Sights of the city of London include such interesting objects as St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace (the official residence of the Queen), Windsor Castle (the house of the royal family), the Templar Church and many others. But this article will be devoted to only one historical monument - the Tower. This is one of the largest medieval castles in Britain. Throughout its long history, he visited the royal palace, prison, mint, arsenal of weapons, warehouse, menagerie, until he finally became a museum. For the British, the Tower is always a symbol of royal power and the prison of its enemies. So many people were executed or secretly killed in the walls of this fortress that now ghosts often appear to visitors. We will mention the beheaded queens and strangled princes. But the focus of our attention will be the Bloody Tower.
Tower Construction
William the Conqueror began to build the fortress in 1066 in a sign of his Norman power in Britain. It was built according to all the rules of medieval fortification architecture. In the middle of the citadel stood a dungeon. Now this is the White Tower. Along the perimeter was a fortress wall. Numerous towers having a defensive, defensive function cut through it. Some of them served as tops of gates and bridges. Now the Tower of London is surrounded by two rings of defenses and a moat. For a long time he served as a royal residence. It was rebuilt and strengthened several times, since the monarch always felt threatened by his barons. With the invention of gunpowder artillery, the Tower was no longer considered a safe place and began to be used as a prison for dignitaries. It held objectionable pretenders to the throne, opponents of aristocratic descent and unfaithful queens. Therefore, the Tower soon had another name - the Bloody Tower in London.
The construction of the White Tower
The Donjon Tower began to be erected in the next decade after the defensive walls. The Rochester manuscript (12th century) mentions that the work was led by Bishop Gandalf. The White Tower was completed in the 1090s and was at that time the tallest secular building in London. The royal family lived in a spacious and luxurious dungeon . But as early as 1100, Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham, was imprisoned in the basement. The name - “The White Tower” - the donjon received under King Henry III (first half of the 13th century). This monarch expanded and strengthened the Tower. He also ordered to whiten the Great Tower with stucco, according to European fashion. King Henry arranged his home, enriching the interior with statues and paintings.
But already in the next century, the White Tower is increasingly being used as a prison. Under Edward III (1360) the king of France John II the Good was kept here, in 1399, the claimant to the English throne was Richard II. Women were also kept here - Anna Boleyn and Catherine Howard, the second and fifth wives of Henry VIII. So the former dungeon was called the Blood Tower in London.
Tower fortifications
The royal palace was defended by walls with defensive towers. They all had names: Martin, Lanthorn, Flint, Deverex, Buychamp, Salt, Garden. The latter initially served as the habitat of the commandant of the fortress and his family. It got its name because it overlooked the Lieutenant Garden. Later, the commandant built a house for himself inside the fortifications. And the Garden Tower began to serve as a prison for dignitaries. Judge Jeffrey, Wilhelm Laud, Thomas Cranmer and other officials lived here in prison. After the mysterious murder of two young princes of royal blood at the end of the fifteenth century, the former commandant’s house was also called the Bloody Tower. It was believed that a beautiful, cozy and spacious room on the ground floor of this building was the last habitat for boys. But was it really so?
The Blood Tower in London: a story
This defensive structure was built much later than the main dungeon, only in 1220. The Garden Tower is located on the banks of the Thames. When the Tower was surrounded by only one ring of walls, it served as the main entrance to the citadel. Later, the tower of St. Thomas was built with a new gate. Initially, the commandant's house had a vaulted passage to the walls. The gates were equipped with lowering grates on both sides. The Bloody Tower in London has been rebuilt several times. Now the gates are powered by a winch installed at the level of the second floor. The basement of the tower indicates that a wealthy family lived here. There is a fireplace, and the floor is beautifully tiled. Big windows contradict the opinion that prisoners were kept in this room.
The Bloody Tower in London: a legend
During a tour of the Tower, tourists will learn that this place in a series of fortifications is called Prison Prison. What were these children and what fate befell them? The twelve-year-old King Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, were last seen alive in the summer of 1483. In June, they disappeared without a trace. There are two versions regarding their death. One says that the princes were stolen and later killed in custody by Richard III. According to another, the customer of the crime was Heinrich Tudor (future Henry VII). When King Jacob visited the Tower in 1600, he was told the story of the murder of two princes. Allegedly, the older boy was stabbed with a dagger, and the younger was strangled with a pillow. According to legend, the site of the bloody crime was the Garden (Bloody) Tower in London.
The real place of the death of princes
At the end of the seventeenth century, the Tower once again began to rebuild. In 1674, it was decided to demolish the upper third floor of the White Tower, erected in the 1490s. On June 17, when the staircase was hacked, the workers found under it the skeletons of two children wrapped in velvet fabric. It was immediately decided that these were the remains of Edward the Fifth and his brother Richard. The princes were buried with honor at Westminster Abbey (city of London). Thus, there was no doubt that the children were abducted and kept for some time in the White Tower. After the murder, their corpses were hidden under a staircase leading to the upper floor. Therefore, it was the former donjon of the Tower that has every reason to bear the name "Bloody Tower in London." History shows that the commandant’s house also served as a prison. Her last prisoner was Sir Walter Raleigh, imprisoned in the Tower because of a palace plot against the monarch Jacob.
What to see in the museum?
Arriving in the city of London at least for a day, you should definitely visit the Tower. In the White Tower you will see a treasury and an armory. In the chapel of St. St. John (a typical example of Norman architecture), many prisoners prayed before climbing the scaffold. A memorial plaque was installed to the north of the donjon at the place of their execution . On the walls of the rooms you can still read the inscriptions left by the prisoners. The Tower operates as a museum from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. in the summer and until 4.30 p.m. in the winter.