Башня Лондона (Tower of London)
Информация - Разное
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Выполнил: студент 5-го курса Института филологии
германо романского отделения
группы 505
Мирзоев Т. А.
- Introduction 1
- The Bell Tower - 2
- The bloody Tower - 2
- The Salt Tower 3
- The Beauchamp Tower 3
- The Wakefield Tower 4
- The Martin Tower 4
- The White Tower 5
- Chaple of St. John The Evangelist 5
- The Arms and Armors (part one) 5
- The Arms and Armors (part two) 6
9The Crown Jewels 7
10Ceremonies 8
- The Ceremony of Keys 8
- The Ceremony of the Lilies and Roses - 9
- Ghost stories - 10
- The Ghost of Anne Boleyn - 10
- 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 IVs 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 wasnt 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 Traiters Gate. Henry IIIs 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 Legges 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 kings 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 VIIIs 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 constables 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