple Bar and also Westminster Hall.
One of the most shocking accounts of London Bridge during the Tudor period was when Catherine
Howard, the teenage fifth wife of Henry VIII was taken down river to the Tower of London.
She had been accused of adultery along with two other men, and the heads of these men
were placed on London Bridge and the young lady passed under the heads of her former
lovers when she made her final journey to her place of imprisonment and execution.
But the job of being in charge of the decapitated heads on London Bridge during the Tudor period
would have been one of the most brutal and disturbing in history.
IT was the job of that man to preserve the heads of criminals and to strike fear into
the hearts of the people inside the city.
It was a terrible job, but one that encapsulated the brutality of the medieval and Tudor period
inside of the capital.
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