Башня Лондона (Tower of London)
Выполнил: студент 5-го курса Института филологии
германо –романского отделения
группы 505
Мирзоев Т. А.
1- Introduction – 1
2- The Bell Tower - 2
3- The bloody Tower - 2
4- The Salt Tower – 3
5- The Beauchamp Tower – 3
6- The Wakefield Tower – 4
7- The Martin Tower – 4
8- The White Tower – 5
a) Chaple of St. John The Evangelist – 5
b) The Arms and Armors (part one) – 5
c) The Arms and Armors (part two) – 6
9 The Crown Jewels – 7
10 Ceremonies – 8
a) The Ceremony of Keys – 8
b) The Ceremony of the Lilies and Roses - 9
Ghost stories - 10
a) The Ghost of Anne Boleyn - 10
b) Traitors’ Gate - 11
The Tower of London is a visual symbol of the Norman Conquest of
England. It was built by William the Conqueror with stone that was brought
over from Caen. The English do not relish the memory and like to think that
the Tower went back to Romans and was founded by Julius Ceaser. This is not
true, but some parts of the complex rest on Roman foundations. William I,
though, brought over a Norman expert as his artificer, Gundulf, who
designed the Tower. The Tower of London is considered now by the Royal
Commission on Historical Monuments as "The most valuable monument of
Medieval military architecture surviving in England."
The Tower was not only a fortress but eventually became a royal
palace, state prison, the Mint, a record office, observatory, and zoo. As a
state prison it was used for criminals considered most dangerous to the
state, and the Mint was the treasury for the Crown Jewels. It became a zoo,
the original Zoo, in 1834 when pets that the king had accumulated over the
years were among a great diversity. The zoo consisted of lions, leopards,
bears wolves, lynxes, etc.
The general appearance of this complex was much as it is today. Inside
the complex, though, there have been many changes. In front of the White
Tower, on the south side, there was a royal palace with private lodgings
and great hall. Medieval kings often took refuge in the lodgings. Many
historic events took place here too, such as the murder of the princes,
Edward IV's sons. It was custom for kings and queens to spend the night, or
a few days, before their coronation in these royal apartments. These royal
lodgings were eventually swept away, leaving the Tower all alone.
After William the Conqueror the king that left a lasting impression on
the Tower was Henry III. By 1236 he had rebuilt the Great Hall and built
the Wakefield Tower next to the royal lodgings. He also built the archway
to the Bloody Tower and the main angle towers along the wall.
A direct waterway entrance from the Thames onto the Tower was
difficult and for a time unachievable. It wasn't until the oratory was
built to the martyr St. Thomas that the foundations were ensured for such
an entrance. The Water Gate, or entrance from the Thames into the Tower,
later became known as Traiter's Gate. Henry III's son, Edward I, finished
off the Tower.
Several episodes reveal the general history of these times. In 1244
Griffith, son of Llewelyn, the last independent Prince of Wales, attempted
an escape from the Tower by making a rope out of his bedclothes, which
resulted in his death after it broke. During the expulsion of the Jews in
1278, hundreds were kept in the Tower. In 1357-8 the Tower served as an
arsenal. Edward III made many preparations for the French war here, which
began with a naval victory of Sluys and ended up as the Hundred Years' War.
Beginning life as a simple timber and earth enclosure tucked in the south-
east angle formed by the joining of the original east and south stone walls
of the old Roman town of Londinium Augusta, the original structure was
completed by the addition of a ditch and palisade along the north and west
sides.
This enclosure then received a huge structure of stone which in time came
to be called The Great Tower and eventually as it is known today
Since the first foundations were laid more than 900 years ago the
castle has been constantly improved and extended by the addition of other
smaller towers, extra buildings, walls and walkways, gradually evolving
into the splendid example of castle, fortress, prison, palace and finally
museum that it proudly represents today.
Tower of London is a complex made up of many different sections. The
Tower is surrounded by a moat on three sides and the Thames River on the
fourth. The outside fortifications consist of Legge's and Brass Mount. The
inner fortifications, called the Ballium Wall, have 13 towers: the Bloody
Tower, the Wakefield Tower, the Bell Tower, the Lanthorn Tower, the Salt
Tower, the Broad Arrow Tower, the Constable Tower, the Martin Tower, the
Brick Tower, the Bowyer Tower, the Flint Tower, the Devereux Tower, and the
Beauchamp Tower
The Bell Tower
The Bell Tower stands in the south-west corner of the Inner Ward. It was
built in the 13th century and is so called because of the belfry on top. In
the past, when the bell was rung in alarm, drawbridges were raised,
portcullises were dropped, and gates shut. The bell is still rung in the
evening to warn visitors on the wharf it is time to leave.
Among the most famous prisoners confined to the Bell Tower was Sir
Thomas More imprisoned there in 1534. More, at one time close friends with
Henry VIII, refused to acknowledge the validity of the king's divorce from
Queen Catherine of Aragon (thereby refusing to accept the Act of
Succession) and to acknowledge him as supreme head of the Church.
Catherine, it should be noted, was the daugther of Isabella and Ferdinand
of Spain, known for financing the expeditions of Christopher Columbus. More
was executed July 1535 and buried in St Peters Chapel.
Henry VIII's penchant for imprisoning family was not lost on his
children apparently. This involved two of his daughters (by two different
mothers), both of whom would one day rule. Princess Elizabeth, later
Elizabeth I, was also imprisoned in the Bell Tower -- sent there in 1554 by
her half-sister Mary I on suspicion of being concerned in plots against the
throne.
The Bloody Tower
Originally this was known as the Garden Tower for the constable's
garden that was by it. The square-shaped structure at one time served as a
gateway to the Inner Ward. Its lowest level was built by Henry III and the
other storeys were added later. It gained its present name in the 16th
century because of the murderous deeds, which took place in its dark rooms.
The most notorious deed was the killing of the princes, Edward V and
his younger brother Richard, Duke of York. This occurred in 1483 supposedly
on the orders of the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III, but there
are some who strongly oppose this view and name Henry Tudor, later Henry
VII as the culprit.
The generally accepted version of the murder is that Elizabeth
Woodville, widow of Edward IV, was forced to allow her sons to live in the
Tower, ostensibly to enable the 13-year-old king to prepare for his
coronation. Sir Robert Brackenbury was asked to take part in the murder but
refused to help. Thereupon Sir James Tyrrell was sent to the Tower with
orders to force the Constable to surrender his keys for one night. Sir
James agents found the two boys asleep. One was suffocated with a pillow
while the other boy was stabbed to death. The murderers carried the bodies
down the narrow stairway and buried them under a covering of rubble in the
basement. They were later reburied by Sir Robert Brackenbury close to the
White Tower, but all knowledge of the graves was lost. In 1674 skeletons of
two boys were unearthed near the White Tower, and in the belief that the
grave of the princes had been found the king ordered the bodies to be moved
to Westminster Abbey.
Many other figures in history suffered imprisonment or death in the
Bloody Tower. Archbishop Cranmer and Bishops Ridley and Latimer who were
condemned to death for heresy in 1555, were imprisoned in the Tower before
being burned at the stake at Oxford. Henry Percy died there in mysterious
circumstances in 1585. The infamous Judge Jeffreys was prisoner here as
well. Sir Thomas Overbury, poet and courtier, was a victim of court
intrigue. His food is supposed to have been poisoned, and he is supposed to
have swallowed enough poison to have killed 20 men before he died in 1613.
Sir Walter Raleigh spent most of his 13 years of imprisonment in the Bloody
Tower, but he was able to perform many scientific experiments. He is
credited with having discovered a method of distilling fresh water from
salt water. Also during his imprisonment he wrote his vast History of the
World which was published in 1614, four years before he was beheaded at
Westminster.
The Salt Tower
This tower, yet another built by Henry III, about 1235 was used in later
