List of prisoners in the Tower of London

Tower of London

The Tower of London served as a prison for the English and British kings from 1101 to 1941 . Mostly they had high-ranking or important prisoners imprisoned in this fortress in London . Many prisoners were prisoners of the state or the king. On the other hand, completely unknown prisoners also came into the tower. In the 800 years of its history, no other English prison has been used for such diverse purposes as the Tower of London.

In the 13th century, for example, the Tower served as a common criminal court. At least four murder suspects were imprisoned in the Tower in the 13th century, three robbers and one key witness for other crimes. The exact number or even the names of the prisoners from each time are no longer recorded. Sources can be found up until 1337 that describe the tower as a possible prison for criminals. A prisoner breakout broke out in 1312 when armed prisoners managed to escape up Tower Hill and ring the bells of All Hallows-by-the-Tower to call on the people of London for help. The crowd that ran up broke holes in gates and walls. She managed to free two other prisoners. This took place at a time when the Tower was already in decline as a normal criminal prison.

Presumably there was a prison building on the fortress grounds in the 12th and 13th centuries that served no other purpose than to accommodate prisoners. In later centuries, the prisoners were housed in other parts of the fortress, with virtually every building at some point in its history also housing prisoners. In the White Tower , high-ranking prisoners had been housed on the upper floors since the 13th century at the latest. However, they could not be held here for too long without disturbing everyday life in the tower. With the construction of the outer ramparts under Heinrich III. and Edward I, space was created for further buildings. The most important prisons were probably the Beauchamp Tower and the Martin Tower .

The end of the tower as a criminal prison came after Newgate prison was established in London in the 13th century, and the monarchy found safe places to keep prisoners outside London and no longer had to bring them to the capital.

The tower was particularly suitable as a prison for difficult or popular prisoners, as it was directly connected to the person of the king and was strongly protected. A system of ramparts and fortifications separated him from the possibly troubled people of London. Until the 20th century, the tower was also always the location of military units, which, in addition to the regular guards, served as additional protection for the building. Since the King's elite troops were often stationed in the Tower, reliability and readiness for action were usually higher than in other prisons.

At the same time, the tower had comparatively lavishly furnished rooms and living space. In this way it was possible to offer high-ranking prisoners a life that seemed appropriate to their status, and yet to keep them safe. The Tower also offered ordinary prisoners better conditions than the other prisons in the city, and so the king was able to have prisoners brought into the Tower as a special act of grace. In addition, the prison conditions in the tower could be improved by paying the guards or the prison administration appropriate amounts of money. By the 14th century, an official catalog of fees had developed from this. The tower's prestige also made it appear as an appropriate prison for all crimes that directly involved the interests of the English or British royal family.

Surname	Time of imprisonment	Official reason for detention	Reason for end of liability	Cell location	Remarks	Receipts / individual evidence
Ranulf Flambard	to 1101	murder	Successful escape	White Tower	First prisoner in the tower
A jew	1247	After baptism practicing the Jewish faith again
About 700 Jews	1275-1278	Trimming coins	Different		In 1287 all Jews were imprisoned and driven out of the country
John Balliol	1297-1299	Prisoner of war	Released after the intervention of the Pope and against promises to go into exile	Salt Tower	King of Scotland, aspirant to the English throne
Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March	1322-1323	Revolt against Edward II.	Escape
French prisoners of war	1339-1453	Different
David II	1346-1347	Prisoner of war			King of Scotland
Johann II.	1357-1360	Prisoner of war	Peace of Brétigny	White Tower	King of France
Philip II	1357-1360	Prisoner of war	Peace of Brétigny		Duke of Burgundy, son of John II of France
Richard II	1399		Renounced the crown in favor of Henry IV.
Supporter of Owain Glyndŵr	1404
Jacob I.	1406				King of Scotland, again in the Tower in 1413. From 1402 to 1424 he was a prisoner of the English kings in different places.
Jacob I.	1413				King of Scotland. Second imprisonment after 1406. From 1402 to 1424 he was a prisoner of the English kings in different places.
Charles de Valois, duc d'Orléans	Was a prisoner of the English kings in various places from 1415 to 1440	Prisoner of war	Ransom payment	Presumably in the White Tower
Henry VI.	1460	Prisoner in the English War of the Roses	Assassinated May 21, 1471	Wakefield Tower	His murder is commemorated with an annual ceremony in the Tower to this day
Margaret of Anjou	1471	Prisoners in the English War of the Roses	Ransomed by Ludwig XI. against lands in France		Wife of Heinrich VI.
Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury	1483–?	For your own safety	Presumably murdered		The princes in the tower
Follower of Perkin Warbeck	1495				The majority of the prisoners was in Newgate prison
Thomas Abbell	1532 and 1533-1540	Catholic priest	1532: released. 1540: execution		Left a graffito with an A in the middle of a bell (engl. Bell ), along A-Bell.
John Frith	1532-1533	Reformation priest	Transferred to Newgate Prison in June 1533 , executed in July 1534		Imprisoned at the instigation of Thomas More , who was trapped in the Tower a little later. Wrote in Tower A Boke. . . answeringe vnto M.mores lettur - a pamphlet against transubstantiation that finally sealed his fate.
John Fisher	1534-1535	Refused to recognize Henry VIII as head of the Church	execution	Bell Tower	Raised cardinal in absentia during his detention.
Thomas More	1534-1535	Refused to recognize Henry VIII as head of the Church	execution	Bell Tower
Thomas Wyatt	1536 and 1541		Both times released	Bell Tower (1536)	Allegedly lover of Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn	1536	Treason	execution		Second wife of Henry VIII.
Adrian Fortescue	1539	Treason	execution		Later beatified
Catherine Howard	1542	Treason	execution		Fifth wife of Henry VIII
Jane Gray	1553 - January 12, 1554		execution		Nine day queen
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland	1553	Jane Gray supporters	execution	Beauchamp Tower	Left several ornate inscriptions on the wall of the tower
Elizabeth I.			freedom	Bell Tower	Then became queen
Hugh Draper				Salt Tower	Catholic clergyman, left behind the most elaborate of all wall engravings by prisoners in the tower in 1561 with an astronomical clock
Henry Oldenburg	1667	"Dangerous Aspirations"			Secretary of the Royal Society
Henry Laurens	1779 - December 31, 1781		Exchange of prisoners against Lord Cornwallis		The only American who was locked in the tower
Roger Casement	? - 1916	Treason	Transfer to Pentonville Prison , where he was executed on August 1, 1916.		Irish revolutionary
About 180 German submarine crews	Second World War		laying	Hospital block	Short stay before transfer to other prisons
Werner Gerlach	Summer 1940	Prisoner of war	Extradition to Germany		German Consul General in Iceland
Rudolf Hess	Four days in May 1941.		laying	Queen's House	Short stay before transfer to another prison. Last prisoner in the tower

literature

• Ralph B. Pugh: Imprisonment in Medieval England. Cambridge University Press, 1968, ISBN 0-521-06005-2 .
• Brian A. Harrison: The Tower of London Prisoner Book: A Complete Chronology of the Persons Known to have been Detained at Their Majesties Pleasure 1100-1941. Royal Armories, Leeds 2004, ISBN 0-948092-56-4 .

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Pugh: Imprisonment in Medieval England. 1968, p. 122.
2. ^ ^{A b} Pugh: Imprisonment in Medieval England. 1968, p. 123.
3. ^ Pugh: Imprisonment in Medieval England. 1968, pp. 222-223.
4. ^ ^{A b c} Pugh: Imprisonment in Medieval England. 1968, p. 125.
5. ^ ^{A b c} Pugh: Imprisonment in Medieval England. 1968, p. 126.
6. ^ ^{A b} Pugh: Imprisonment in Medieval England. 1968, p. 168.
7. ^ ^{A b} Pugh: Imprisonment in Medieval England. 1968, p. 55.
8. ^ Pugh: Imprisonment in Medieval England. 1968, p. 162.
9. ↑ Historic Royal Palaces: Richard II. ( Memento of the original from February 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ^ ^{A b} Pugh: Imprisonment in Medieval England. 1968, p. 107.
11. ^ Camelot International: Wakefield Tower
12. ↑ Kings College: Margaret of Anjou
13. ↑ Ruth Ahnert: Writing in the Tower of London during the Reformation, approx. 1530–1558. In: Huntington Library Quarterly. Vol. 72, No. 2 (June 2009), p. 173.
14. ↑ Ruth Ahnert: Writing in the Tower of London during the Reformation, approx. 1530–1558. In: Huntington Library Quarterly. Vol. 72, No. 2 (June 2009), p. 174.
15. ↑ ^{a b} Tom Masters, Steve Fallon, Vesna Maric: Lonely Planet London City Guide . Lonely Planet, 2010, ISBN 978-1-74179-226-3 , p. 119.
16. ↑ John Milton, Paul Fadio Bandia: Agents of translation. John Benjamin Publishing Company, 2009, ISBN 978-90-272-1690-8 , p. 6.
17. ^ Simon Bradley, Nikolas Pevsner: London 1. The city of London. Penguin, London 1997, ISBN 0-14-071092-2 , p. 369.
18. ↑ WJ Loftie: The Tower of London: A Guide. P. 4.
19. ^ Simon Bradley, Nikolaus Pevsner: London 1. The city of London. Penguin, London 1997, ISBN 0-14-071092-2 , pp. 367-368.
20. ^ ^{A b c} Geoffrey Parnell: The Tower of London: Past and Present. The History Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-7524-5036-0 , p. 80.
21. ↑ Historic Royal Palaces: Tower of London World Heritage Site - Management Plan. 2007, PDF ( Memento of December 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), p. 33.