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200-563: The area within the medieval walls, known as the City of London, featured timber-framed houses, often with upper storeys jutting out over the pavement. Two such surviving London houses from this period include the King's House inside the Tower of London , and Staple Inn . During this period, London grew outside the old City boundaries. In futile attempts to check urban sprawl , repeated ordnances forbade

400-551: A retained placenta . According to Alison Weir , she may have succumbed to puerperal fever following a bacterial infection contracted during the birth. Weir has also speculated, after medical consultation, that the cause of her death was a pulmonary embolism . Jane was buried on 12 November 1537 in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle after the funeral in which her stepdaughter Mary acted as chief mourner. A procession of 29 mourners followed Mary, one for every year of Jane's life. She

600-477: A tiltyard and tennis court, and a royal mews for horses, carriages and hunting falcons close to Charing Cross . It was where he died in 1547. In 1531, Henry seized the St. James monastic leper hospital to rebuild as St. James's Palace , and he had Nonsuch Palace built in 1538. In 1543, Henry gave Chelsea Manor House to his sixth wife Catherine Parr, where she would continue to reside after his death in 1547. In

800-585: A building material in Britain, since the 5th-century departure of the Romans. The Beauchamp Tower is one of 13 towers that stud the curtain wall. Clockwise from the south-west corner they are: Bell, Beauchamp, Devereux, Flint, Bowyer, Brick, Martin, Constable, Broad Arrow, Salt, Lanthorn, Wakefield, and the Bloody Tower. While these towers provided positions from which flanking fire could be deployed against

1000-475: A common ancestor, King Edward I of England . Jane's labour had been difficult, lasting two days and three nights, probably because the baby was not well positioned. After the christening, it became clear that she was seriously ill. She died on 24 October 1537 at Hampton Court Palace . Within a few weeks, there were conflicting accounts of the cause of her death. According to King Edward's biographer Jennifer Loach, her death may have been due to an infection from

1200-517: A few, including the Tower of London, had been renovated or replaced with stone. Work on the White Tower – which gives the whole castle its name – is usually considered to have begun in 1078, however the exact date is uncertain. William made Gundulf , Bishop of Rochester , responsible for its construction, although it may not have been completed until after William's death in 1087. The White Tower

1400-585: A fight. Between 1066 and 1087, William established 36 castles, although references in the Domesday Book indicate that many more were founded by his subordinates. The Normans undertook what has been described as "the most extensive and concentrated programme of castle-building in the whole history of feudal Europe". They were multi-purpose buildings, serving as fortifications (used as a base of operations in enemy territory), centres of administration, and residences. William sent an advance party to prepare

1600-638: A gatehouse was built into the curtain wall between Bell and Salt Towers. During the Tudor period, a range of buildings for the storage of munitions was built along the inside of the north inner ward. The castle buildings were remodelled during the Stuart period , mostly under the auspices of the Office of Ordnance. In 1663, just over £4,000 was spent building a new storehouse (now known as the New Armouries) in

1800-401: A grand hall in the west and residential chamber in the east – both originally open to the roof and surrounded by a gallery built into the wall – and St John's Chapel in the south-east. The top floor was added in the 15th century, along with the present roof. St John's Chapel was not part of the White Tower's original design, as the apsidal projection was built after

2000-618: A large estate in Hampstead where the mansion Belsize House was built some time before 1550. The Archbishop of Canterbury had the gatehouse to his Lambeth Palace completed in 1501, and the Bishop of London rebuilt his main manor house, Fulham Palace , from 1510. In 1514, the manor of Tottenham was bought by William Compton , who rebuilt Bruce Castle . Along the Strand was a series of mansions, including Somerset House , Hungerford House,

2200-675: A little, but was much better at needlework and household management , which were considered much more necessary for women. Her needlework was reportedly beautiful and elaborate; some of it survived as late as 1652, when it is recorded to have been given to the Seymour family . After her death, it was noted that Henry was an "enthusiastic embroiderer". Jane became a maid-of-honour in 1532 to Queen Catherine, but may have served her as early as 1527, and went on to serve Queen Anne with her sister Elizabeth . The first report of Henry's interest in Jane

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2400-408: A male heir. When he died in 1547, he was buried beside her, on his request, in the grave he had made for her. Jane gave the King the son he so desperately desired, helped to restore Mary to the succession and her father's affections, and used her influence to bring about the advancement of her family . Two of her brothers, Thomas and Edward , used her memory to improve their own fortunes. Thomas

2600-473: A medical degree from a university or had been granted a licence after taking an apprenticeship, however many were completely unlicensed. By the end of the period, there was a medical practitioner (a physician, surgeon or apothecary) for every 400 people in London. Outside the City, there were leper hospitals from at least 1500 at Hammersmith and Knightsbridge . The very first year of the period coincided with

2800-464: A miscarriage by Christmas 1536. In January 1537, Jane conceived again. During her pregnancy, she developed a craving for quail , which Henry ordered for her from Calais and Flanders . During the summer, she took no public engagements and led a relatively quiet life, attended by the royal physicians and the best midwives in the kingdom. She went into confinement in September 1537 and gave birth to

3000-459: A national fleet. The first commission at Woolwich was the Henry Grace à Dieu , then the largest ship in the world. In this period, London Bridge was very different to today, lined on both sides with houses and shops up to four storeys tall. At the south end was a drawbridge which allowed tall ships to pass the bridge and acted as a defensive mechanism for the city. In 1579, the tower holding

3200-563: A physician called Christopher Langton was carted down Cheapside for being caught "with two young wenches at once". In addition, mob justice took place throughout the period. For example, in 1561, a man was chased by an angry mob for stealing a child's necklace, and was beaten to death in Mark Lane . London had a debtors' prison called the Fleet , for the imprisonment of people who could not pay their creditors. It housed about fifty inmates, and

3400-399: A popular figure with the common people and most of the courtiers. She was never crowned because of plague in London, where the coronation was to take place. Henry may have been reluctant to have her crowned before she had fulfilled her duty as a queen consort by bearing him a male heir. As queen, Jane was said to be strict and formal. The lavish entertainments, gaiety, and extravagance of

3600-463: A possible Scottish rebellion in mind, the Tower of London was repaired. Most of the work in this period (1750 to 1770) was done by the King's Master Mason, John Deval . Gun platforms added under the Stuarts had decayed. The number of guns at the Tower was reduced from 118 to 45, and one contemporary commentator noted that the castle "would not hold out four and twenty hours against an army prepared for

3800-482: A potential enemy, they also contained accommodation. As its name suggests, Bell Tower housed a belfry, its purpose to raise the alarm in the event of an attack. The royal bow-maker, responsible for making longbows , crossbows , catapults , and other siege and hand weapons, had a workshop in the Bowyer Tower. A turret at the top of Lanthorn Tower was used as a beacon by traffic approaching the Tower at night. As

4000-728: A prison and witnessed the executions of 12 men for espionage. After the Second World War, damage caused during the Blitz was repaired, and the castle reopened to the public. Today, the Tower of London is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions. Under the ceremonial charge of the Constable of the Tower, operated by the Resident Governor of the Tower of London and Keeper of the Jewel House , and guarded by

4200-473: A purse. Hanging on the wall next to the purse was a bell which would ring if the students performed poorly. The end of the period saw the development of a type of boisterous, semi-criminal working-class woman called the " roaring girl ". Although the most famous roaring girls, such as Mary Frith , lived in the Stuart period, there are early Tudor examples such as Long Meg , a possibly-fictional woman depicted in

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4400-411: A result of Henry's expansion, St Peter ad Vincula , a Norman chapel which had previously stood outside the Tower, was incorporated into the castle. Henry decorated the chapel by adding glazed windows, and stalls for himself and his queen. It was rebuilt by Edward I at a cost of over £300 and again by Henry VIII in 1519; the current building dates from this period, although the chapel was refurbished in

4600-486: A result, several important buildings within the castle were pulled down and in some cases post-medieval internal decoration removed. Although only one bomb fell on the Tower of London in the First World War (it landed harmlessly in the moat), the Second World War left a greater mark. On 23 September 1940, during the Blitz , high-explosive bombs damaged the castle, destroying several buildings and narrowly missing

4800-462: A retinue of 17 other Muslim men with him, and had a portrait painted during his visit. In 1602, one judge declared that there were 30,000 "idle persons and masterless men" (i.e., vagrants) living in London. The Thames is the main river in London, and its main trade route to Europe and the wider world. It was both wider and shallower than it is today, and in 1564 it froze over so completely that Elizabeth I and her courtiers held an archery practice on

5000-567: A revolt against Mary in Elizabeth's name. The Office of Ordnance and Armoury Office were founded in the 15th century, taking over the Privy Wardrobe's duties of looking after the monarch's arsenal and valuables. As there was no standing army before 1661, the importance of the royal armoury at the Tower of London was that it provided a professional basis for procuring supplies and equipment in times of war. The two bodies were resident at

5200-584: A royal residence when its political and historic symbolism was considered useful, for instance each of Edward VI , Mary I , and Elizabeth I briefly stayed at the Tower before their coronations. In the 16th century, the Tower acquired an enduring reputation as a grim, forbidding prison. This had not always been the case. As a royal castle, it was used by the monarch to imprison people for various reasons, however these were usually high-status individuals for short periods rather than common citizenry as there were plenty of prisons elsewhere for such people. Contrary to

5400-416: A serious outbreak of a disease known as the " sweating sickness " which generally killed its victims within a single day. Two Lord Mayors died within four days. London would continue to suffer epidemics of the sweating sickness throughout the period. There were also repeated outbreaks of plague . During these epidemics, wealthy people would leave London for the season until it was safe to return, meaning that

5600-408: A siege". For the most part, the 18th-century work on the defences was spasmodic and piecemeal, although a new gateway in the southern curtain wall permitting access from the wharf to the outer ward was added in 1774. The moat surrounding the castle had become silted over the centuries since it was created despite attempts at clearing it. It was still an integral part of the castle's defences, so in 1830

5800-525: A significant victory at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, allowing him to regain control of the country and the Tower of London. Cardinal Ottobuon came to England to excommunicate those who were still rebellious; the act was deeply unpopular and the situation was exacerbated when the cardinal was granted custody of the Tower. Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford , marched on London in April 1267 and laid siege to

6000-624: A smaller chamber to the east, also connected to the entrance floor. The crypt of St John's Chapel occupied the south-east corner and was accessible only from the eastern chamber. There is a recess in the north wall of the crypt; according to Geoffrey Parnell, Keeper of the Tower History at the Royal Armouries, "the windowless form and restricted access, suggest that it was designed as a strong-room for safekeeping of royal treasures and important documents". The upper floor contained

6200-451: A smuggled rope secreted in a butt of wine. He was held in luxury and permitted servants, but on 2 February 1101 he hosted a banquet for his captors. After plying them with drink, when no one was looking he lowered himself from a secluded chamber, and out of the Tower. The escape came as such a surprise that one contemporary chronicler accused the bishop of witchcraft. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 1097 King William II ordered

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6400-413: A stronghold, latrines were built into the walls, and four fireplaces provided warmth. The main building material is Kentish ragstone , although some local mudstone was also used. Caen stone was imported from northern France to provide details in the Tower's facing, although little of the original material survives as it was replaced with Portland stone in the 17th and 18th centuries. Reigate stone

6600-692: A third of all land within the city walls was owned by the Church. London was also home to individuals with their own vows of monasticism, such as a hermit who lived on Highgate Hill , and another on St. John Street . In order to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon , in the 1530s Henry VIII passed a series of Acts which broke away the Church in England from the Catholic Church in Rome, making him

6800-521: A wall to be built around the Tower of London; it was probably built from stone and likely replaced the timber palisade that arced around the north and west sides of the castle, between the Roman wall (to the east) and the Thames (to the south). The Norman Conquest of London manifested itself not only with a new ruling class, but in the way the city was structured. Land was confiscated and redistributed amongst

7000-462: A xenophobic riot broke out among London apprentices. Young London men stormed the houses and workshops of French and Flemish craftspeople. The Duke of Norfolk led an armed militia into the city to disperse the rioters. 278 were arrested, with 15 later being executed. In 1533, the Buggery Act was passed, making sex acts such as sodomy and bestiality illegal for the first time in England. One of

7200-402: Is a keep (also known as a donjon), which was often the strongest structure in a medieval castle, and contained lodgings suitable for the lord – in this case, the king or his representative. According to military historian Allen Brown, "The great tower [White Tower] was also, by virtue of its strength, majesty and lordly accommodation, the donjon par excellence ". As one of the largest keeps in

7400-461: Is buried inside with his wife, Elizabeth of York . His grandchildren, Edward VI , Mary I and Elizabeth I, were also later buried inside. The gatehouse to St. John Clerkenwell priory was completed in 1504, and still stands today. The Prospect of Whitby pub, then known as the Devil's Tavern, was supposedly built in 1520 on Wapping Wall . In 1561, lightning struck Old St Paul's Cathedral . The roof

7600-498: Is generally estimated around 1508. Through her maternal grandfather, she was a descendant of King Edward III 's son Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence . Because of this, she and King Henry VIII were fifth cousins. She also shared a great-grandmother, Elizabeth Cheney, Lady Say , with his second and fifth wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard . Jane was not as highly educated as Henry's first and second wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. She could read and write

7800-399: Is made up of three " wards ", or enclosures. The innermost ward contains the White Tower and is the earliest phase of the castle. Encircling it to the north, east, and west is the inner ward, built during the reign of Richard I (1189–1199). Finally, there is the outer ward which encompasses the castle and was built under Edward I . Although there were several phases of expansion after William

8000-477: Is the earliest stone keep in England, and was the strongest point of the early castle. It also contained grand accommodation for the king. At the latest, it was probably finished by 1100 when Bishop Ranulf Flambard was imprisoned there. Flambard was loathed by the English for exacting harsh taxes. Although he is the first recorded prisoner held in the Tower, he was also the first person to escape from it, using

8200-633: Is unique in England, and the closest parallel is the now demolished water-gate at the Louvre in Paris. The dock was covered with arrowslits in case of an attack on the castle from the River; there was also a portcullis at the entrance to control who entered. There were luxurious lodgings on the first floor. Edward also moved the Royal Mint into the Tower; its exact location early on is unknown, although it

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8400-457: Is usual in Norman keeps, was above ground, in this case on the south face, and accessed via a wooden staircase which could be removed in the event of an attack. It was probably during Henry II 's reign (1154–1189) that a forebuilding was added to the south side of the tower to provide extra defences to the entrance, but it has not survived. Each floor was divided into three chambers, the largest in

8600-531: The Chartist movement between 1828 and 1858 led to a desire to refortify the Tower of London in the event of civil unrest. It was the last major programme of fortification at the castle. Most of the surviving installations for the use of artillery and firearms date from this period. During the First World War , eleven men were tried in private and shot by firing squad at the Tower for espionage. During

8800-546: The Christian world , the White Tower has been described as "the most complete eleventh-century palace in Europe". The White Tower, not including its projecting corner towers, measures 36 by 32 metres (118 by 105 ft) at the base, and is 27 m (90 ft) high at the southern battlements. The structure was originally three storeys high, comprising a basement floor, an entrance level, and an upper floor. The entrance, as

9000-469: The Empress Matilda , just a few days after Henry's death Stephen of Blois arrived from France to lay claim to the throne. The importance of the city and its Tower is marked by the speed at which he secured London. The castle, which had not been used as a royal residence for some time, was usually left in the charge of a Constable , a post held at this time by Geoffrey de Mandeville . As the Tower

9200-423: The Fleet , where disease was rife. High-status prisoners could live in conditions comparable to those they might expect outside; one such example was that while Walter Raleigh was held in the Tower his rooms were altered to accommodate his family, including his son who was born there in 1605. Executions were usually carried out on Tower Hill rather than in the Tower of London itself, and 112 people were executed on

9400-578: The Palace of Whitehall , Whitehall , London , in the Queen's closet by Bishop Stephen Gardiner on 30 May 1536. As a wedding gift he granted her 104 manors in four counties as well as a number of forests and hunting chases for her jointure, the income to support her during their marriage. She was publicly proclaimed queen on 4 June 1536. Her well-publicised sympathy for the late Queen Catherine and her daughter Mary showed her to be compassionate and made her

9600-482: The Privy Wardrobe was founded. The institution was based at the Tower and responsible for organising the state's arms. In 1321, Margaret de Clare, Baroness Badlesmere became the first woman imprisoned in the Tower of London after she refused Queen Isabella admittance to Leeds Castle and ordered her archers to target Isabella, killing six of the royal escort. Generally reserved for high-ranking inmates,

9800-522: The Royal Arsenal in Woolwich (where the recently closed Woolwich Dockyard was converted into a vast ordnance store). Political tensions between Charles I and Parliament in the second quarter of the 17th century led to an attempt by forces loyal to the King to secure the Tower and its valuable contents, including money and munitions. London's Trained Bands , a militia force, were moved into

10000-532: The Savoy Palace , Arundel Place, Cecil House , and Durham Place , where Lady Jane Grey married Guildford Dudley in 1553. Many of these were the houses of bishops or abbots at the beginning of the period, but transferred into the hands of secular aristocrats in the 1530s and 1540s. The chancellor Thomas More had a mansion built in Chelsea , in which he lived in the 1520s. Eastbury Manor House near Barking

10200-519: The Second World War , the Tower was once again used to hold prisoners of war. One such person was Rudolf Hess , Adolf Hitler 's deputy, albeit just for four days in 1941. He was the last state prisoner to be held at the castle. The last person to be executed at the Tower was German spy Josef Jakobs who was shot on 15 August 1941. The executions for espionage during the wars took place in a prefabricated miniature rifle range which stood in

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10400-576: The Supreme Head of the Church in England . In April 1534, every male Londoner was required to swear the Oath of Succession , in which they agreed to recognise the king's annulment. In the monastery of London Charterhouse , the Carthusian monks refused to acknowledge Henry as head of the church, and four of them including their prior, John Houghton , were hanged, drawn and quartered . The monastery

10600-508: The Tudors , the Tower became used less as a royal residence, and despite attempts to refortify and repair the castle, its defences lagged behind developments to deal with artillery. The zenith of the castle's use as a prison was the 16th and 17th centuries, when many figures who had fallen into disgrace, such as Elizabeth I before she became queen, Sir Walter Raleigh , and Elizabeth Throckmorton , were held within its walls. This use has led to

10800-595: The Virgin Mary and the Holy Trinity . The innermost ward encloses an area immediately south of the White Tower, stretching to what was once the edge of the River Thames. As was the case at other castles, such as the 11th-century Hen Domen , the innermost ward was probably filled with timber buildings from the Tower's foundation. Exactly when the royal lodgings began to encroach from the White Tower into

11000-538: The Wapping foreshore of the Thames at low tide, with the bodies left on the gallows until the tide washed over them three times. Beheadings are generally reserved for the nobility, and often take place on Tower Hill . Tudor London saw the only two instances of an execution method not used at any other time in England- boiling alive , a fate reserved for poisoners. Both executions took place at Smithfield. The pillory

11200-467: The Yeomen Warders , the property is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage Site . The Tower was oriented with its strongest and most impressive defences overlooking Saxon London, which archaeologist Alan Vince suggests was deliberate. It would have visually dominated the surrounding area and stood out to traffic on the River Thames. The castle

11400-494: The 15th century, there was little building work at the Tower of London, yet the castle still remained important as a place of refuge. When supporters of the late Richard II attempted a coup , Henry IV found safety in the Tower of London. During this period, the castle also held many distinguished prisoners. The heir to the Scottish throne, later King James I of Scotland , was kidnapped while journeying to France in 1406 and held in

11600-572: The 17th century, the monarch would traditionally prepare for several nights at the Tower, and lead a procession from there to Westminster Abbey for their coronation. In the absence of the monarch, the Constable of the Tower was in charge of the castle. This was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period. In the late 15th century, the Princes in the Tower were housed at the castle when they mysteriously disappeared, presumed murdered. Under

11800-589: The 19th century, despite the opposition of the Duke of Wellington to visitors. Numbers became so high that by 1851 a purpose-built ticket office was erected. By the end of the century, over 500,000 were visiting the castle every year. Over the 18th and 19th centuries, the palatial buildings were slowly adapted for other uses and demolished. Only the Wakefield and St Thomas's Towers survived. The 18th century marked an increasing interest in England's medieval past. One of

12000-431: The 19th century. Immediately west of Wakefield Tower, the Bloody Tower was built at the same time as the inner ward's curtain wall, and as a water-gate provided access to the castle from the River Thames. It was a simple structure, protected by a portcullis and gate. The Bloody Tower acquired its name in the 16th century, as it was believed to be the site of the murder of the Princes in the Tower . Between 1339 and 1341,

12200-473: The Bulwark was created for this purpose to the south of Tower Hill, although it no longer survives. Shortly after the death of Edward IV in 1483, the notorious murder of the Princes in the Tower is traditionally believed to have taken place. The incident is one of the most infamous events associated with the Tower of London. Edward V 's uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester was declared Lord Protector while

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12400-409: The City and Westminster in his Speculum Britanniae in 1593. In 1598, John Stow published his Survey of London , a thorough topographical and historical description of the City. The number of royal palaces in London expanded dramatically in this period, mostly due to building efforts under Henry VIII . Several palaces that existed prior to the period were also enlarged. The Palace of Westminster

12600-647: The City was based in the Guildhall, where it still stands. At the beginning of the period, London contained 46 monasteries, nunneries, priories, abbeys, and friaries. London's monastic communities included Greyfriars , Blackfriars , Austin Friars , the Charterhouse , St. Bartholomew-the-Great , Holy Trinity Priory , St. Mary Overy , Westminster Abbey, St. Helen's Bishopsgate , St. Saviour Bermondsey , Crossed Friars , White Friars , and St. Mary Graces . In

12800-522: The City. In 1565, Thomas Gresham founded a new mercantile exchange- a sort of early shopping centre- which was awarded the title the " Royal Exchange " by Queen Elizabeth in 1571. London's main market was on Cheapside . Booksellers and stationers sold their goods in St. Paul's Churchyard . The Stocks market was held next to St. Mary Woolchurch Haw and in 1543, it had 25 fishmongers and 18 butchers. There were also annual fairs held at various places in London, involving large markets and entertainments. One of

13000-584: The Conqueror founded the Tower of London, the general layout has remained the same since Edward I completed his rebuild in 1285. The castle encloses an area of almost 12 acres (4.9 hectares) with a further 6 acres (2.4 ha) around the Tower of London constituting the Tower Liberties – land under the direct influence of the castle and cleared for military reasons. The precursor of the Liberties

13200-454: The Constable of the Tower, the Duke of Wellington , ordered a large-scale clearance of several feet of silt. However this did not prevent an outbreak of disease in the garrison in 1841 caused by poor water supply, resulting in several deaths. To prevent the festering ditch posing further health problems, it was ordered that the moat should be drained and filled with earth. The work began in 1843 and

13400-406: The King. One of Mortimer's first acts on entering England in 1326 was to capture the Tower and release the prisoners held there. For four years he ruled while Edward III was too young to do so himself; in 1330, Edward and his supporters captured Mortimer and threw him into the Tower. Under Edward III's rule (1312–1377) England experienced renewed success in warfare after his father's reign had put

13600-613: The London citizenry, they blockaded the Tower. With permission from the King, Byron relinquished control of the Tower. Parliament replaced Byron with a man of their own choosing, Sir John Conyers . By the time the English Civil War broke out in November 1642, the Tower of London was already in Parliament's control. The last monarch to uphold the tradition of taking a procession from the Tower to Westminster to be crowned

13800-579: The Mint which had inhabited the castle for centuries moved to other sites; many of the post-medieval structures left vacant were demolished. In 1855, the War Office took over responsibility for manufacture and storage of weapons from the Ordnance Office, which was gradually phased out of the castle. At the same time, there was greater interest in the history of the Tower of London. Public interest

14000-550: The Normans, who also brought over hundreds of Jews, for financial reasons. The Jews arrived under the direct protection of the Crown, as a result of which Jewish communities were often found close to castles. The Jews used the Tower as a retreat, when threatened by anti-Jewish violence. The death in 1135 of Henry I left England with a disputed succession; although the king had persuaded his most powerful barons to swear support for

14200-502: The Protestant Elizabeth I, who in 1593 banned Irish migrants unless they were homeowners, domestic servants, lawyers, or university students. Although Jews had been banned from England in the 13th century, there was a small community of 80-90 Portuguese Jews living in London during the reign of Elizabeth I. The period sees London's first portrait of a named black person, the royal trumpeter John Blanke , who performed at

14400-479: The Protestant reforms were reversed, but monastery lands were not returned to the Church. While some Londoners were quick to restore saints' images and rood screens to their churches, others vehemently opposed the restoration of Catholic traditions. The parson of St. Ethelburga's , John Day, twice was put in the pillory and his ears nailed to it for speaking ill of the new queen, and in 1554 a dead cat dressed in

14600-482: The Tower as strong as possible. The new fortifications were first tested in October 1191, when the Tower was besieged for the first time in its history. Longchamp capitulated to John after just three days, deciding he had more to gain from surrender than prolonging the siege. John succeeded Richard as king in 1199, but his rule proved unpopular with many of his barons , who in response moved against him. In 1214, while

14800-501: The Tower became used more as "an armouries and house of munition, and thereunto a place for the safekeeping of offenders than a palace roiall for a king or queen to sojourne in". Henry VII visited the Tower on fourteen occasions between 1485 and 1500, usually staying for less than a week at a time. The Yeoman Warders have been the Royal Bodyguard since at least 1509. In 1517 the Tower fired its cannon at City crowds engaged in

15000-614: The Tower from at least 1454, and by the 16th century they had moved to a position in the inner ward. The Board of Ordnance (successor to these Offices) had its headquarters in the White Tower and used surrounding buildings for storage. In 1855 the Board was abolished; its successor (the Military Store Department of the War Office ) was also based there until 1869, after which its headquarters staff were relocated to

15200-487: The Tower of London was a formidable fortification; at the same time Henry was an aesthete and wished to make the castle a comfortable place to live. From 1216 to 1227 nearly £10,000 was spent on the Tower of London; in this period, only the work at Windsor Castle cost more (£15,000). Most of the work was focused on the palatial buildings of the innermost ward. The tradition of whitewashing the White Tower (from which it derives its name) began in 1240. Beginning around 1238,

15400-425: The Tower of London, Edward filled in the moat dug by Henry III and built a new curtain wall along its line, creating a new enclosure. A new moat was created in front of the new curtain wall. The western part of Henry III's curtain wall was rebuilt, with Beauchamp Tower replacing the castle's old gatehouse. A new entrance was created, with elaborate defences including two gatehouses and a barbican . In an effort to make

15600-512: The Tower of London, where he was probably murdered. In 1471, during the Siege of London , the Tower's Yorkist garrison exchanged fire with Lancastrians holding Southwark , and sallied from the fortress to take part in a pincer movement to attack Lancastrians who were assaulting Aldgate on London's defensive wall . During the wars, the Tower was fortified to withstand gunfire, and provided with loopholes for cannons and handguns: an enclosure called

15800-455: The Tower of London. Most of these small wharfs were dedicated to one particular kind of trade- for example, Beare Quay for the ships coming from Portugal, Gibson's Quay for lead and tin, and Somers Quay for merchants from Flanders. In 1559, a decree outlined the legal quays along the riverside, and mandated that all imports should be declared at Custom House . Around 1513, royal dockyards are established at Woolwich and Deptford to construct

16000-547: The Tower was Guy Fawkes , who was brought there on 6 November 1605; after torture he signed a full confession to the Gunpowder Plot . Among those held and executed at the Tower was Anne Boleyn . Although the Yeoman Warders were once the Royal Bodyguard, by the 16th and 17th centuries their main duty had become to look after the prisoners. The Tower was often a safer place than other prisons in London such as

16200-568: The Tower was the most important royal prison in the country. However it was not necessarily very secure, and throughout its history people bribed the guards to help them escape. In 1323, Roger Mortimer, Baron Mortimer , was aided in his escape from the Tower by the Sub-Lieutenant of the Tower who let Mortimer's men inside. They hacked a hole in his cell wall and Mortimer escaped to a waiting boat. He fled to France where he encountered Edward's Queen. They began an affair and plotted to overthrow

16400-457: The Tower's defences in the style of the trace italienne , however they were never acted on. Although the facilities for the garrison were improved with the addition of the first purpose-built quarters for soldiers (the "Irish Barracks") in 1670, the general accommodations were still in poor condition. When the Hanoverian dynasty ascended the throne, their situation was uncertain and with

16600-475: The Tower's garrison joined forces with the barons. John was deposed in 1216 and the barons offered the English throne to Prince Louis , the eldest son of the French king. However, after John's death in October 1216, many began to support the claim of his eldest son, Henry III. War continued between the factions supporting Louis and Henry, with Fitzwalter supporting Louis. Fitzwalter was still in control of London and

16800-400: The Tower, both of which held out until it was clear that Henry III's supporters would prevail. In the 13th century, Kings Henry III (1216–1272) and Edward I (1272–1307) extended the castle, essentially creating it as it stands today. Henry was disconnected from his barons, and a mutual lack of understanding led to unrest and resentment towards his rule. As a result, he was eager to ensure

17000-497: The Tower, costing £21,000 between 1275 and 1285, over double that spent on the castle during the whole of Henry III's reign. Edward I was a seasoned castle builder, and used his experience of siege warfare during the crusades to bring innovations to castle building. His programme of castle building in Wales heralded the introduction of the widespread use of arrowslits in castle walls across Europe, drawing on Eastern influences. At

17200-608: The Tower. The reign of Henry V (1413–1422) renewed England's fortune in the Hundred Years' War against France. As a result of Henry's victories, such as the Battle of Agincourt , many high-status prisoners were held in the Tower of London until they were ransomed. Much of the latter half of the 15th century was occupied by the Wars of the Roses between the claimants to the throne, the houses of Lancaster and York . The castle

17400-419: The Tudor period, there is no evidence to support this; archaeological investigations suggest that Legge's Mount dates from the reign of Edward I. Blocked battlements (also known as crenellations) in the south side of Legge's Mount are the only surviving medieval battlements at the Tower of London (the rest are Victorian replacements). A new 50-metre (160 ft) moat was dug beyond the castle's new limits; it

17600-402: The Wakefield and Lanthorn Towers, the innermost ward's wall also serves as a curtain wall for the inner ward. The main entrance to the inner ward would have been through a gatehouse , most likely in the west wall on the site of what is now Beauchamp Tower. The inner ward's western curtain wall was rebuilt by Edward I. The 13th-century Beauchamp Tower marks the first large-scale use of brick as

17800-561: The White Tower. After the war, the damage was repaired and the Tower of London was reopened to the public. A 1974 bombing in the White Tower Mortar Room left one person dead and 41 injured. No one claimed responsibility for the blast, but the police investigated suspicions that the IRA was behind it. Jane Seymour Jane Seymour ( / ˈ s iː m ɔːr / ; c.  1508  – 24 October 1537)

18000-531: The abolition of chantry chapels and the removal of saints' images and stained glass . After 1550, the building of new churches in London stopped for over 70 years, with St. Giles-without-Cripplegate being finished in 1550, and the next new construction being after the end of the period in 1623 with the Queen's Chapel near St. James' Palace. When the Catholic Mary I came to the throne in 1554, many of

18200-466: The animals as part of the Royal Menagerie since at least the 1330s. The Lion Tower itself no longer survives. Edward extended the south side of the Tower of London onto land that had previously been submerged by the River Thames. In this wall, he built St Thomas's Tower between 1275 and 1279; later known as Traitors' Gate , it replaced the Bloody Tower as the castle's water-gate. The building

18400-484: The basement walls. Due to changes in function and design since the tower's construction, except for the chapel little is left of the original interior. The chapel's current bare and unadorned appearance is reminiscent of how it would have been in the Norman period. In the 13th century, during Henry III's reign, the chapel was decorated with such ornamentation as a gold-painted cross, and stained glass windows that depicted

18600-572: The beginning of the period, London had five principal hospitals, totalling somewhere between 350 and 400 beds. They were St. Bartholomew's in Smithfield; St. Thomas' in Southwark; St. Mary-without-Bishopsgate, which specialised in maternity care; St. Elsyng Spital, which specialised in the homeless blind; and St. Mary Bethlehem , commonly known as Bedlam, which specialised in mental illness. Many of these hospitals also functioned as shelters for

18800-405: The bounds of the old Roman settlement, marked by the city wall which had been incorporated into the castle's defences. The Tower had long been a symbol of oppression, despised by Londoners, and Henry's building programme was unpopular. So when the gatehouse collapsed in 1240, the locals celebrated the setback. The expansion caused disruption locally and £166 was paid to St Katherine's Hospital and

19000-420: The building of new houses on less than 4 acres (16,000 m) of ground in 1580, 1583, and 1593, applying to land as far as Chiswick or Tottenham . These laws had the unintended consequence that landlords within the medieval walls began subdividing their buildings as much as possible, and landowners outside the walls were encouraged not to build well, but to build quickly and surreptitiously. In 1605, just after

19200-482: The castle in 1640. Plans for defence were drawn up and gun platforms were built, readying the Tower for war. The preparations were never put to the test. In 1642, Charles I attempted to arrest five members of parliament. When this failed he fled the city, and Parliament retaliated by removing Sir John Byron , the Lieutenant of the Tower. The Trained Bands had switched sides, and now supported Parliament; together with

19400-529: The castle self-sufficient, Edward I also added two watermills . Six hundred Jews were imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1278, charged with coin clipping . Persecution of the country's Jewish population under Edward began in 1276 and culminated in 1290 when he issued the Edict of Expulsion , forcing the Jews out of the country. In 1279, the country's numerous mints were unified under a single system whereby control

19600-406: The castle was expanded to the east, north, and north-west. The work lasted through the reign of Henry III and into that of Edward I, interrupted occasionally by civil unrest. New creations included a new defensive perimeter, studded with towers, while on the west, north, and east sides, where the wall was not defended by the river, a defensive ditch was dug. The eastern extension took the castle beyond

19800-435: The castle, declaring that custody of the Tower was "not a post to be trusted in the hands of a foreigner, much less of an ecclesiastic". Despite a large army and siege engines, Gilbert de Clare was unable to take the castle. The Earl retreated, allowing the King control of the capital, and the Tower experienced peace for the rest of Henry's reign. Although he was rarely in London, Edward I undertook an expensive remodelling of

20000-432: The chapel at St. Anthony's Hospital was converted into a French church, and the chapel at Austin Friars into a Dutch church, given special licence to operate outside of the conventions of the Church in England . This period also saw the first-known large-scale migration to London from Ireland. Irish migrants often settled in Wapping and St. Giles-in-the-Fields . Since they were mostly Catholic, they were not welcomed by

20200-483: The city for his entrance, to celebrate his victory and found a castle; in the words of William's biographer, William of Poitiers , "certain fortifications were completed in the city against the restlessness of the huge and brutal populace. For he [William] realised that it was of the first importance to overawe the Londoners". At the time, London was the largest town in England; the foundation of Westminster Abbey and

20400-441: The courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Aside from Blanke, a few black people appear in written records, such as the "blakemor" who arrived with Philip II of Spain when he came to London to marry Mary I, and an African needlemaker who worked on Cheapside . In 1600, an ambassador arrived in London from modern-day Morocco called Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud , seeking an alliance between the King of Barbary and Elizabeth I. He brought

20600-461: The coveted male heir, the future King Edward VI , at two o'clock in the morning on 12 October 1537 at Hampton Court Palace . Edward was christened on 15 October 1537, without his mother in attendance, as was the custom. He was the only legitimate son of Henry VIII to survive infancy. Both of his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, were present and carried Edward's train during the ceremony. King Henry VIII and all six of his wives were related through

20800-572: The crime. On certain days of the weeks and at religious festivals, Londoners were forbidden from eating meat, with only fish allowed. In 1561, a butcher in Eastcheap was fined £20 for killing three cows during Lent , and in 1563, two women were put in the stocks at St. Katherine's by the Tower for refusing to abide by the rule. In 1585, a thieves' school was found in Billingsgate , where trainee pickpockets would attempt to take coins from

21000-561: The deck of his ship in Deptford. A special dock was built in Deptford to house the ship, where it was available to be viewed by tourists. During the latter half of the 16th century, there was an increase in poverty as the cost of living increased while wages were fixed by the government, this caused crowds of poor people seeking work in the city including beggars. Prior to the Reformation, hospitals were run by monastic institutions. At

21200-479: The disease disproportionately affected the poor. 1518 saw England's first nationwide quarantine orders, following similar ordinances in Venice and Paris. In London, houses with infected people were quarantined for 40 days, and those infected were ordered to carry a white stick when outside, so that others could avoid them. London lagged behind other European cities in health measures, leading Soranzo to write that there

21400-672: The drawbridge mechanism was replaced with Nonsuch House , a pre-fabricated mansion built in the Netherlands. South of Nonsuch House was the Great Stone Gate, where the heads of traitors such as Thomas More were displayed. The monarch had much more direct power to pass bills and change laws than today. Most Tudor monarchs summoned Parliament once a year, often to the Palace of Westminster, although Elizabeth I only summoned them ten times over her 45-year reign. The City of London

21600-572: The early 14th century and lasted until 1660. During the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 the Tower of London was besieged with the King inside. When Richard rode out to meet with Wat Tyler , the rebel leader, a crowd broke into the castle without meeting resistance and looted the Jewel House . The Archbishop of Canterbury , Simon Sudbury , took refuge in St John's Chapel, hoping the mob would respect

21800-589: The effects was the emergence of Gothic Revival architecture . In the Tower's architecture, this was manifest when the New Horse Armoury was built in 1825 against the south face of the White Tower. It featured elements of Gothic Revival architecture such as battlements. Other buildings were remodelled to match the style and the Waterloo Barracks were described as "castellated Gothic of the 15th century". Between 1845 and 1885 institutions such as

22000-431: The end of the period, Whitechapel had transformed from a rural area to a hive of industry, with tanneries, slaughterhouses, breweries and foundries. The first maps of London were made in this period. One is by George Hoefnagel and Frans Hogenberg . It was published in 1572, but shows the city as it was around 1550. The Agas map , attributed to the surveyor Ralph Agas , was made around 1561. John Norden made maps of

22200-794: The end of the period, it has been estimated that 75,000 people lived in the City of London while 115,000 in the surrounding " liberties ", such as St. Martin's-le-Grand , Blackfriars , Whitefriars , etc. The East End of London developed during this period, due to enclosures driving farmers off their land and into cities, and the lack of oversight from London's guilds , allowing businesses to continue without regulation. The topographer and city historian John Stow recalled that Petticoat Lane in his youth had run among fields, flanked with hedgerows, but had become "a continual building of garden houses and small cottages" and Wapping "a continual street or filthy straight passage with alleys of small tenements". By

22400-404: The fate her predecessor met with when she "meddled in his affairs". Her motto as a queen was Bound to obey and serve . Jane formed a close relationship with her stepdaughter Mary, making efforts to have Mary restored to court and to the royal succession, behind any children she might have with Henry. She brought up the issue of Mary's restoration both before and after she became queen. While she

22600-456: The first to be convicted under this law was Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford of Heytesbury , who was beheaded at Tower Hill in 1540. At first, the Act was mostly used to convict monks; in 1546, the churchman John Bale called the clergy "none other than sodomites and whoremongers all the pack". Later in the period, theatres and schools were thought to be particular hot-beds of buggery: in 1541,

22800-561: The future King Edward VI . She was the only wife of Henry to receive a queen's funeral; and he was later buried alongside her remains in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle . Jane, the daughter of Sir John Seymour and Margery Wentworth , was most likely born at Wulfhall , Wiltshire , although West Bower Manor in Somerset has also been suggested. Her birth date is not recorded; various accounts use anywhere from 1504 to 1509, but it

23000-522: The headmaster of Eton College , Nicholas Udall , was questioned in London and confessed to committing buggery with one of his students, Thomas Cheyne. He was imprisoned in Marshalsea before being later appointed headmaster of Westminster School . In 1536, the Member of Parliament Robert Pakington became one of the first recorded Londoners to be murdered with a handgun. No-one was ever convicted of

23200-448: The hill over 400 years. Before the 20th century, there had been seven executions within the castle on Tower Green ; as was the case with Lady Jane Grey , this was reserved for prisoners for whom public execution was considered dangerous. After Lady Jane Grey's execution on 12 February 1554, Queen Mary I imprisoned her sister Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth I, in the Tower under suspicion of causing rebellion as Sir Thomas Wyatt had led

23400-631: The homeless or the infirm. In 1505, Henry VII founded St. John the Baptist's Hospital on the site of the Savoy Palace. These were all dissolved in the Reformation, and mostly given over to the City to re-establish them as secular hospitals, except for St. Mary-without-Bishopsgate and St. Elsying Spital, which were permanently closed. The estate of the Savoy Hospital was given to St. Thomas'. Individual physicians and surgeons may have received

23600-429: The ice. In this period, there was only one bridge- London Bridge - which was frequently congested, so using wherries (small ferry-boats) to cross the river and go upstream or downstream was an important means of transportation within London, with an estimated 2,000 on the river. Due to its importance for trade, the Thames was lined with small wharfs within London, particularly on the north bank between London Bridge and

23800-537: The inner ward. Construction of the Grand Storehouse north of the White Tower began in 1688, on the same site as the dilapidated Tudor range of storehouses; it was destroyed by fire in 1841. The Waterloo Block, a former barracks in the castellated Gothic Revival style with Domestic Tudor details, was built on the site and remains to this day, housing the Crown Jewels on the ground floor. A third ward

24000-407: The innermost ward is uncertain, although it had happened by the 1170s. The lodgings were renovated and elaborated during the 1220s and 1230s, becoming comparable with other palatial residences such as Windsor Castle . Construction of Wakefield and Lanthorn Towers – located at the corners of the innermost ward's wall along the river – began around 1220. They probably served as private residences for

24200-460: The king was at Windsor Castle, Robert Fitzwalter led an army into London and laid siege to the Tower. Although under-garrisoned, the Tower resisted and the siege was lifted once John signed Magna Carta . The king reneged on his promises of reform, leading to the outbreak of the First Barons' War . Even after Magna Carta was signed, Fitzwalter maintained his control of London. During the war,

24400-789: The land he already owned. By 1551, the Venetian ambassador, Giacomo Soranzo, wrote of London that it was "disfigured by the ruins of a multitude of churches and monasteries". In 1535, an officially sanctioned English Bible was published. In 1539, six copies of the Great Bible were placed in St. Paul's Cathedral where anyone could read them or read them aloud to others. Churches were also physically reformed, with jewels, rood lofts and statues of saints being removed. Sometimes these were taken down by officials, but in other churches, such as St. Margaret Pattens , reformist mobs destroyed these objects. Under Edward VI, Protestant reforms were made such as

24600-509: The latter half of the 19th century, institutions such as the Royal Mint moved out of the castle to other locations, leaving many buildings empty. Anthony Salvin and John Taylor took the opportunity to restore the Tower to what was felt to be its medieval appearance, clearing out many of the vacant post-medieval structures. In the First and Second World Wars , the Tower was again used as

24800-420: The law and maintaining order. The creation in 1191 of the position of Lord Mayor of London removed many of the Constable's civic powers, and at times led to friction between the two. The castle probably retained its form as established by 1100 until the reign of Richard I (1189–1199). The castle was extended under William Longchamp , King Richard's Lord Chancellor and the man in charge of England while he

25000-474: The measures of the goods on sale at the fair. London merchants also obtained goods through privateering . From 1562, vessels were increasingly given a " letter of marque " that permitted them to raid foreign vessels. In 1598, half of all English privateer vessels were from London. One famous privateer who rose to prominence in this period was Francis Drake , who circumnavigated the globe in his ship Golden Hind , returning to London in 1581 and being knighted on

25200-486: The most popular tourist attractions in the country. It has been a tourist attraction since at least the Elizabethan period, when it was one of the sights of London that foreign visitors wrote about. Its most popular attractions were the Royal Menagerie and displays of armour. The Crown Jewels also garner much interest, and have been on public display since 1669. The Tower steadily gained popularity with tourists through

25400-587: The most well-known was Bartholomew Fair , held in Smithfield on land belonging to the priory of St. Bartholomew-the-Great . After the priory was dissolved, the land was acquired by Richard Rich , who continued the annual fair. It was visited by the German tutor Paul Hentzner in 1598, who described the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors gathering at the Hand and Shears pub in preparation for checking

25600-421: The north-west of the White Tower. The Tower's reputation for torture and imprisonment derives largely from 16th-century religious propagandists and 19th-century romanticists. Although much of the Tower's reputation is exaggerated, the 16th and 17th centuries marked the castle's zenith as a prison, with many religious and political undesirables locked away. The Privy Council had to sanction the use of torture, so it

25800-557: The north. Opposition to Richard escalated until he was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 by the Lancastrian Henry Tudor , who ascended to the throne as Henry VII. As king, Henry VII built a tower for a library next to the King's Tower. The beginning of the Tudor period marked the start of the decline of the Tower of London's use as a royal residence. As 16th-century chronicler Raphael Holinshed said

26000-464: The old Palace of Westminster under Edward the Confessor had marked it as a centre of governance, and with a prosperous port it was important for the Normans to establish control over the settlement. The other two castles in London – Baynard's Castle and Montfichet's Castle – were established at the same time. The fortification that would later become known as the Tower of London was built onto

26200-495: The open space known as Tower Hill . It was founded toward the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest . The White Tower , which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was initially a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new Norman ruling class . The castle was also used as a prison from 1100 ( Ranulf Flambard ) until 1952 ( Kray twins ), although that

26400-403: The outer ward and was demolished in 1969. The Second World War also saw the last use of the Tower as a fortification. In the event of a German invasion , the Tower, together with the Royal Mint and nearby warehouses, was to have formed one of three "keeps" or complexes of defended buildings which formed the last-ditch defences of the capital. The Tower of London has become established as one of

26600-468: The pamphlet The Life and Pranks of Long Meg of Westminster . Long Meg ran a tavern in Islington , dressed as a man, and fought with any man who dared challenge her. Public corporal and capital punishment were both used widely in London. Hangings commonly took place at Tyburn , but gallows could be erected at any convenient location close to a murder scene. People convicted of piracy were often hanged on

26800-413: The phrase " sent to the Tower ". Despite its enduring reputation as a place of torture and death, popularised by 16th-century religious propagandists and 19th-century writers, only seven people were executed within the Tower before the world wars of the 20th century. Executions were more commonly held on the notorious Tower Hill to the north of the castle, with 112 occurring there over a 400-year period. In

27000-411: The popular image of the Tower, prisoners were able to make their life easier by purchasing amenities such as better food or tapestries through the Lieutenant of the Tower. As holding prisoners was originally an incidental role of the Tower – as would have been the case for any castle – there was no purpose-built accommodation for prisoners until 1687 when a brick shed, a "Prison for Soldiers", was built to

27200-407: The pre-existing timber vaults were replaced with brick counterparts. The basement is lit through small slits. The entrance floor was probably intended for the use of the Constable of the Tower , Lieutenant of the Tower of London and other important officials. The south entrance was blocked during the 17th century, and not reopened until 1973. Those heading to the upper floor had to pass through

27400-459: The prince was too young to rule. Traditional accounts have held that the 12-year-old Edward was confined to the Tower of London along with his younger brother Richard . The Duke of Gloucester was proclaimed King Richard III in June. The princes were last seen in public in June 1483; it has traditionally been thought that the most likely reason for their disappearance is that they were murdered late in

27600-407: The prior of Holy Trinity in compensation. Henry III often held court at the Tower of London, and held parliament there on at least two occasions (1236 and 1261) when he felt that the barons were becoming dangerously unruly. In 1258, the discontented barons, led by Simon de Montfort , forced the King to agree to reforms including the holding of regular parliaments. Relinquishing the Tower of London

27800-442: The prophetess Elizabeth Barton . She predicted that Henry would die within six months of his marriage to Anne, and although her prophecy did not come true, she was executed at Tyburn in 1534 and her head put on a spike at London Bridge. In 1536, Anne herself was imprisoned in the Tower on suspicion of being unfaithful in her marriage. She was beheaded in the grounds of the Tower of London in 1536. Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard,

28000-401: The public so they could see the inscriptions of 16th- and 17th-century prisoners. Working on the suggestion, Anthony Salvin refurbished the tower and led a further programme for a comprehensive restoration at the behest of Prince Albert . Salvin was succeeded in the work by John Taylor . When a feature did not meet his expectations of medieval architecture Taylor would ruthlessly remove it; as

28200-415: The queen and king respectively. The earliest evidence for how the royal chambers were decorated comes from Henry III's reign: the queen's chamber was whitewashed, and painted with flowers and imitation stonework. A great hall existed in the south of the ward, between the two towers. It was similar to, although slightly smaller than, that also built by Henry III at Winchester Castle . Near Wakefield Tower

28400-470: The queen's household, which had reached their peak during Anne Boleyn's time, were replaced by strict decorum. She banned the French fashions Anne had introduced. Politically, Jane appears to have been conservative. Her only reported involvement in national affairs, in 1536, was when she asked for pardons for participants in the Pilgrimage of Grace . Henry is said to have rejected this, reminding her of

28600-524: The realm on the backfoot against the Scots and French. Amongst Edward's successes were the battles of Crécy and Poitiers where King John II of France was taken prisoner, and the capture of the King David II of Scotland at Neville's Cross . During this period, the Tower of London held many noble prisoners of war. Edward II had allowed the Tower of London to fall into a state of disrepair, and by

28800-432: The reign of Edward III the castle was an uncomfortable place. The nobility held captive within its walls were unable to engage in activities such as hunting which were permissible at other royal castles used as prisons, for instance Windsor. Edward III ordered that the castle should be renovated. When Richard II was crowned in 1377, he led a procession from the Tower to Westminster Abbey . This tradition began in at least

29000-646: The robes of a Catholic priest was found hanging on the gallows in Cheapside. During the Tudor period, London was rapidly rising in importance amongst Europe's commercial centers, and its many small industries were booming, especially weaving. Trade expanded beyond Western Europe to Russia, the Levant , and the Americas. This was the period of mercantilism . In 1486, the Fellowship of Merchant Adventurers of London

29200-406: The same ploy again, this time holding secret talks with Matilda, Stephen had him arrested, forced him to cede control of his castles, and replaced him with one of his most loyal supporters. Until then the position had been hereditary, originally held by Geoffrey de Mandeville , but the position's authority was such that from then on it remained in the hands of an appointee of the monarch. The position

29400-633: The same year, he had the Great Standing built in his hunting grounds at Epping Forest . From 1515, Henry VIII had Bridewell Palace built outside the City walls; in 1553, Edward VI gave it to the City of London to be converted into a workhouse , the first such institution in Europe. Its officers were given the authority to roam alehouses, cock-fighting pits, gambling dens and skittle-alleys, seizing homeless, unemployed or disorderly people and detaining them in Bridewell. Westminster Abbey owned

29600-412: The same year, two men recently released from Bedlam Hospital and Marshalsea Prison claimed to be the risen Christ and Saint Peter , and were both whipped through the streets. Another punishment designed for public humiliation was the tumbrel , a cart carrying the offender that was wheeled through the streets. In 1560, two men and three women were put on the tumbrel in London for fornication, and in 1563,

29800-400: The sanctuary. However, he was taken away and beheaded on Tower Hill. Six years later there was again civil unrest, and Richard spent Christmas in the security of the Tower rather than Windsor as was more usual. When Henry Bolingbroke returned from exile in 1399, Richard was imprisoned in the White Tower. He abdicated and was replaced on the throne by Bolingbroke, who became King Henry IV. In

30000-486: The site of Holy Trinity Aldgate, and Lord Dudley acquired St. Giles' Hospital. Covent Garden , which was farmland belonging to Westminster Abbey, was granted to the Earl of Bedford . Some monastic sites Henry seized for himself, such as the hospital that became St. James's Palace, and land belonging to Westminster Abbey which he turned into Hyde Park . It is estimated that the monastic lands Henry seized were worth three times

30200-535: The site. The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history . It was besieged several times, and controlling it has been important to controlling the country. The Tower has served variously as an armoury , a treasury , a menagerie , the home of the Royal Mint , a public record office , and the home of the Crown Jewels of England . From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II in

30400-524: The south-east corner of the Roman town walls, using them as prefabricated defences, with the River Thames providing additional protection from the south. This earliest phase of the castle would have been enclosed by a ditch and defended by a timber palisade , and probably had accommodation suitable for William. Most of the early Norman castles were built from timber, but by the end of the 11th century

30600-457: The summer of 1483. Bones thought to belong to them were discovered in 1674 when the 12th-century forebuilding at the entrance to the White Tower was demolished; however, the reputed level at which the bones were found (10 ft or 3 m) would put the bones at a depth similar to that of the Roman graveyard found, in 2011, 12 ft (4 m) underneath the Minories a few hundred yards to

30800-430: The surrounding area was Merton Priory , Barking Abbey , Bermondsey Abbey , Syon Abbey , St. John Clerkenwell, Lesnes Abbey , Kilburn Priory , Holywell Priory , St. Giles' Hospital , and St. Mary's Nunnery . A Franciscan monastery was attached to Greenwich Palace in 1480. Many wealthy Londoners left bequests to these institutions in their wills, and so they came to own large amounts of land in London. By 1530, about

31000-431: The total amount yielded from the next 29 cities in England. Most Londoners married in their early or mid-twenties. Families who lived around Cheapside had four children on average, but in the poorer area of Clerkenwell, the average was only two and a half. It is estimated that half of all children did not reach the age of 15. The average height for male Londoners was 5'7½" (172 cm) and the average height for female Londoners

31200-835: The total was 40,040, of which 32,257 died of the plague. Immigrants arrived in London not just from all over England and Wales, but from abroad as well. In 1563, the total of foreigners in London was estimated at 4,543, by 1568 it was 9,302 and by 1583 there was 5,141. Nearly 25% of foreigners lived in villages outside London, inside the city French hatters stayed in Southwark , silk-weavers in Shoreditch and Spitalfields ; whereas Dutch printers based themselves in Clerkenwell . Protestants came to London fleeing persecution in Catholic countries such as Spain, France, and Holland. In 1550,

31400-539: The true heir to the throne, Richard, Duke of York , was captured and paraded through the streets of London before being imprisoned in the Tower and executed in 1499 on Tower Hill . In the same year, a group of rebels from Cornwall marched on London in protest of high taxes. They were defeated at Blackheath in the Battle of Deptford Bridge, and their leader, Lord Audley , was beheaded on Tower Hill. Several Londoners opposed Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn, including

31600-504: The way, but took a circuitous route toward London; only when he reached Canterbury did he turn towards England's largest city. As the fortified bridge into London was held by Saxon troops, he decided instead to ravage Southwark before continuing his journey around southern England. A series of Norman victories along the route cut the city's supply lines and in December 1066, isolated and intimidated, its leaders yielded London without

31800-425: The west, a smaller room in the north-east, and the chapel taking up the entrance and upper floors of the south-east. At the western corners of the building are square towers, while to the north-east a round tower houses a spiral staircase. At the south-east corner there is a larger semi-circular projection which accommodates the apse of the chapel. As the building was intended to be a comfortable residence as well as

32000-412: The work. Even so, this was not sufficient to bring the castle up to the standard of contemporary military fortifications which were designed to withstand powerful artillery. Although the defences were repaired, the palace buildings were left in a state of neglect after Henry's death. Their condition was so poor that they were virtually uninhabitable. From 1547 onwards, the Tower of London was only used as

32200-416: The xenophobic Evil May Day riots, in which the properties of foreign residents were looted. It is not thought that any rioters were hurt by the gunfire, which was probably meant merely to intimidate the mob. During the reign of Henry VIII , the Tower was assessed as needing considerable work on its defences. In 1532, Thomas Cromwell spent £3,593 on repairs and imported nearly 3,000 tons of Caen stone for

32400-497: Was Charles II in 1661. At the time, the castle's accommodation was in such poor condition that he did not stay there the night before his coronation. Under the Stuart kings the Tower's buildings were remodelled, mostly under the auspices of the Office of Ordnance. Just over £4,000 was spent in 1663 on building a new storehouse, now known as the New Armouries in the inner ward. In the 17th century there were plans to enhance

32600-414: Was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn , who was accused by Henry of adultery after failing to produce the male heir he so desperately desired. Jane, however, died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of her only child,

32800-458: Was once again besieged in 1460 , this time by a Yorkist force. The Tower was damaged by artillery fire but only surrendered when Henry VI was captured at the Battle of Northampton . With the help of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (nicknamed "the Kingmaker") Henry recaptured the throne for a short time in 1470. However, Edward IV soon regained control and Henry VI was imprisoned in

33000-520: Was "some little plague in England well nigh every year, for which they are not accustomed to make sanitary provisions". The Royal College of Physicians was founded in 1518 at the house of noted physician Thomas Linacre in Knightrider Street . It had the authority to regulate practitioners and even imprison unlicensed practitioners for up to twenty days. A serious outbreak of violence in this period occurred on Evil May Day in 1517, when

33200-455: Was 5'2¼" (158cm). Plague hit so badly in 1563 in London that the local authorities began to compile death statistics for the first time in the Bills of Mortality . In that year, 20,372 were recorded dead in London across the whole year, 17,404 of whom died of the plague. Some years were much less dangerous: in 1582, only 6,930 deaths were recorded, of which 3,075 were from the plague, but in 1603

33400-447: Was a postern gate which allowed private access to the king's apartments. The innermost ward was originally surrounded by a protective ditch, which had been filled in by the 1220s. Around this time, a kitchen was built in the ward. Between 1666 and 1676, the innermost ward was transformed and the palace buildings removed. The area around the White Tower was cleared so that anyone approaching would have to cross open ground. The Jewel House

33600-521: Was a common punishment for low-level offences, with a pillory being erected at Cheapside , among other places. The stocks were similar, but held a person's legs rather than their hands and face. Public whippings took place for offences such as petty theft, sedition , or having an illegitimate child. For example, in 1561, a man was whipped through the streets in Westminster, the City, across London Bridge, and into Southwark, for forging documents; and in

33800-467: Was also beheaded for adultery in 1541. Tower of London The Tower of London , officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London , is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London , England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , which is separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by

34000-429: Was also used as ashlar and for carved details. Its location, in the lower courses of the building and at higher levels corresponding to a building break, suggest it was readily available and may have been used when access to Caen stone was restricted. As most of the Tower's windows were enlarged in the 18th century, only two original – albeit restored – examples remain, in the south wall at the gallery level. The tower

34200-419: Was among the conditions. Henry III resented losing power and sought permission from the pope to break his oath. With the backing of mercenaries, Henry installed himself in the Tower in 1261. While negotiations continued with the barons, the King ensconced himself in the castle, although no army moved to take it. A truce was agreed with the condition that the King hand over control of the Tower once again. Henry won

34400-463: Was built by Henry VIII's advisor, Thomas Wolsey , and acquired in 1529 by Henry, who set about turning it into a sprawling pleasure palace, with tennis courts, bowling alleys, a tiltyard, Great Kitchens and a Great Hall. It is where his third wife, Jane Seymour , died; where his son, Edward VI, was born; and where he married his sixth wife, Catherine Parr . Henry also acquired York Place from Wolsey, which he massively enlarged into Whitehall Palace, with

34600-422: Was centralised to the mint within the Tower of London, while mints outside of London were reduced, with only a few local and episcopal mints continuing to operate. During this period, many Jews were imprisoned at the Tower before Edward I 's edict of expulsion in 1290. During Edward II 's reign (1307–1327) there was relatively little activity at the Tower of London. However, it was during this period that

34800-433: Was considered an impregnable fortress in a strategically important position, possession was highly valued. Mandeville exploited this, selling his allegiance to Matilda after Stephen was captured in 1141 at the Battle of Lincoln . Once her support waned, the following year he resold his loyalty to Stephen. Through his role as Constable of the Tower, Mandeville became "the richest and most powerful man in England". When he tried

35000-693: Was constructed 1556–1578 for Clement Sysley. Thomas Gresham had Osterley Park built around 1576, and Christopher Hatton had Hatton House built in Holborn in 1577. The London merchant Richard Awsiter had a manor house built in Southall in Ealing in 1587. Lincoln's Inn Hall was built 1489–1492, and was frequented by the politician and lawyer Thomas More . Henry VII had the Henry VII Chapel added to Westminster Abbey between 1503 and 1510, and

35200-432: Was created during Edward I's extension to the Tower, as the narrow enclosure completely surrounded the castle. At the same time a bastion known as Legge's Mount was built at the castle's northwest corner. Brass Mount, the bastion in the northeast corner, was a later addition. The three rectangular towers along the east wall 15 metres (49 ft) apart were dismantled in 1843. Although the bastions have often been ascribed to

35400-498: Was demolished, and the Crown Jewels moved to Martin Tower. The inner ward was created during Richard the Lionheart's reign, when a moat was dug to the west of the innermost ward, effectively doubling the castle's size. Henry III created the ward's east and north walls, and the ward's dimensions remain to this day. Most of Henry's work survives, and only two of the nine towers he constructed have been completely rebuilt. Between

35600-820: Was formed, a company trading with the Low Countries. From the 1550s, joint-stock companies , mostly formed of Londoners, were formed with monopolies on trades to various parts of the world, including the Muscovy Company (1555), the Eastland Company (1579), the Venice Company (1583), the Levant Company (1592), and the East India Company (1600). Markets were an important system of trade, with many taking place around

35800-400: Was governed by the Court of Aldermen , a group of officials, each representing a division of the City called a ward. Before 1550, there were 25 wards, with Southwark being added to make 26 in that year. Each year, the aldermen chose one of their number to act as Lord Mayor. The legislative branch of the City leadership was the Common Council , which had over 200 members. The administration of

36000-434: Was in February 1536, about three months before Anne's execution. Jane was highly praised for her gentle, peaceful nature, being called as "gentle a lady as ever I knew" by John Russell and "the Pacific" by the Imperial Ambassador Eustace Chapuys (who referred to her as Jane Semel in his letters ), for her peacemaking efforts at court. According to Chapuys, she was of middling stature and very pale; he also said that she

36200-444: Was laid out in the 13th century when Henry III ordered that a strip of land adjacent to the castle be kept clear. Despite popular fiction, the Tower of London never had a permanent torture chamber, although the basement of the White Tower housed a rack in later periods. Tower Wharf was built on the bank of the Thames under Edward I and was expanded to its current size during the reign of Richard II (1377–1399). The White Tower

36400-404: Was mostly complete two years later. The construction of the Waterloo Barracks in the inner ward began in 1845, when the Duke of Wellington laid the foundation stone. The building could accommodate 1,000 men; at the same time, separate quarters for the officers were built to the north-east of the White Tower. The building is now the headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers . The popularity of

36600-440: Was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat . There were several phases of expansion, mainly under kings Richard I , Henry III , and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on

36800-438: Was not of much beauty, but Russell said she was "the fairest of all the King's wives". Polydore Vergil commented that she was "a woman of the utmost charm in both character and appearance". She was regarded as meek, gentle, simple, and chaste, with her large family making her thought to be suitable to have many children. Henry VIII was betrothed to Jane on 20 May 1536, the day after Anne Boleyn's execution. They were married at

37000-425: Was not often used; between 1540 and 1640, the peak of imprisonment at the Tower, there were 48 recorded cases of the use of torture. The three most common forms used were the infamous rack , the Scavenger's daughter , and manacles. The rack was introduced to England in 1447 by the Duke of Exeter, the Constable of the Tower; consequentially it was also known as the Duke of Exeter's daughter . One of those tortured at

37200-425: Was notorious for its poor conditions and disease. Inmates had to pay for food, and pay rent for a separate room. Several high-profile nobles and even royalty were executed for treason in London in this period. Also, there were several large rebellions against Tudor monarchs which either took place in London or ended with the rebels being imprisoned or executed in London. In 1497, Perkin Warbeck , who claimed to be

37400-603: Was on crusade. The Pipe rolls record £2,881 1s 10d spent at the Tower of London between 3 December 1189 and 11 November 1190, from an estimated £7,000 spent by Richard on castle building in England. According to the contemporary chronicler Roger of Howden , Longchamp dug a moat around the castle and tried in vain to fill it from the Thames. Longchamp was also Constable of the Tower, and undertook its expansion while preparing for war with King Richard's younger brother, Prince John , who in Richard's absence arrived in England to try to seize power. As Longchamp's main fortress, he made

37600-417: Was originally 4.5 metres (15 ft) deeper in the middle than it is today. With the addition of a new curtain wall, the old main entrance to the Tower of London was obscured and made redundant; a new entrance was created in the southwest corner of the external wall circuit. The complex consisted of an inner and an outer gatehouse and a barbican , which became known as the Lion Tower as it was associated with

37800-422: Was partly fuelled by contemporary writers, of whom the work of William Harrison Ainsworth was particularly influential. In The Tower of London: A Historical Romance he created a vivid image of underground torture chambers and devices for extracting confessions that stuck in the public imagination. Ainsworth also played another role in the Tower's history, as he suggested that Beauchamp Tower should be opened to

38000-490: Was probably in either the outer ward or the Lion Tower. By 1560, the Mint was located in a building in the outer ward near Salt Tower. Between 1348 and 1355, a second water-gate, Cradle Tower, was added east of St Thomas's Tower for the king's private use. Victorious at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, the invading Duke of Normandy , William the Conqueror , spent the rest of the year securing his holdings by fortifying key positions. He founded several castles along

38200-506: Was repaired, but the 500 ft (150 m) spire was never replaced. Middle Temple Hall was built around 1570 and was frequented by Elizabeth I. Disasters often necessitated rebuilding work: great fires are recorded in 1485, 1504, 1506, and 1538. In 1506, a great storm blew off tiles on houses and the weathervane on top of St. Paul's Cathedral. In 1544, 1552, 1560 and 1583, stores of gunpowder exploded in London, often killing several people as well as damaging buildings. In April 1580 there

38400-879: Was rumoured to have been pursuing the future Elizabeth I , but married the queen dowager Catherine Parr instead. In the reign of the young King Edward VI , Edward set himself up as Lord Protector and de facto ruler of the kingdom. Both eventually fell from power and were executed. An inventory of Henry VIII includes costume belonging to Jane Seymour, which was stored in 1542 in the Old Jewel House of Whitehall Palace . The list includes: gowns of damask, velvet, and satin; kirtles of velvet, cloth of silver, taffeta, and purple cloth of gold ; cloaks of satin; sleeves of silver and gold tissue embroidered with Venice gold and tied with gold aglets; placards for gowns; stomachers ; frontlets; French hoods and billiments of black velvet and white satin; partlets ; and crimson velvet hats. The same clothes were listed again in 1547. Jane Seymour

38600-418: Was seized by the Crown, dissolved, and acquired by Edward North and later Thomas Howard , who was also executed for treason in 1572. Other monastic houses were dissolved in a less bloody fashion, but their considerable lands and buildings were still given or sold off to aristocrats and politicians- for example, Lord Cobham acquired Blackfriars Priory ; the Marquess of Winchester built Winchester House on

38800-514: Was severely damaged by fire in 1512, and ceased to be a home for the royal family, being instead used as offices or chambers for the monarch to summon Parliament . The Tower of London was used as a place from which Tudor monarchs processed to Westminster Abbey for their coronations, and as a place of imprisonment and execution, notably of high-ranking prisoners such as Anne Boleyn , Catherine Howard , and Lady Jane Grey . 48 known cases of torture took place here between 1540 and 1640. Eltham Palace

39000-407: Was some damage to chimneys and walls in the Dover Straits earthquake of 1580. At the end of the 15th century, London's population has been estimated at around 50,000. By 1603, that number ballooned to an estimated 200,000, over 13 times that of the next-largest city in England, Norwich . Between 1523 and 1527, a national tax was levied which yielded £16,675 from the inhabitants of London, more than

39200-399: Was terraced into the side of a mound, so the northern side of the basement is partially below ground level. As was typical of most keeps, the bottom floor was an undercroft used for storage. One of the rooms contained a well. Although the layout has remained the same since the tower's construction, the interior of the basement dates mostly from the 18th century when the floor was lowered and

39400-453: Was the childhood home of Henry VIII, where he was taught music and languages by his tutor, John Skelton . He had it enlarged between 1519 and 1522. Shene Palace burned down in 1497 and was rebuilt under Henry VII as Richmond Palace , featuring gilded domes and pinnacles. Both Henry VII and Elizabeth I died there. Greenwich Palace was also rebuilt under Henry VII; and Henry VIII, Mary I, and Elizabeth I were born there. Hampton Court Palace

39600-438: Was the only one of Henry's wives to receive a queen's funeral. After her death, Henry wore black for the next three months. He married Anne of Cleves two years later, although marriage negotiations were tentatively begun soon after Jane's death. He put on weight during his widowerhood, becoming obese and swollen and developing diabetes and gout . Historians have speculated she was his favourite wife because she gave birth to

39800-517: Was unable to restore Mary to the line of succession, she was able to reconcile her with Henry. Chapuys wrote to Emperor Charles V of her compassion and efforts on behalf of Mary's return to favour. A letter from Mary to her shows Mary's gratitude. While it was she who first pushed for the restoration, Mary and Elizabeth were not reinstated to the succession until Henry's sixth wife, Catherine Parr , convinced him to do so. One non-contemporary source conjectures that she may have been pregnant and had

40000-442: Was usually given to someone of great importance, who might not always be at the castle due to other duties. Although the Constable was still responsible for maintaining the castle and its garrison, from an early stage he had a subordinate to help with this duty: the Lieutenant of the Tower. Constables also had civic duties relating to the city. Usually they were given control of the city and were responsible for levying taxes, enforcing

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