Tower of London?

Question

I'm going to the Tower of London today- I'd like to know how many important historical personalities were beheaded there.
Thanks ^-^

Answer 1

King Baliol of Scotland (1296)

William Wallace (1305)

John Fisher Bishop of Rochester (1534)

Sir Thomas More (1535)

Implicated with Anne Boleyn (1536)

Mark Smeaton

Sir Henry Norris

George Boleyn

Sir Francis Weston

William Brereton

Thomas Cromwell (1540)

Implicated with Catherine Howard (1542)

Thomas Culpepper

Henry Mannox

Francis Dereham

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1546)

Thomas, Duke of Norfolk (1546)

Thomas Seymour, High Admiral of England (1549)

Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector (1552)

Guildford Dudley - husband of Lady Jane Grey (1554)

Guy Fawkes (1606)

Thomas Overbury (1613)

Sir Walter Raleigh - first imprisoned for 13 years then released but eventually executed (1618)

Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford (1641)

James Scott, Duke of Monmouth (1685)

Roger Casement

Corporal Josef Jakobs

Answer 2

"In Britain, beheading was introduced during the reign of William the Conqueror for the execution of Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland in 1076. It was confined to those of noble birth who were convicted of treason, or in a very few cases murder. Several members of Royalty were beheaded, including Charles 1st, Anne Boleyn, Mary Queen of Scots and Lady Jane Grey. Many other Earls, Lords and Knights, including Sir Walter Raleigh, and even some Bishops were beheaded."

"The majority of English beheadings took place at the Tower of London. Seven were carried out in private within the grounds, of which 5 were of women and just over 100 on Tower Hill outside the walls of the Tower, where there stood a permanent scaffold from 1485. Only a very small number of beheadings were carried out elsewhere, as the Tower was the principal prison for traitors. It should be noted that treason often meant displeasing the monarch, rather than in any way betraying the country."

"The spot indicated as "The site of the scaffold" on Tower Green which visitors can see today was not used for all of the 7 private beheadings although the plaque implies this.
Those beheaded in private on Tower Green were Lord Hastings in 1483, Anne Boleyn on the 19th of May 1536, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury on the 28th of May 1541, Catherine Howard and her Lady in Waiting, Jane, Viscountess Rochford on the 13th of February 1542, Lady Jane Grey on the 15th of February 1554 and Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex on the 25th of February 1601.
At various times both the low block and the high block have been used . The axe was the normal implement of execution in Britain, although Anne Boleyn was beheaded with a sword (see below)."

"A replica of the scaffold used for the 1601 execution of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex has been constructed for exhibition in the Tower. The original was set up in the middle of the Parade Ground and was made of oak, some 4 feet high and having a 9 feet square platform (1.2 m high x 2.75 m square) with a waist high rail round it. The prisoner mounted it by a short flight of stairs and was not restrained throughout the execution as it was expected that people of noble birth would know how to behave at their executions! Devereux lay full length on the platform and placed his neck on the low block with his arms outstretched. It is recorded that three strokes of the axe were required to decapitate him. Straw was spread on the scaffold to absorb the blood.
Beheading in public on Tower Hill was used when the government of the day wished to make an example of the traitor (or traitors). Double beheadings were rare, although not unknown, and were carried out in order of precedence of the victims, as occurred with the Jacobite Earls, Kilmarnock and Balmerino, executed in 1746 for treason after the battle of Culloden."

"Simon Lord Lovatt became the last person to be beheaded on Tower Hill when he was executed for treason on April the 9th, 1747. The high block used for Lord Lovatt together with the axe were on display in the Tower. It was normal for the executioner to pick up the severed head and display to the crowd proclaiming, "Behold the head of a traitor!"

"The History of Beheading : Beheading in Britain" : http://www.richard.clark32.btinternet.co.uk/behead.html

See also : "Tower History Timechart" : http://www.royalarmouries.org/extsite/view.jsp?sectionId=443

Answer 3

they have pictures of the stages of establishing of the Tower of London in its instruction manual e book. while you're in London you may pop alongside and get one or see if any are being offered on ebay.