One of the most infamous and brutal prisons and
fortresses in History is the Tower of London.
The castle sits on the banks of the River Thames, and is most famously known as a site
where Queens were executed, torture was administered and brutality occurred.
It was during the Tudor Period that 3 of England’s Queens, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and
Lady Jane Grey were all beheaded inside the walls of the Tower on Tower Green.
But what was the true story of the Tower of London during the Tudor Period?
It is mostly during the reign of King Henry VIII that the Tower gained it’s notorious
reputation from.
But shortly before following the death of the Yorkist King Edward IV, his sons including
his successor it’s alleged were murdered inside of the Tower on the orders of their
uncle and supposed protector, King Richard III.
At this time, and throughout the Medieval period, the Tower had been used as a royal
residence, but at the beginning of the Tudor Period, it changed purpose rather drastically.
When we consider Tudor palaces, we think of the grandeur of buildings such as Hampton
Court Palace, but at the start of the Tudor era, the Tower of London became more of an
armoury.
It was a place where arms and ammunition was stored, and also where prisoners of the King
and Queen were kept inside of.
Henry VII stayed at the tower a few times during his reign, and the Yeoman Warders,
the Beefeaters that still today work there have been used as the Royal bodyguards since
at least the year of Henry VIII’s crowning.
But during the reign of King Henry VIII, the Tower needed strengthening and repairing,
and the King ordered Thomas Cromwell to carry out a number of works on the defences.
Cromwell spent thousands doing this, and he brought the castle up to the standard of other
European fortresses.
But some areas were still left in decay.
But during the 16th century, the Tower became known for being a terrible and horrific prison,
a sharp departure from it’s previous use as a royal castle.
Prisoners could have their lives made easier if they were richer, by buying privileges
off the Leftenant of the Tower, but during the Tudor Period there was a significant amount
of more sadistic accounts emerge from he Tower.
During the reign of King Henry VIII, many people were kept inside of the Tower of London
to await their executions.
Those prisoners deemed to have been very high profile waited their final days at the Tower
before they were taken out of the walls to be executed up on Tower Hill, a short walk
north of the Tower’s gates.
Thomas Cromwell for example, the former close friend and advisor to the King who helped
to annul the marriage between he and Anne Boleyn was kept here before he was then taken
to Tower Hill and beheaded.
But it’s most probable that the tower’s reputation came from the horrific executions
that took place inside the walls, especially those of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard,
2 of Henry VIII’s wives.
Anne Boleyn in particular is seen as a victim in modern times of the lies of Cromwell who
needed a way to get the King out of his marriage to Anne, so he could marry Jane Seymour.
She was beheaded by a swordsman on Tower Green, but also Catherine Howard who was spared no
such allowances being beheaded by Axe, was executed also on the area outside the Tower’s
chapel.
In fact, two of Henry’s queens to this day remain inside the chapel, having been buried
in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula after there executions.
They would later be joined by another Queen, Lady Jane Grey who during the reign of Mary
I was beheaded on the same site.
During the reign of King Henry VIII, torture was used to try and obtain a confession from
suspected criminals.
The Scavenger’s daughter was a device designed by Sir Leonard Skeffington, who was the Leftenant
of the Tower during Henry’s reign.
This was a device which compressed the body, and was used as a compliment to the rack,
the horrific device used to stretch the body.
During Henry’s reign, the rack was used a number of times, and it was said that the
mere sight of the structure would be enough to force prisoners to confess to crimes.
The Rack was used a number of times, but was barbarically used during Henry’s reign against
a woman, the only woman who it’s documented was tortured on the rack.
Anne Askew was accused of committing religious crimes, and in an attempt to get her to implicate
other strong radical protestants, including it’s rumoured Henry VIII’s sixth wife
Catherine Parr.
Anne Askew was so brutally racked that when she arrived at her execution to be burned
at the stake, her limbs were still dislocated and she could not walk and was carried to
the stake on a chair before she was burned.
The rack was used sparingly, and not as often as some people may consider during the Tudor
Period, but torture devices such as the manacles were used more often.
The manacles were iron handcuffs which were worn on the wrists, and then a prisoner was
suspended by the manacles off the floor, for a long period of time.
John Gerard, a Jesuit priest was forced to undergo a terrible ordeal in the Tower using
them, and often the punishment caused a huge degree of pain and suffering.
During the Tudor Period, prisoners to the tower would have arrived by boat being taken
down the River Thames, and would be taken through the water gate in St Thomas’ Tower
which is now known as Traitors Gate.
Elizabeth I was even forced to undergo this ordeal, as following her half-sisters accession
to the throne, Mary I ordered here imprisonement in the tower.
But Elizabeth’s ordeal was comfortable compared to others who were tortured at the Tower.
Elizabeth was incredibly frustrated inside the Tower, especially after some freedoms
were taken away from her, but eventually she was released.
The Tower of London especially saw many prisoners of a religious nature enter the prison, and
many religious prisoners were accused of heresy and were kept here in the wake of Henry VIII’s
split from Rome and also the following monarch’s religious reforms.
Religious prisoners were often treated very terribly, for example Ralph Ithell a Catholic
Priest was held inside of the Broad Arrow Tower, and he was racked during the reign
of Elizabeth I for trying to overthrow her.
Torture was seen as a necessary practice for the Tudor monarchs to obtain information,
especially from those who were suspected of treason and plotting to executed a king of
Queen.
During Henry VIII’s reign, it’s believed that some of the men accused of adultery with
Anne Boleyn were tortured for a confession, but in reality the Tower of London was an
infamous place of death and suffering, but torture and execution did not occur as much
as you would think there.
Torture was used when it was deemed necessary, but the rack was not used as often as it is
believed.
It’s most probable that the reputation of the Tower came from it being the place where
brutally a number of Tudor Queens were beheaded.
It was after all a site where some of the most famous people of the Tudor Period were
imprisoned.
Sir Walter Raleigh was held 3 times inside of the Bloody Tower, and Sir Thomas More the
scholar was held there before executed upon Tower Hill.
Other famous prisoners include Bishop John Fisher, poet Sir Thomas Wyatt, Lady Rochford
Jane Boleyn and many other members of the aristocracy.
Today the remains of a number of those executed in the Tower remain buried inside of the Tower,
along with those who were killed upon Tower Hill, with their beheaded corpses brought
back into the Tower for burial, and their heads placed on London Bridge
So during the Tudor Period, it’s believed that torture was a daily occurance at the
Tower of London, but this really wasn’t the case.
It was used sparingly, and only when information needed to be extracted.
The same goes for the executions at the tower, as those who were beheaded inside the Tower
were those of very noble birth, and this had to be passed off by the reigning monarch.
But it was during the Tudor Period, and because of the tortures of those such as Anne Askew
and John Gerard that the Tower of London today is still considered a site of much suffering.
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