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  • Henry III Used The Tower To Imprison Alleged Murderers on Random Details About To Be A Prisoner At The Tower Of London

    (#14) Henry III Used The Tower To Imprison Alleged Murderers

    The Tower was used again as a prison, albeit a temporary one, during the reign of Henry III (k. 1216-1272). Henry III expanded the Tower of London, adding defensive walls and other buildings. He also made it his primary residence but the conditions for prisoners did not reflect any preference. Using the Tower to keep trouble at bay, Henry brought a group of Jews accused of killing Hugh of Lincoln to the Tower in 1255. Out of the 100 Jews imprisoned, 18 were later hanged. 

    Edward I (k. 1272-1307) followed suit and imprisoned almost 700 Jews at the Tower in 1278 for alleged coin-clipping offenses. Three hundred of the prisoners were later executed. 

    There were also several times when Jews took refuge in the Tower of London over the course of the 13th century. In the face of rising anti-Semitic feelings in England, Jews sought safety behind its thick walls. Edward I expelled Jews from England in 1290.

  • The Tower May Not Have Been A Prison Initially But It Still Inspired Fear And Intimidation on Random Details About To Be A Prisoner At The Tower Of London

    (#13) The Tower May Not Have Been A Prison Initially But It Still Inspired Fear And Intimidation

    When William the Conqueror built the Tower of London during the 1070s, it was meant to be a display of the new Norman king's strength and rule. William split his time between Normandy and England after conquering the latter in 1066, and needed a solid, dominating structure to defend his position while in London.

    The oldest part of the Tower is the central keep, better known as the White Tower. The White Tower was constructed between 1078 and 1097 using stone from Kent and from William's native Normandy. Englishmen did all of the work on the intimidating structure, constructing 15-feet thick walls that stood 90 feet tall. The White Tower, completed ten years after William's death, included a chapel that, unfortunately, the king never got to use.

  • Being In Prison Didn't Mean You Couldn't Have Nice Things on Random Details About To Be A Prisoner At The Tower Of London

    (#10) Being In Prison Didn't Mean You Couldn't Have Nice Things

    Ranulf Flambard was able to bring in fine wine - something he used to his advantage - but also kept the fancy clothes to which had become accustomed. The most wealthy and highest status prisoners during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries carried on this tradition. Sir Walter Raleigh, for example, conducted chemistry experiments and wrote part of his "History of the World" while imprisoned in the tower. He also brought furnishings from home to keep himself comfortable.

    Hugh Percy, the 9th Earl of Northumberland, lived in the Martin Tower Suite, a part of the Tower complex that he decorated with fine furniture and an elaborate book collection. Percy also entertained guests, including his pet fox, managed to keep his wardrobe fashionable and enjoyed access to tennis and fencing facilities.

  • By The Late 16th Century, Torture And The Tower Went Hand-In-Hand on Random Details About To Be A Prisoner At The Tower Of London

    (#3) By The Late 16th Century, Torture And The Tower Went Hand-In-Hand

    Conditions grew significantly worse for prisoners held in the Tower by the 16th century. Elite prisoners still took up residence, but during the mid-1500s, torture at the Tower became commonplace. As England found itself in the midst of religious crisis, heretics were brought to the Tower and tortured until they renounced Catholicism. One Jesuit priest, Father John Gerard, returned to his native England after spending time in Rome as a Catholic missionary. He was arrested in 1594 and later taken to the Tower to be tortured.  Gerard wrote about his experiences in horrifying detail:

    "...a gripping pain came over me. It was worst in my chest and belly, my hands and arms. All the blood in my body seemed to rush up into my arms and hands and I thought that blood was oozing from the ends of my fingers and the pores of my skin. But it was only a sensation caused by my flesh swelling above the irons holding them. The pain was so intense that I thought I could not possibly endure it...sometime after one o'clock, I think, I fell into a faint. How long I was unconscious I don't know, but I think it was long, for the men held my body up or put the wicker steps under my feet until I came to. Then they heard me pray and immediately let me down again. And they did this every time I fainted - eight or nine times that day - before it struck five... little later they took me down. My legs and feet were not damaged, but it was a great effort to stand upright."

    Gerard escaped from the Tower in 1597 and hid for eight years until he fled the country. 
     

  • Getting Guards Drunk Was An Effective Diversion For Escape on Random Details About To Be A Prisoner At The Tower Of London

    (#2) Getting Guards Drunk Was An Effective Diversion For Escape

    The first prisoner, Ranulf Flambard, was allowed to bring in the best wines and hold large feasts and decided to use this to his advantage. He wined and dined his guards and used the occasion to discretely bring in a rope hidden in a wine cask.

    After a long evening of food and drink, as the guards were appropriately drunk, Flambard was able to escape. According to legend, he lowered himself from the window of the Tower to associates waiting below with horses. Flambard and his accomplices fled England for Normandy where Flambard became Duke Robert's chief advisor. He later led Robert's military on an attempt to invade England but the efforts proved unsuccessful. Flambard was able to reconcile with Henry in 1101 and was restored to his former position at Durham. 

    When Jacobite William Maxwell was imprisoned in the Tower of London during the early 18th century, he - and his wife - used booze to distract his guards. Lady Winifred Maxwell made the trip to London from their home in Scotland to ask the king for clemency for her husband. King George refused, so when Lady Maxwell, her maid, and two others visited William the night before he was to be executed, they distracted the guards with alcohol and women. While the guards were otherwise engaged, Lady Maxwell shaved her husband's beard and dressed him in women's clothing they had brought in. William and Winifred Maxwell escaped the Tower together and were later spirited out of England. 

  • Psychological Torture At The Tower Drove Prisoners Insane on Random Details About To Be A Prisoner At The Tower Of London

    (#5) Psychological Torture At The Tower Drove Prisoners Insane

    When Guy Fawkes was held in the Tower after the failed Gunpowder Plot in 1605, guards gave him a tour of the torture devices that they planned to use on him, a psychological tactic used by torturers. Fawkes never had a chance to go insane from his time at the Tower, but Earl of Arundel struggled under the mental anguish of being in prison. 

    Philip Howard, the 13th Earl of Arundel, was sent to the Tower of London in 1585 for supporting the excommunication of Queen Elizabeth I and for leaving the country without permission. While in confinement, Howard scrawled "The more affliction we endure for Christ in this world, the more glory we shall get with Christ in the world to come” in Latin on the wall at Beauchamp Tower. He is thought to have suffered a mental breakdown during his ten years at the Tower, and died in the Tower before ever having seen his son. 

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Although its name is "Tower of London", it is not a tower, but a complex of buildings, standing on the Thames River, looking like a castle. In history, the Tower of London has been used as a fortress, an armory, a mint, a refuge, etc. The most important use is the highest-level national prison. The Tower of London was built in the 1880s, and many kings expanded and rebuilt it. The most famous historical event in the Tower of London is that the two queens of Henry VIII were imprisoned there and executed secretly. Mary I also imprisoned his sister Elizabeth there.

No one can escape from such a heavily guarded prison. For a long time, people were scared to talk about the Tower of London. The random tool shares 14 details about the Tower of London.

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