Hey, Tower of London!

Today was exhausting! We were able to visit the Tower of London and see super cool pieces of Renaissance history such as the Crown Jewels and the tower that was used as a prison for notable people such as Queen Elizabeth I. Before we saw the Tower of London we stopped at the old public execution spot in London, back when the city of London was much smaller than it is now. 


Old public execution location. 


The history of the Tower of London dates back 1000 years with the original tower being built in 1087. At the time it was the tallest building in London. William I (also known as William the Conqueror) had the tower built to impose power over the people of London; it was his fortress. Every other building within that area was added slowly over time. Today the Tower of London houses the Crown Jewels which I was able to see and it was such a fantastic experience.

Tower of London built in 1087. 


I have said this before and I will likely say it again, but it is such a surreal experience to visit places that have history that was established before America itself. We have spoken a lot over the past week about King Henry VIII and his six wives. The common rhyme is as follows: "divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived." It is a super easy way to remember how each of King Henry VIII's marriages ended. What I didn't know and what shocked me to learn was how they performed executions back in Renaissance time. I was under the impression that people were beheaded with a guillotine but that is not the case. At the Tower of London 125 people were beheaded by an axe with their heads resting on a wooden block, and it would take more than one swing to successfully remove someones head. The only situation that I learned was different was the execution of Anne Boleyn. She was beheaded by a special swordsman from France, and her head with removed with one blow. I remember seeing in the six wives exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery that King Henry VIII was very loose with ordering executions. He actually had one of his close men beheaded during his reign to which Henry claimed he regretted doing so later on. The impression that I have gotten of King Henry VIII over the past week is definitely not a good one! 

Nance outside of the Tower of London. 


My questions today are as follows: 

1) Why did King Henry VIII bring in a special swordsman to behead Anne Boleyn? We know that she was terrified of her execution, but if Henry made the call to execute her then he was clearly upset with her. What made her so special compared to the countless others who were beheaded at the Tower of London? Did King Henry VIII feel bad for calling for her execution? 

2) We know that many people were imprisoned here at the Tower of London. What did they do to pass the time? Were they imprisoned in such a way that they could communicate with one another? From what I saw and learned today it seems as though the prisoners weren't imprisoned in the way we imagine today, so were they allowed to roam the grounds? What was that experience like? Did creating graffiti in the prison make them feel better? 







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