Editing Avengers - Tower of London (section)

==THE TOWER OF LONDON==
: The Tower of London played an important role in Tudor history. Although it wasn't a major residence for the Tudor monarchs as it had been for the Plantagenets and earlier dynasties, it did serve as a prison very frequently.

===THE ROYAL MENAGERIE===
: Not far from Middle Tower and the Thames River was another tower, now gone, that held a group of animals called the Royal Menagerie.
: As early as the 1200s animals were kept in the Tower of London. King Henry II had leopards and a polar bear. The polar bear¹s trainer would attach a long leash to the bear and allow it to fish in the Thames River. James I baited his lions with dogs in the 1600s. Eventually the menagerie was moved to the new London Zoo in 1835.

===THE MINT===
: Metals were worked and coins were minted for 500 years, beginning in the late 1200s, in the area called Mint Street.

===TOWER GREEN AND SCAFFOLD SITE===
: Only seven executions took place on the Tower Green, reserved for the most important prisoners. Others occurred outside the Tower¹s walls.
: In 1536 the gaoler (jailer) and others watched over Anne Boleyn¹s beheading.
: Boleyn, who had been one of the wives of King Henry VIII, requested a sword, believing it would be swifter than an ax. Smart choice: Many beheadings took more than one swing of the ax.
: There is a plaque showing the site of the scaffold used for the private executions on the Tower Green. Seven famous prisoners were executed here.  The private executions took place on the Tower Green within the walls of the Tower to avoid embarrassing the prisoner or the monarch. Normally, the executions took place outside on Tower Hill and were usually viewed by thousands of spectators.
: A plaque shows the names of those executed on the Tower Green along with the dates.

===YEOMAN WARDERS HOMES===
: Yeoman warders and their families‹including James¹s family‹live in row houses along the thick outer walls of the Tower. Yeoman warders are often called beefeaters. Some say the nickname came about in the 1670s when certain men had to test the king¹s food to protect him against poisoning.
: But the name probably originated because beefeaters were once given daily rations of meat as part of their pay. Today they receive a paycheck.

===THE JEWEL HOUSE===
: The crown jewels are on display in the Jewel House in Waterloo Barracks. The priceless gems and crowns sometimes worn by England¹s royalty have been housed in different areas of the Tower since the 14th century.
: In 1671 Thomas Blood and three accomplices made the only attempt to steal the crown jewels. Blood tucked a crown under his robe but was captured outside the Tower.

===THE WHITE TOWER===
: Warders lock the Tower¹s outer gates each night just before ten o¹clock. But locked gates didn¹t stop Bishop Ranulf Flambard from escaping in 1101. The Tower¹s first prisoner‹and its first escapee‹lowered himself down the walls of the White Tower using a rope that had been smuggled into his cell.
: Flambard was later pardoned.
: The White Tower got its nickname after King Henry III ordered a coat of whitewash in 1240. 
: The oldest part of the Tower complex, construction is thought to have begun in 1078 under the orders of William the Conqueror. It is the oldest example of a Norman keep in England. Its dimensions are 90 feet tall and 107x118 feet across.  The entrance to the Tower is on the first floor (second story in America) via a removable staircase, designed to make invasion of the Tower more difficult.  
: The name "White Tower" probably comes from when it was painted white during the reign of Henry III (1216-1272). The onion domes were added to the turrets in the 16th century. The earlier ones were probably cones or pyramids.
: The Chapel of St. John the Evangelist is located on the second floor of the White Tower. It is one of the earliest church interiors preserved in England. At one time the columns were possibly painted in bright colors.  This was the place of worship for the sovereign and court when they were at the Tower. (Regular residents would, and still do, attend services in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula.)  Some famous events in royal history took place here: Elizabeth of York (Queen to Henry VII) lay in state here after her death in childbirth in 1503. Mary I was betrothed to Philip of Spain by proxy here in 1554.
: The White Tower has been used as a residence, a prison, a place for state events, an astronomical observatory and a repository for papers.  The first record of the Armouries in the White Tower is from the reign of Elizabeth I in 1565. In 1599 there is record of a servant appointed to collect entrance fees. Soon after though, it became a storehouse for arms and records. (Some genius even decided to put a lot of papers next to the gunpowder stores!) In the late 19th century, it was opened to the public.

===THE ROYAL ARMORIES===
: Weapons and armor were created by talented metalworkers. Some of the armor worn by England¹s long-dead soldiers is on display in the Tower¹s Royal Armouries, located in the White Tower.

===THE BLOODY TOWER===
: Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned in the Bloody Tower. He spent some of his time planting tobacco on the Tower grounds while he was there. Other well-known people‹including Princess Elizabeth, a future queen, and William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania‹were also kept there.
AND HE WAS KEPT IN THE TOWER OF LONDON BECAUSE HE UPSET QUEEN ELIZABETH

===THE WAKEFIELD TOWER===
: The Wakefield Tower housed Edward I¹s sumptuous throne room in the 13th century.  Although the Tower is still officially a royal palace, it has not been the principal home to a king or queen since Henry VII died in 1509.

===FORTRESS===
: In 900 years not a day has passed without soldiers in the Tower. Cannons fired from the Tower in the 1400s during the Wars of the Roses.

===TRAITOR'S GATE===
: When you first arrive at the Tower, you walk by the water entry which has come to be known as Traitor's Gate.  Many famous prisoners arrived at the Tower this way, including Elizabeth I before she became Queen, when she was imprisoned by her sister Mary.  Elizabeth is said to have proclaimed upon that landing in 1554: "Here lands as true a subject, being prisoner, as ever landed at these stairs."

===CHAPEL OF ST. PETER AD VINCULA===
: The original Chapel of St. Peter's was outside the Tower walls until they were expanded by Henry III. The Chapel has served as the place of worship for the Tower community from that time onward. (The Chapel in the White Tower was only for the sovereign and the court)  The present form of the chapel dates from 1519-1520 and is a rare example of early Tudor church building.  All of those executed on the Tower Green were buried in the Chapel and many executed on Tower Hill  were buried here as well. The executed prisoners had their bodies hastily buried without markers. The chapel was renovated in 1876 during the reign of Queen Victoria. The remains uncovered in the nave of the church (some with still intact coffins) were re-interred in the crypt.
: The remains that were uncovered in the chancel were reburied under the marble in front of the altar. Some of these skeletons were identified: Anne Boleyn and her cousin Kathryn Howard notable among them.

===THE QUEEN'S HOUSE===
: Built in the reign of Henry VIII, the Queen's House is currently the home of the Resident Governor of the Tower of London. Originally, the Lieutenant of the Tower lived here and was the custodian of several famous prisoners: Lady Jane Grey, Guy Fawlkes. Anne Boleyn is said to have stayed here before her execution as well.

===THE BELL TOWER===
: Several famous prisones were held in the Bell Tower during Tudor times, including Sir Thomas More, Bishop John Fisher and the Princess Elizabeth.  During special celebrations for the year 2000, the cell of Thomas More was opened to the public.

===THE BEAUCHAMP TOWER===
: This tower was where the sons of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland were held after the attempt to put Jane Grey on the throne instead of Mary I. It has a large number of carvings etched into the walls by various prisoners.