Tower of London
The Tower of London is a historic medieval castle complex situated on the banks of the River Thames in London. Originally commissioned by William the Conqueror in the late 11th century, the Tower was built as a fortress to defend the city and assert Norman control over England. Over the centuries, successive monarchs expanded the complex, transforming it into a prominent royal residence, a prison, and a place for storing the Crown Jewels, which are still safeguarded there today. Notable for its role in British history, the Tower has housed infamous prisoners, including Anne Boleyn and Guy Fawkes, contributing to its reputation for intrigue and executions.
Today, the Tower of London is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and serves primarily as a museum, drawing approximately two million visitors annually. The Crown Jewels, including the Imperial State Crown and the Star of Africa diamond, are displayed within the complex, watched over by the Yeoman Warders, commonly known as Beefeaters. The presence of six ravens, a tradition believed to protect the monarchy, adds to the Tower's distinctive character. The Tower remains a significant symbol of Britain's rich history and attracts interest from diverse audiences worldwide.
Tower of London
The Tower of London is a medieval castle complex located on the Thames River in London. William the Conqueror, the first Norman king of England, built the first part of the fortress, the White Tower, in the late 1000s to defend the city of London. Over the next three centuries, successive English kings strengthened and expanded the complex by adding walls and guard towers.
Throughout its existence, the Tower of London has been used as the Royal Mint, a royal residence, an armory, a prison, and a citadel for guarding the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom—a collection of various ceremonial objects of England's monarchs. In the twenty-first century, the Tower of London still protects the Crown Jewels while also serving as a museum. It is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the United Kingdom.
Brief History
The original castle of the Tower of London was built under William the Conqueror, the French duke of Normandy who invaded England in 1066 and became the first Norman king of England. The people of London, where William made his throne, did not support the foreign invader's rule over them, and William worried that they would rise up against him.
In the 1070s, therefore, he commissioned a large tower to be built near London's Thames River. He intended for the imposing stone keep, eventually known as the White Tower, to serve as a fortress both for defending London from attack and for intimidating the people into submitting to his reign.
The White Tower was well positioned for these tasks. It was built on a bend in the Thames, at the edge of the still developing city of London. Any foreign enemies seeking to invade London would first have to overcome the tower's high walls and a garrison of the king's forces that was stationed inside.
The design of the White Tower was also meant to display to the English people that a Norman fully controlled their country. The tower was a prime example of the most advanced type of Norman military architecture designed at that time. Additionally, the tower stood at about eighty-eight feet, making it the tallest structure in its immediate vicinity, a status it maintained into the 1800s.
The White Tower was the only portion of the Tower of London that William the Conqueror built. Later kings of England, principally Henry III and his son and successor Edward I in the 1200s, substantially expanded William's original tower complex. Their additions included more palace buildings, high stone walls surrounding the property, and a moat. It was also Henry III who had William's castle whitewashed, which earned it the name of the White Tower. Monarchs in the 1300s added more walls and towers, making the Tower of London a nearly impenetrable stronghold by about 1350. Successive English kings continued erecting new palace buildings in the complex into the 1500s.
Overview
The Tower of London is known for serving a diverse array of purposes since its expansions in the 1200s. In 1210, for instance, King John founded a menagerie, a collection of wild animals, on the property. Animals displayed at the tower included lions, elephants, ostriches, and a polar bear. In the late 1200s, the English monarchy began storing official state documents and other royal objects in the tower. In 1279, the complex became the site of the Royal Mint, where, over the next approximately four hundred years, employees hammered out England's coinage by hand.
The Tower of London was also famously used as a prison from the time of its construction. Over the centuries, the tower developed a fearsome reputation as a center of torture and executions, due mostly to well-circulated stories of its more notable inmates. In 1483, for instance, Richard, duke of Gloucester, imprisoned his nephews—the princes Edward V and his brother, Richard, aged twelve and nine, respectively—in the tower because he wanted to succeed their father, Edward IV, on the throne of England. The princes were never seen again; it was commonly believed that the duke murdered and buried them somewhere on the tower grounds.
Other well-known prisoners in the Tower of London included Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, in 1546; the Protestant reformer Anne Askew, also in 1546; and the revolutionary Guy Fawkes, who was arrested after attempting to blow up Parliament in 1605. Henry imprisoned Boleyn after she failed to deliver him a male heir. She was later accused of adultery and beheaded in the tower. Askew was incarcerated there for refusing to name other Protestants as heretics, or believers in false religious teachings. She maintained her silence even through her torture on the tower's rack, and she was later burned at the stake. Fawkes was also tortured in the tower before being executed. These incidents were exceptional, however; only twenty-two people were ever executed in the Tower of London, and prisoners of noble birth were usually treated well.
The Tower of London has also historically been the home of England's Crown Jewels. The English monarchy first designated the tower as a safe place to store treasure in 1303, when various items were moved there following a robbery at Westminster Abbey. The monarchy began displaying its Crown Jewels in the Tower of London's jewel house in the 1600s. The jewels in the twenty-first century include the Star of Africa, a large diamond worth $400 million, and the Imperial State Crown, which is embedded with nearly three thousand precious gems.
In the twenty-first century, the Tower of London functions mostly as a museum. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most famous castles in the world and attracts about two million tourists a year. The property and the Crown Jewels are guarded by a society of guardsmen called Yeoman Warders, or Beefeaters, whose association with the tower dates to the late Middle Ages. Six ravens are constantly present on the tower grounds. The birds have been maintained there since the 1600s, when King Charles II declared that if the ravens ever left the Tower of London, the tower and all of England would fall.
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