days as a prison for Jesuits. It contains a number of interesting
inscriptions, the most notable being a complicated diagram cut in stone for
casting horoscopes. The inscription records that "Hew Draper of Brystow
made this sphere the 30 daye of Maye anno 1561". Draper was imprisoned for
attempted witchcraft in 1561.
In several places on the walls a pierced heart, hand, and foot have been
carved. This symbol signifies the wounds of Christ. As in other towers
where the Jesuits were imprisoned. The monogram I.H.S, with a cross above
the H, occurs in several places -- the sign made by the Society of Jesus.
The Beauchamp Tower
Henry III and his son, Edward I, are to be attributed to the creation
of the Beauchamp Tower. Henry III is responsible for many of the towers and
structures in the Tower of London, with eight wall towers built during the
latter part of his reign. It was during Edward's reconstruction of the
western section that he replaced a twin-towered gatehouse built by Henry
with the Beauchamp Tower around 1275-81.
Architecturally, the large amount of brick used, as opposed to solely that
of stone, was innovative at its time for castle construction. The tower
takes its name from Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, imprisoned 1397-99
by Richard II. The three-storey structure was used often for prisoners of
high rank.
Of special interest are the inscriptions carved on the stone walls
here by prisoners. The most elaborate is a memorial to the five brothers
Dudley, one of whom was Lord Guildford Dudley, husband of Lady Jane Grey.
This unhappy pair were executed in 1554.
The Wakefield Tower
Opposite Traitors Gate is the Wakefield Tower built in the early 13th
century. Here the Crown Jewels were housed from 1870 until 1967. The tower
has 2 chambers, the ground floor acting as a guardroom to the postern which
led to the royal apartments above. These apartments were destroyed by
Cromwell. The upper floor now contains a large and magnificent octagonal
vaulted chamber in which there is an oratory.
Wakefield Tower was probably named after William de Wakefield, Kings
Clerk and holder of the custody of the Exchanges in 1334. In the 14th
century the State records were transferred to the Wakefield Tower from the
White Tower, and in surveys of the period the building is referred to as
the Records Tower.
Henry VI died in the Wakefield Tower on May 21st 1471. Henry VI, who
was also founder of Eton College, and of Kings College, Cambridge, is
supposed to have been murdered on the orders of the Duke of Gloucester,
later Richard III.
The Martin Tower
Built by Henry III this tower is famous as the scene of Colonel Thomas
Bloods fruitless attempt to steal the Crown Jewels. After the Restoration,
the newly-made regalia was kept in the Martin Tower (known at the time as
the Jewel Tower) in sole custody of the Deputy Keeper of the Jewels, a man
named Talbot Edwards who lived with his family in the tower.
Blood, disguised as a clergyman, became very friendly with Edwards,
even to the point of proposing a marriage between the old mans' daughter
and a supposed nephew of his. Early on a May morning in 1671, the colonel
appeared by appointment with his "nephew" and a friend to arrange the
marriage. While awaiting the ladies, Blood suggested that his friends might
see the Crown Jewels. As soon as the chamber was opened Edwards was
attacked and badly injured. Blood hid the State Crown beneath his cloak;
one accomplice slipped the Orb into his breeches, while the other began
filing the sceptre in half to make it more portable. They were then
unexpectedly disturbed by Edward's son returning from abroad and a running
fight followed during which all three were captured.
Blood eventually obtained an audience with Charles II to whom he
remarked that "it was a gallant attempt." Charles -- with uncharacteristic
leniency -- immediately pardoned Blood, granted him a pension and promised
that his Irish estates, seized at the Restoration, would be restored.
Edwards, on the other hand, was granted 200 pounds by the Exchequer and his
son was given 100 pounds. The old man, however, was forced to sell off his
expectation for half its value, and he died of his injuries soon
afterwards.
The White Tower
The great central keep was built by William the Conqueror and finished
by his sons and successors, William Rufus and Henry I. It is 90 feet high
and is of massive construction, the walls varying from 15 feet thickness at
the base to almost 11 feet in the upper parts. Above the battlements rise
four turrets; three of them are square, but that on the Northeast is
circular. This turret once contained the first royal observatory.
The original single entrance was on the south side and it was reached
by an external staircase. There were no doors at ground level. The walls on
the upper floors were penetrated by narrow slits positioned in wide splays.
On the southern side, four pairs of original double slits remain. In late
17th and early 18th centuries all others were replaced by Sir Christopher
Wren with the windows seen today.
In the White Tower the medieval kings of England lived with their
families and their court. Here was the seat of government and here the laws
of the land were made. The royal family lived in the top storey; the
council chamber was on the floor below. In this chamber in 1399 Richard II
was forced to sign away his throne, and in 1483 Richard III summarily
sentenced Lord Hastings to death.
Chapel of St. John the Evangelist
On the first floor of the White Tower is the exquisite Chapel of St
John the Evangelist where the royal family and the court worshipped and
where the knights of the Order of the Bath spent their vigil the night
before a coronation. It is one of the most perfect specimens of Norman
architecture in Great Britain. Roman influence can also be found in the
White Tower's basement where there is two-millennium-old well. The White
Tower also contains one of the finest collections of arms and armour in the
world.
The Arms and Armour (Part One)
The White Tower and the New Armouries contain the national collection
of arms and armour. As the most important fortress in the kingdom, the
Tower must have held armour and arms from the time it was first built, but
in their present form the Armouries date from the time of Henry VIII. The
collection -- one of the greatest in the world -- illustrates the
development of arms and armour from the Middle Ages to 1914.
The White Tower is entered through the Tournament Room. The display
here is devoted entirely to armour specially designed for use in warlike
exercise. This collection includes the tilt armour for the German form of
joust known as the Scharfrennen, in which sharp lances were used, and the
splendid Brocas helm. The armour was made about 1490 in Germany for use at
the court of Emperor Maximillian I; the tilt helm was probably made in
England in the same period.
In tournaments mounted men ran different courses against each other,
each course requiring armour of a special design. Men also fought against
one another on foot and this required armour of yet another pattern. The
Armouries contain three foot-combat armours made for Henry VIII, the first
dates to about 1512 and the second about 1515, when he was slim and active.
The third one was made in 1540 when he was forty-nine and very portly. The
middle armour is remarkable in that all the plates fit together, over
flanges, thus enabling his height of six-feet one-inch to be accurately
determined.
In the adjacent room the collection of hunting and sporting arms
includes crossbows and firearms. Here can be traced the technical advances
in firearm mechanisms, from the match lock, the snaphance and the wheel
lock to the flintlock. The development of decorative techniques is also
evident. Craftsmen applied or inlaid precious metals, ivory, bone and even
mother-of-pearl to enhance the wood they carved and chiselled with such
consummate skill; the contemporary artistic styles from the 15th to the
19th centuries can thus be compared.
An especially interesting exhibit is the elegant silver-decorated
sporting gun made in Dundee in 1614. It came from the personal gun-room of
Louis XIII of France. Another unique exhibit is the Scottish gun made
entirely of engraved brass for Charles I when he was a young man. Through
the Chapel of St John is the Mediaeval Room, which is now devoted to the
earliest arms and armour in the Tower. The exhibits are mostly of the late
14th and 15th centuries and include a superb Italian visored bascinet with
its original neck protection of mail. There is also one of the few Gothic
horse armours surviving. It was probably made to order for Waldemar VI of
Anhalt-Zerbst (1450-1508).
The Arms and Armour (Part Two)
In the adjoining Sixteenth-century Room, fine arms and armour date
from that century, but exclude English products. Most conspicuous is the
massive suit of German armour made around 1540 for a man nearly seven feet
tall. From the middle of the century is the splendid Lion Armour embossed
with lions masks and damascened in gold.
On the top floor, the Tudor Room is devoted mainly to the armours made
