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| It was the Tudors who made the Tower of London notorious as a State Prison, especially Henry VIII. |
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| Sixty years after Henry VIII died Sir Walter Raleigh wrote of him, "How many servants did he
advance in haste...and with the change of his fancy ruined again, no man knowing for what offence? To how many
others of more desert, gave he abundant flowers from whence to gather honey and in the end of the harvest burned
them in the hive." |
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| Some of the many who suffered the deadly loss of the King's favor include two of his wives, Thomas Cromwell
(his chief minister for a decade), and the Duke of Norfolk who served him for over thirty years. |
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| The use of the Tower as a prison was due primarily to the nature of the times. For most of the Tudor period
the line of royal succession was uncertain. Only Henry VII left a healthy, mature male heir. |
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| Several families had some claim to the throne, usually through decent from the house of York. And there were
ambitious nobles who aspired to be king-makers or at least to usurp the monarch's power. |
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| Similar dangers faced previous kings, but in addition a new danger threatened: the division between Catholic
and Protestant that began with Henry VIII's Reformation. |
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| Henry VIII rejected the authority of the pope in England and had himself made Supreme Head of the Church. Men
for whom the pope's supremacy was part of their religion, like Sir Thomas More, Henry's old friend and Lord Chancellor,
would not betray their faith by swearing to the Act of Supremacy. They were imprisoned as traitors. |
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| When Queen Mary restored the pope's supremacy, religious opposition remained a crime punishable by the state.
Like in the Middle Ages it was treated as heresy. After the heretic had been condemned by the church he was handed
over to the state for execution. This was the fate of Thomas Cranmer, Henry VIII's Archbishop of Canterbury and
many others. |
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| Most heretics were burned alive at Smith Field located outside the Tower walls to the north west. |
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Execution of heretics at East Smith Field
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| Elizabeth I reversed her sister's policy. Once more Catholics were the religious opponents and were even more
closely identified with rebellion and treason than in Henry's reign. |
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| After the Pope called for Elizabeth's deposition it appeared to her Protestant ministers that no faithful Catholic
could be a patriotic Englishman. Anyone who actively propagated the Catholic faith was regarded as spreading disaffection
and preparing the way for an invasion. |
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| Of the people charged with treason relatively few of them ended up in the Tower of London. It was reserved for
the most dangerous offenders and for men and women of rank |
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| One Lieutenant of the Tower remarked that a prisoner in his charge ..."is not worthy to be a prisoner of
the Tower, I mean not for his offence, but it is too high a place." It was beneath the dignity of the Tower
to serve merely as a lock-up. That is what Newgate Prison was for. |
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| The Tower was specially suitable as a state prison because of its elevated status. Monarchs might not hesitate
to strike down a noble but they were careful not to demean nobility itself. Imprisonment in the Tower and execution
on Tower Hill were a recognition of rank. |
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| The location of the Tower had practical advantages. Prisoners of rank were usually tried at Westminster and
were transported to and from the Tower by river. |
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| When a prisoner was being interrogated government officials could easily visit the Tower or be kept informed
of developments. |
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| The Tower had space in the 20 or so medieval towers and gatehouses to hold prisoners in solitary confinement. |
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| The Tower was thought to be secure. Escape was difficult and communication between a prisoner and anyone outside
could be strictly regulated. At least that was the hope. In reality, a Jesuit, John Gerard, who had been brought
to the Tower for interrogation and torture managed not only to keep in touch with his friends but eventually to
escape down a rope from the roof of the Cradle Tower to a waiting boat, all with the help of his accommodating
warder. |
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| Prisoners were expected to pay the costs of their upkeep if they had the funds. If they didn't, they still might
be provided for or they might have to depend upon the charity of family and friends on the outside. |
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| Once a prisoner was convicted of treason all his property was confiscated by the Crown and he would be maintained
out of the proceeds. He was entitled to an allowance for food, fuel, and light according to a fixed scale which
varied according to his rank in the peerage or the clergy. |
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| Prisoners of rank were often allowed to have their own servants with them. |
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| However, sometimes prisoners were denied the food and fuel they were due so the Lieutenant of the Tower, who
received an allowance for each prisoner, could pocket the money. |
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| Some prisoners had the "liberty of the Tower" which meant they could move freely within the Tower
walls during the daytime. |
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| "Close Prisoners" were restricted to their cells, not allowed to have visitors or write or receive
letters, and were always under the watchful eye of their warder. These prisoners were only allowed out for exercise
under guard if it was for their health. |
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| A number of prisoners were tortured. Some were brought from other prisons for that purpose. Two of the most
notorious torture instruments, the rack and the "scavanger's daughter" [sic] were only at the
Tower. |
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| There was no permanent torture-chamber. The basement of the White Tower was used. But prisoners could also be
tortured in their cells. |
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| The use of torture was never indiscriminate. It was never used against a prisoner of rank in this status-conscious
age. And generally torture was not used without a warrant from the Privy Council. |
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| In Elizabeth I's reign the government published a careful justification of the torture inflicted on Catholic
missionary priests and Jesuits. It claimed torture was administered as "charitably" as possible. It was
only used when the prisoner was almost certainly guilty or had vital information. It was applied slowly with the
prisoner continuously being urged to answer the questions. |
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| There is no doubt that torture was used without a warrant and the manner of its use might go well beyond what
official policy stated, however. |
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| Only a minority of prisoners were executed. Of the rest, some were freed, some were released on surety from
family or friends, some were sent away to live under surveillance, some were banished, some were transferred to
other prisons, and some died in the Tower of natural causes. Some even escaped. |
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| A prisoner could be held indefinitely simply at the monarch's pleasure. |
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| Executions took place only following condemnation by the legal process, usually after a trial or act of parliament.
But although the proper procedures were always followed, the outcome could be a foregone conclusion. |
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| The full penalties for treason were hanging, drawing and quartering, usually at Tyburn (were present day Marble
Arch is). For men of rank death was by beheading with an axe, almost always on Tower Hill. |
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| A few prisoners, mostly women, died within the Tower on the Green to spare them and the government the embarrassment
of a public execution. |
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