The Role Of Torture In The Elizabethan Era

Queen Elizabeth I was first familiar with Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London when she was imprisoned in the tower for conspiracy to overthrow Queen Mary I. In the month that Elizabeth was imprisoned, she encountered some of the infamous inmates that were held there. The day her coronation was held her parade around the city of London began at the tower and ended at Westminster abbey. The Tower of London has a great deal of dark history including imprisonment, torture, and executions.
An exceptional amount of torture in this period of time occurred in the Elizabethan era. Father John Gerard, a prisoner who was held at the Tower of London, has a detailed account of the terrors that took place in the tower. In

his account, he describes being hung by his arms for hours, and gruesome torture devices. This all happened while Queen Elizabeth I was in power and came to a halt after her fall. Queen Elizabeth I had a very unique personality, but she is best known for two different characters. On one hand she was a charming, well mannered, political genius, while on the other hand she was a ruthless monarch who would take extreme measures to protect England and maintain her power. She gained this reputation by displaying her enormous amount of power. She used the tower to inflict fear, which kept the citizens of England and foreign countries in line. Queen Elizabeth I especially enjoyed to torture spies or anyone who opposed her. For crimes of a certain magnitude, she insisted on having executions, to show off her power. After the executions, there was a resident group of ravens that never left the tower. The ravens were attracted to dead bodies and the live inmates that were hung in the towers courtyard. Today at the tower, the ravens are still treated as royalty, they are better nourished than most people, and are cared for by their own guard. From the beginning, the people of London believe that the ravens are to be a type of guard for the tower.
In the early 1080’s, The Tower of London was commissioned by William the Conquerer. The unknown architect based the towers structure on a medieval concept. As time has passed, the tower has been added onto to be used and used as a palace, military fortress, prison, and vault.
Today the tower is known to be a historical site and a display for the crown jewels. The jewels are worth £18.1 billion, $25,715,846,500 USD, including the gold and silver that the jewels are set in. The crown jewels consists of crowns, swords, scepters, robes, orbs, and ceremonial objects. Since the founding of Britain, these jewels have been worn by several monarchs. The jewels are protected with an immense amount of full time security. In 1671, Colonel Thomas Blood was accompanied by two other criminals to steal the jewels. Thomas Blood used odd methods to take the expensive jewels. Blood used a hammer to flatten the crown into a bag, one cut a scepter in half, while another stuffed the orb in his pants. Blood was unsuccessful because the jewel keepers son investigated the jewel house after he heard a disturbance upstairs.
In 1210, the Tower of London was used as a private zoo under the ownership of King John. The zoo contained a pride of lions, elephants, wolves, bears, and many other exotic creatures. Due to the lack of modern technology transportation for the animals to the tower was not an easy task. These animals were taken by carriage, boat, and train before they finally arrived at the tower. Due to the inhumane methods of capture and transportation, many animals died during their travel.
Since the early years of England, the Tower of London has remained apart of the countries history and culture. From its creation in 1080, the tower has been used by the leaders of Britain and has served each monarch well for each of their own unique uses. The Tower of London has been and will continue to be a symbol of power and wealth in Britain.