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Home , Henry III of England, House of Hanover, House of Normandy, House of Plantagenet, House of Tudor, House of Windsor

MASARYKOVA UNIVERZITA V BRNĚ PEDAGOGICKÁ FAKULTA Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury

Henry III and Tower of

Bakalářská práce

Brno 2006

Autor práce: Petra Angelová Vedoucí práce: Andrew Oakland, M.A.

Contents

1. Introduction ...... 2 2. A brief history of the development of the ...... 3 2.1. Kings and queens, their Houses and the Tower of London ...... 7 3. III of the House of Platagenet ...... 9 3.1. Henry III and architecture ...... 16 3.1.1. Architecture of the ...... 17 4. The Tower of London during the reign of Henry III ...... 19 5. The present Tower of London and Henry III ...... 24 6. Conclusion ...... 26 7. Bibliography ...... 27

2 1. Introduction

This dissertation is aimed at the Tower of London and Henry III. The magnificent Tower of London is officially called Her Majesty’s Palace and Fortress, the Tower of London. The Tower is actually not a single structure but a cluster of fortified buildings enclosed within a protective wall, which spreads over 13 acres [5.3 hectares].

Over 900 years of British history have taken place behind its walls. No wonder it became a leading historic attraction all over the world with its 2.5 million visitors per year. Throughout the years the Tower has served as fortress, armoury, treasury, /, mint, palace, place of execution, public records office, observatory, shelter and prison. The huge contribution of to the Tower is well known, but in my opinion Henry III’s contribution is often limitted.

3 2. A brief history of Tower of London

There are legends of theTower of London being built in time of Julius Ceasar, this interesting thesis is mentioned in one of the famous plays [Richard III] by . But the evidence shows that the first foundations of the building were laid in 1078 during the reign of William I [1066-87], of .

It all started when King Edward of failed to not keep his promise to give the throne to William I, and gave the throne, instead, to , his English brother in law. Angry William sent his army across the to conquer England and, on October 14 th 1066, he defeated the last Saxon King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings. After this victory William I, later known as William the Conqueror [1066-87], was crowned at to be English king.

After the shock of the , the new king may not have received the warmest welcome from his new country. Building a fortress always helped to display a king’s rank and wealth, so after firmly establishing his rule William ordered his new fortress, the Tower of London, to be built. The location, just east of the City on the north bank of the , just downstream from the Old London Bridge, was perfect for a residence as well as for monitoring all ship movements up and down the river Thames. The fortress was also built as much to protect the king from the people of London as the people of London from anyone else, e.g. to protect the city from Danish attacks.

The first building of the Tower of London was the Great Tower and the Norman Chapel, the oldest church in London.

The building of the Great Tower and eventually the White Tower as we know it today started in 1078 and took around 20 years to complete. The new building replaced an earlier existing wooden fort built on the site. Although primarily the fortresses, e.g. the Roman one, were of wood, William ordered his tower to be built of stone. It was made of rough-hewn Kentish ragstone, which he had

4 specially imported from , edged with finely cut stone at the corners and around the windows. The walls of the White Tower were made 15 feet [4.50 m] thick and 90 feet [27.50 m] high. Initially there were conical caps at the top of the four turrets, but they were replaced by the present onion-shaped ones in the sixteenth century. The design was based on the palaces of the Norman of the tenth century, and the work was overseen by Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester. This may seem to be a rather curious choice but actually, in this period, priests were perhaps the most experienced in building stone masons, learning through the construction of monasteries, cathedrals and churches.

The Chapel of St John the Evangelist is a fine example of early Norman architecture. It is constructed of Caen limestone as part of the White Tower and it remains today much as it was when Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester built it.

Another early addition or rebuilding was the Tower then the Broad Arrow Tower, which was built to serve a military purpose.

Later on a 'fore-building' [now demolished] was added to the southern front of the White Tower to protect the entrance. The Bell Tower at the south-west corner was also built at that time. The area had already been doubled and covered by the fortress, and by a new and deeper ditch to the north and east, which was intended to flood naturally from the river, although this was not a success. Sections of curtain wall were built.

Tower of London in 1200

5 In 1238 Henry launched a new building programme with the construction of a great new curtain wall round the east, north and west sides of the castle. The new wall doubled the area covered by the fortress, enclosing the neighbouring church of St Peter ad Vincula. It was surrounded by a moat, this time successfully flooded by a Flemish engineer, John Le Fosser. The wall was reinforced by nine new towers, the strongest at the corners [the Salt, Martin and Devereux].

King Edward I was determined to complete his father’s defensive works in the Tower of London. The work included building the existing Beauchamp Tower, but the main effort was concentrated on filling in Henry III's moat and creating an additional curtain wall on the western, northern and eastern side, and surrounding it by a new moat. This wall enclosed the existing curtain wall built by Henry III and was pierced by three new entrances, one from the land on the west, passing through the Middle and Byward towers, one from the east, and another under St Thomas's Tower, from the river.

The King Edward I also built the infamous river entrance to the Tower of London known as Traitors' Gate. The entrance to the Tower became famous for being used for the admission of State prisoners who were brought to the Tower of London by the River Thames. The Well Tower was also part of Edward I's expansion to the London Tower.

King Edward III was probably too busy fighting the French and concerned with the black death, so that his works at the Tower were fairly minor, although he built a new gatehouse between the Lanthorn Tower and the Salt Tower, together with the Cradle Tower and its postern, a further postern behind the Byward Tower and another at the Develin Tower.

King Edward III was also responsible for creating the vault over the gate passage and rebuilding the upper parts of the Bloody Tower.

The greatest achievement of King Edward III was to extend the Tower Wharf, which is situated between the river and the Tower. The Tower Wharf was

6 extended eastwards as far as St Thomas's Tower. Its present form was completed by his successor, King Richard II.

In the reign of King Richard II [1377-99] the Bowayard improvements were completed.

In the the castle was expanded for the last time. King Henry VII extended the Royal lodgings around the Lanthorn Tower. He added a new private chamber and built a library, a long gallery, and also laid out a garden.

The Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula [dedicated to St Peter in chains] was rebuilt as the original building was destroyed by fire in 1512. The Chapel was rebuilt and re-sited so the south wall of the previous chapel.

The Lieutenant's house was built in the 1540s and extended and modified during the reign of James I.

More utilitarian buildings gradually took over the entire area previously covered by the medieval royal lodgings to the south of the White Tower; by 1800, after a series of fires and re-building, the whole of this area had become a mass of large brick Ordnance buildings. All of these, however, have been swept away, and the only surviving storehouse put up by the Ordnance is the New Armouries, standing against the eastern inner curtain wall between the Salt and Broad Arrow towers.

Fortunately the First World War left the Tower largely untouched. There was no major damage to the Tower as the only bomb, which fell on the fortress, landed in the moat. The damage during the Second World War was however much greater. A number of buildings were severely damaged or destroyed including the Main Guard, a late 19th-century building to the south west of the White Tower.

The role of the Tower as a place of imprisonment and execution was finally put to an end during the Second World War. The last prisoners were spy Joseph

7 Jakobs and Hitler’s deputy Reichsführer Rudolf Hess. The place was closed to the public and reopened after the war.

Today the Tower of London has became a leading attraction and remains the storehouse of Jewels and regalia, as it has been for nearly 700 years.

2.1 Queens and Kings, their Houses and the Tower of London

Although the Tower of London was never primarily intended to protect London from external invasion or to be the principal residence for Kings and Queens of England, its function was always to provide a base for royal power in the and it became a stronghold into which the could retreat in times in civil disorder.

Over 900 years of English history took place within its walls and every English House, with its king or queen, has been connected to the Tower of London since the reign of the .

The House of Normandy:

1066 1087 1100 1135 1154 William the William II, Rufus Henry I Stephen conqueror

The :

1154 1189 1199 1216 1272 1307

Henry II Richard I John I Henry III Edward I

1307 1327 1377 1399 1413 1422

Edward II Edward III Richard II Henry IV Henry V

8 The House of Plantagent of Lancaster:

1422 1461 Henry VI

The House of Plantagent of :

1461 1470 1471 1483 1485

Edward IV Henry VI Edward IV Richard III

The :

1485 1509 1547 1553 1558 1603

Henry VII Henry VIII Edward VI Mary I

The :

1603 1625 1649 1660 1685 1688 1702 1704 Oliver William III James I Charles I Charles James II Ann Cromwell Mary II

The House of :

1714 1727 1760 1820 1830 1837 1901

George I George II George III George IV William IV Victoria

The House of Saxe Gotha (later changed to the ):

1091 1910 1936 1952 2006 Edward Edward VII George VI Elizabeth II VIII

9 3. Henry III of the House of Platagenet

John I and Isabella of Angouleme

William Marshal Hubert de Burgh

Henry III and of Provence Eleanor and Simon de Montfort

Edward I Edmund

Henry III, the eldest son of John I and his second wife Isabella of Angouleme, was born in Castle on October 1st 1207. Henry was only nine when his father died in the middle of October. He was the first monarch to be crowned by in his minority on October 28 th 1216. He became King of England, Lord of and . The took place in Cathedral soon after his father’s death, as the saw quickly that the young prince was a safer option than Prince Louis of France, who had been supported by barons in his invasion in order to depose John.

Henry’s reign began immersed in the rebellion created by his father. London and most of the southeast were in the hands of the French Dauphin Louis and the northern regions were under the control of rebellious barons - only the and southwest were loyal to the boy king .

As Henry was too young to rule, he was assisted by regents William Marshal and Hubert de Burgh. His regents immediately declared their intention to rule by the . In the Magna Carta the wished to bind the king to some feudal laws under which they were held. The emerging class of free men also demanded the same protection from the king's excessive control. Barons, nobility, and free men began viewing England as a community rather than a mere aggregation of independent manors, villages, and outlying principalities. In

10 addition to the restrictions outlined in the Magna Carta, the barons asked to be consulted in matters of state and called together as a Great Council.

As the country was ruled by regents, the Magna Carta was reissued as a sign of good will to the barons in 1217.

Henry's first regent, William Marshal, and later of Pandulf , was a trusted knight who had already served under Henry II, King Richard and . During this period England was torn by civil war and partially occupied by the French Prince Louis, later Louis VII of France. In 1217, however, the French fleet was defeated at Sandwich and withdrew from England and the barons expelled the French Dauphin.

When in 1219 William Marshal died, Hubert de Burgh took control. Hubert de Burg, having served as a royal minister and commander in France, is remembered as the jailer of Prince Arthur, Duke of , who was a claimant to the throne of England as the grandson of Henry II. Some of the English barons, Louis's former allies, still continued to cause trouble during his virtual reign, but de Burgh gradually restored order and temporarily strengthened the position of the crown against the unruly .

On May 17 th 1220 Henry was crowned for a second time in by , Archbishop of .

In 1227, Henry was granted full powers of kingship, he was allowed to use his personal seal on documents, only because he had appealed to Honorius III for support. He had to get a letter from Pope Gregory IX declaring his minority.

In 1230, with typical willfulness and against the advice of the , he led an unsuccessful expedition to and Brittany. In the meantime Peter des Roches, , intrigued against the king’s regent, Hubert de Burg. So finally in 1232 Hubert de Burgh was deprived of office on charges of disloyalty to the crown. He was even imprisoned but eventually became reconciled with the king and later successfully withstood a revival of the old charges.

11 For the next two years the government was controlled by Frenchman Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, and his relative, Peter des Rivaux. This administration, which consisted of trained civil servants [many of them Poitevin], was hated by the barons, and a baronial revolt [1233–34] forced Henry to dismiss it.

In 1234 Henry took over the administration of the country, but despite frequent protests from the barons and from his brother, Richard, earl of , the king continued to surround himself with French , including his own Poitevin half brothers. When he married , the younger sister of the Queen of France in on January 14 th 1236, he promoted many of his French relatives to power and wealth. For instance, one Poitevin, Peter des Riveaux, Henry's prime educator , held the offices of Treasurer of the Household, Keeper of the King's Wardrobe, Keeper of the Privy Seal, and the sheriffdoms of twenty-one English counties simultaneously and one of Eleanor‘s uncles, Boniface of Savoy, became .

Henry even appointed French architects from Rheims to the renovation of Westminster Abbey in Gothic . The work began in 1245, at great expense. It ate up £46,000. The first building phase alone took 39 years.

The secret marriage arranged in 1238 between his youngest sister Eleanor and Simon de Montfort only made matters worse. Simon de Montfort, earl of , was a strongly religious man with traces of democratic ideas which must have horrified his more conservative foes.

In 1242 Henry's half brothers involved him in an expensive and disastrous military venture in France .

Henry‘s relationship with the French became worse because, as stated in Wikipedia, he was extremely pious, and his journeys were often delayed by his insistance on hearing Mass several times a day. He took so long to arrive on a visit to the French court, that his brother-in-law, King Louis IX of France, banned priests from Henry's route. On one occasion, as related by the English

12 chronicler Roger of Wendover, when King Henry met with papal prelates, he said, " If prelates knew how much I, in my reverence of God, am afraid of them and how unwilling I am to offend them, they would trample on me as on an old and worn-out shoe. "

In 1248 the king subsequently sent de Montfort to restore English authority in Gascony, but he totally alienated his former friend when in 1252 he recalled him to answer charges of unjust administration.

Henry was a consistent friend and supporter of the papacy. He had never forgotten the services of the legates Pandulf and Gualo to himself and his father, and was always ready to lend his aid to the political schemes of the . So in 1254, Henry accepted the papal offer of the for his younger son, Edmund, , agreeing in return to finance the conquest of the kingdom from the .

However, the English barons were disturbed by the king's subservience to the papacy and angry that they had not been consulted. Henry's favouritism and arrogance prompted his barons to refuse the necessary funds.

Henry was threatened by the pope with excommunication. He was then forced by seven leading barons to come to terms with their opposition. This opposition was led by his brother-in-law Simon de Montfort. The king had to agree to a series of major reforms and accepted its plan for counciliar government set forth in the Provisions of in 1258, supplemented by the Provisions of Westminster in 1259.

The effectively abolished the absolutist Anglo-Norman monarchy. This document placed the barons in virtual control of the realm. It declared that a council of fifteen men should be chosen not by the King but by the , Hugh Bigod, John Mansel and the . This comprised of both the king's supporters and detractors, dealt with the business of government, which effected a situation whereby Henry, as one of the equal members of the council, could do nothing without the council's knowledge and consent.

13 “THE PROVISIONS OF OXFORD

The Chancellor of England swore: That he will not seal any writ except a writ of course without the order of the King and of the councillors who are present.

Nor will he seal a gift of great wardship or of a large sum or of without the assent of the whole Council or of the greater part of it.

There are to be three a year: the first on the octave of Michaelmas; the second on the morrow of Candelmas; the third on the first Holy day of June, that is to say, three weeks before St John's day. (6th October, 3rd February, 3rd June).

To these three parliaments shall come the chosen councillors of the King, even if they are not summoned, to view the state of the kingdom and to treat of the common business of the kingdom and of the King likewise . . .

And they (the 15) are to have authority to advise the King in good faith on the government of the kingdom, and authority to amend and redress all the things they see need to be redressed and amended. And authority over the chief Justiciar, and over all other people. And if they cannot all be present, what the majority does shall be firm and established.” [taken from www..co.uk]

14 Matters came to a head in 1258, when Henry levied extortionate taxes to pay for debts incurred through war with , failed campaigns in France, and an extensive program of ecclesiastical building.

No wonder the short following period became the closest England was to come to complete abolition of the monarchy until the Commonwealth period of 1649- 1660.

Many barons who had initially supported ambitious Simon de Montfort began to suspect that they had gone too far with his reformation. The settlement began to break down in 1260 as divisions erupted between the Earl of Gloucester and Simon de Montfort.

These divisions in the baronial party enabled Henry to reassert his authority. With papal sanction, the Provisions of Oxford remained in force for only a few years, as Henry repudiated the provisions in 1261. This resulted in the outbreak of civil war in 1264. This war is known as the Barons' War. By 1263 Simon de Montfort and his forces had captured most of southeastern England.

Henry's eldest son, Edward called Longshanks because of his lanky build, led the king's forces with the opposition commanded by Simon de Montfort, Henry's brother-in-law. At the Battle of , in , de Montfort defeated Edward and on May 14 th 1264 captured both king and son. After being subdued Henry III had to accept the terms imposed upon him by Montfort in a treaty called the "Mise of Lewes," by which he promised to uphold the Provisions of Oxford.

This gave Simon de Montfort absolute power. He became a champion of reform. The nobility supported him because of his royal ties and belief in the Provisions of Oxford. He, with two close associates, summoned his famous representative [from the French "parler" to talk] in 1265. De Montfort selected a council of nine, whose function was similar to the earlier council of fifteen and ruled in the king's name. He recognized the need to gain the backing of smaller landowners and prosperous townsfolk.

Later in 1265, de Montfort lost the support of one of the most powerful barons, the Earl of Gloucester, and Edward also managed to escape. The heir to the

15 throne, Prince Edward, later known as Edward I, joined forces with the lords of the Marches, on the Welsh border, and then led the royal troops to decisive victory at in August 1265. Henry was released and Simon de Montfort was killed. Royal authority was restored by the , which is sometimes considered the death of in England.

Site of

The barons had capitulated. And in October 1266 the war wound down as supporters of the slain rebel leader Simon de Montfort made an offer of peace to the king in the Dictum of . This was issued from , its main demand was the right to buy back confiscated estates.

One year later in 1267 the war ended. The rebels and King Henry III of England agreed to peace terms as laid out in the Dictum of Kenilworth .

Although Henry resumed control of the throne, he is said to have been weak and senile since his release and from 1267 onwards Prince Edward actually ruled the realm, and Henry was king in name only.

By 1270 the country was sufficiently settled for Edward to be able to set off on a crusade from which he did not return until his father's death. Henry died peacefully in his sleep on November 16 th 1272. He was the first monarch after to be buried at Westminster Abbey.

Henry was succeeded by his son Edward I on November 21 st 1272 .

16 3.1 Henry III and architecture

According to Nicholas Trevet, an English Anglo-Norman chronicler, Henry was a thickset man of medium height with a narrow forehead and a drooping left eyelid, which rendered him a rather sinister appearance.

Henry had all the ambitions of his grandfather Henry II. Unfortunately he was not a good soldier or leader as his attempts to win back territory in France that had been lost by his father, ended in failure. Eventually he was forced to sign an agreement acknowledging that Normandy, , , and were no longer part of the empire. However he is remembered for his interest in art and architecture.

As Henry was religious and interested in architecture, during his long reign English Church made a great progress. Henry completed some of the great cathedrals at Durham, Wells, Ely and Lincoln and erected the magnificent edifice at with its spire.

Henry’s obsession with Edward the Confessor is also well known. According to Henry, Edward the Confessor represented the true ideals of kingship. To remind himself of the canonised monarch, Henry had a mural of him painted in his bedchamber.

The rebuilding and improvement work of the many cathedrals and cost money and Henry's lack of control on spending was to be the biggest problem of his reign.

17 3.1.1 Architecture of the 13th century

Romanesque style was in vogue at the beginning of the Norman era. This new style appears to have been the first pan-European style since Roman Imperial Architecture, which copied the pattern and proportion of the architecture of the Roman Empire. Its main features are few windows, barrel vaults, thick piers and round arches that can be easily seen in door openings and windows.

In general the Romanesque churches were heavy and solid, carrying about them an air of solemnity and gloom. These early Norman churches were not always as stark as they seem today, however. In their heyday the church walls were hung with or richly painted. The statues of the saints were gilded [on some you can still see traces of the paint if you look closely], and the service books were inlaid with gold, jewels, and ivory. Chalices and reliquaries were encrusted with gems. A good example of early Romanesque style is the Chapel of St. John in the Tower of London.

„From 1130-1300, pointed arches began to supplant the rounded ones, buttresses became heavier than the Norman variety, and the windows lost their rounded tops to become „lancet“ shaped. Building climbed skyward, less squat and heavy, with a soaring effect accentuated by steep roofs and spires.“ [Fodor's 90, Great Britain] Sculpture became free standing rather than being incorporated into columns. The new expanse of window space was filled with gloriously rich coloured glass. The churches later had very elaborate decoration, especially the "tracery", or stonework supporting the stained glass windows.

These changes emerging in France created a new style. This new architecture and decoration used to be called “French style”, but it abandoned the classical lines and proportions. There are doubts whether it was really named after one of barbarian tribes “Goths” or not. is light, spacious and graceful. Advances in architectural technique were learned from contact with the Arab world during the . One of the main features of the Gothic style, which is easy to find, is the pointed arch. This can be seen in window openings and doors.

18 Henry’s interest in architecture meant that during his long reign hardly a year went by when work was not in progress somewhere within the walls of the royal castle –the Tower of London.

19 4. The Tower of London during the reign of Henry III

In the reign of Henry III [1216-1272] the reinforcement of the royal castles played a major role as England won the war with France at the and the business of securing the kingdom began.

The architecture and decoration of royal residences reflect the personalities of successive kings and queens. The Tower of London was then the royal residence, therefore the launch of Henry’s most ambitious building programme started there. Henry was too young so his regents began a major extension of the royal accommodation in the enclosure that formed the Inmost Ward.

Another reason for this extension were the troubles Henry suffered. “By the mid- , the king's failed campaigns in France, his choice of friends and advisers, together with the cost of his scheme to make one of his younger sons King of Sicily and help the Pope against the Holy Roman , led to further disputes with the barons and united opposition in Church and State, which flared up in both 1236 and in 1238. On both occasions the King fled to the Tower of London. But as he sheltered in the castle in March 1238 the weakness of the Tower must have been brought home to him; the defences to the eastern, western and northern sides consisted only of an empty moat, streches of patched-up and strengthened Roman wall and a few lengths of wall built by Longchamp in the previous century. That year he initiated further building plans with his chief architect Henry de Reyns together with and Robert of .

These plans included the construction of a great new curtain wall round the east, north and west sides of the castle at a cost of over GBP 5,000 [in modern terms about GBP 1.8 million]. The new wall doubled the area covered by the fortress, enclosing the neighbouring church of Peter ad Vincula. It was surrounded by a moat, this time successfully flooded by the Flemish engineer, John Le Fosser. The wall was reinforced by nine new towers, the strongest at the corners [the Salt, Martin and Devereux].” [taken from The Official Guidebook - Tower of London]

20 Between 1220 and 1240 another tower was built. This was and still is the second largest tower in the Tower of London, after the White Tower. This tower was originally called the Bludenville Tower after then Constable of the Tower, John de Blundeville. Since 1344 this tower has been known as the Tower [after William Wakefield, king’s clerk].

This tower has very thick walls, thicker than all of the other towers. It has 2 chambers, the lower chamber acting as a guardroom to the postern, which led to the royal apartments above. The soldiers who guarded the Watergate were stationed there. This overlooked the river through a series of arrow slits, until about 1280 when the foreshore was built up to form the new Outer Ward.

The upper chamber with its large windows and fireplace was built to be the private chambers or bedchamber of Henry III. At that time it would have given access to a private hall to the west, where the King would meet his council and dine publicly, and beyond that to the great hall-the heart of the palace. Because of this proximity to the medieval great hall, the tower was also called the Hall Tower.

The Wakefield is also sometimes known as the Record Tower, as it became a repository for documents.

The Lanthorn Tower was built at the same time as the Wakefield Tower in the . The purpose of the Lanthorn Tower was to provide accommodation for the queen . The tower got its name from a lantern. Every night someone would go and light the lantern, which was placed in the small turret on top of the tower at night . The lantern was used as a marker to the ships that were on the river at night, and could see the Tower. The style of the Medieval Lanthorn Tower is described as Norman [Romanesque]. The Chief Architect and Master Builder of the Lanthorn Tower was Henry de Reyns together with John of Gloucester and Robert of Beverley.

The Chief architect Henry de Reyns was later sent abroad to study contemporary developments in architecture at such places as Chartres in France. Hence he could rebuild the Norman abbey, created by the saintly

21 Edward the Confessor, in the middle of the 13th century, when Henry III decided to pull it down. Westminster Abbey was then designed to be not only a great abbey and a place of worship, but also where monarchs would be crowned and buried.

Another part of Henry III's expansion of the London Tower was the Beauchamp Tower. A Land Gate was built on this site.

This massive extension to the Tower was rightly recognised by the people of London as a further assertion of royal authority. It was viewed with extreme suspicion and hostility. There are even reports of a contemporary writer describing their delight when the section of newly-built wall and a gateway on the site of the Beauchamp Tower collapsed on April 23rd 1240.

The Beauchamp Tower was originally only two storeys high. It provided suitable accommodation for aristocratic prisoners and their retinue of servants. One such was Thomas Beauchamp, who was imprisoned there in 1397 for revolting against the king. The Beauchamp Tower was replaced in 1281. Later the tower was named after this Thomas, third Earl of Warwick, of the Beauchamp family, who was imprisoned there by Richard II. The three storey tower was large enough to hold not only the captive, but members of his household as well. It has been used to hold other important prisoners since.

The royal accommodation was extended in the 1220's -30's by a substantial rebuild in the White Tower with kitchens and new great hall.

The Salt Tower was built by Henry III around 1235. It is located at the southeast corner with the river to the south of it and the moat to the east .

The Salt Tower was initially called the Julius Caesar’s Tower and then Baliol's Tower, after John Baliol, previously King of , one of the earliest residents in this tower.

There are suggestions that the building was given the lasting nickname of the 'Salt Tower' as in medieval England salt was extremely expensive and could only be afforded by the higher Nobility. These Lords sat on the dais at the 'high

22 table' and their commoner servants at lower trestle tables. The salt was placed in the centre of the high table and only those of the appropriate rank had access to it. Those less favoured on the lower tables were "beneath the salt". It is possible that this expensive commodity was traditionally stored in this building.

The Martin Tower was part of Henry III's line of defence for the Tower of London. This tower became known as the Jewel Tower because from 1669, it was where the Crown Jewels were displayed.

Other parts of Henry III's extension are the Devereux Tower, the Flint Tower and Bowyer Tower in the mid thirteenth century.

The Devereux Tower is located in the northwest corner of the Tower, this part of the Tower was the most likely to be attacked. The style of the Medieval Devereux Tower is described as Norman. It was named after Robert Devereux the Earl of , who was one of England's most romantic heroes, cutting a dashing figure through Elizabethan history. Robert Devereux was the last in a long line of Queen Elizabeth's favourites, soldier, courtier and aristocrat. It was said of him "his only friend was the Queen and his only enemy was himself".

The original name of Flint Tower is not known, but it was believed to be named after the type of rock, flint stone, of which the tower is made.

Another tower built by Henry III was the Bowyer Tower. This tower serves as an outer wall of the Tower of London. It is possible that the royal bowmaker, or bowyer lived here which gave rise to its name.

Around the year 1240 King Henry III made the Tower of London his home. He refurnished and decorated the chapel with paintings and stained glass. He had the outside of the building of the White Tower whitewashed. The then called the tower 'La Tour Blanche' [White Tower].

Another part of Henry’s extension, according to the Royal Genealogy Database, was Henry's zoo at the Tower of London. It was one of the most advanced in Europe. One of his animals was a , a gift from Louis IX of France. A letter the King sent to the sheriffs of London read, "We bid you to cause

23 William, the keeper of our lion, to have 14s, which he will spend on buying chains and other things for the use of the said lion." Henry also appreciated other gifts. Emperor Frederick II sent him three leopards in 1235 in token of his royal shield of arms, whereupon three leopards were pictured. In 1252, the king of gave Henry a white bear. In 1255, Louis IX exceded the sensation he had made with the lion by presenting an elephant, which lived for three years in a specially built elephant house. It was buried in the Tower grounds, only to be exhumed so that its bones could be sent to the sacristan of Westminster. The menagerie existed into the 18th century. When he visited it in 1731, Emperor Francis I played with a four-month old lion cub, picking it up and pulling its whiskers. Parts of the Lion Tower and the Lion Gate can still be seen at the Tower of London. This ZOO remained at the Tower until 1834, when the Menagerie moved to what became London Zoo, in Regents Park.

Another improvement, which Henry made to the Tower of London, was the installation of the most advanced privies of the day. In 1245 he wrote to his clerk of works complaining that the facility in his rooms "smelled badly" He ordered it to be replaced even though it should cost one hundred pounds.

A new wall was also built enclosing the west side of the Inmost Ward.

The Tower of London in 1270

Henry III finally created England’s largest and strongest castle, a castle with one line of defences within another, which provided historic Royal families with a

24 residence for more than five centuries till the reign of Henry VIII. Since then it has become the custom for each monarch to lodge in the Tower before his or her coronation, and to ride in procession to Westminster through the city.

5. The resent Tower of London and Henry III

There is no doubt about Henry’s interest in architecture and art, so it is quite likely that Henry would have bene an architect or an expert in architecture, if he had had the opportunity.

As every architect longs to create something breathtaking, something special to be remembered for, Henry did his best to be known for his love for architecture. His great building program including the reconstruction of several churches and his contribution to the Tower of London is definitely worthy of mention.

However the appearance of the Tower of London has changed since his death, and Henry might not be happy with all this. The Tower of London still impresses every visitor to London.

Henry would not mind the Tower becoming the world’s leading attraction, as to effectively worship him and other kings and queen as well as English history. Henry might even agree with my suggestion to issue a decree that anyone studying English, who must be aware of the English culture and as part of it to be well informed about English history, shall visit the Tower of London.

The same should also be true for all visitors to London who, before seeing any other sight, should visit the Tower of London. This would help them to learn interesting facts and to better understand English history. The visit to London would not only be enjoyable but also more educational.

People would then more appreciate the value of historic buildings. This fascinating complex, which is now under the management of the Historic Royal Palaces Trust, would always retain a place of high value. In such a position it

25 would never have to face the prospect of not being prosperous or being sold for commercial usage only.

e. g. creating a posh hotel complex out of the Tower of London would surely not please any of the previous owners. No matter how hard the times were for kings and queens, even for king Henry III, who seemed to be often short of money and therefore introduce higher taxes, they never sold the Tower of London.

26 6. Conclusion

About Henry III and the Tower of London has been written before, nevertheless I have tried to bring some new information to light in this dissertation.

The first parts deals with general information about the Tower of London and the kings and queens. One of these, King Henry III in particular, is later highlighted. Another section describes his lifelong problems with barons and his interest in architecture which might have led Henry to undertake major reconstructions in the Tower of London. This “new building program” has been specified and supported by pictures showing theTower before and after the works.

27 7. Bibliography

A. W. Clapham, English Romanesque Architecture after the Conquest , Oxford Clarendon Press, 1934

T. F. Tout, The from the Accession of Henry III To the Death of Edward III (1216-1377) , Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1905

F. M. Powicke, King Henry III and the Lord Edward (1947, repr. 1966) and The Thirteenth Century (2d ed. 1962)

S. Thurley, E. Impey and P. Hammond (2005) The Tower of London, the official guide book , Crown Copyright 1996 www.britania.com/history/monarchs www.bbc.co.uk

28 Prohlášení

Prohlašuji, že jsem diplomovou práci zpracoval/a samostatně a použil/a jen prameny uvedené v seznamu literatury.

Souhlasím, aby práce byla uložena na Masarykově univerzitě v Brně v knihovně Pedagogické fakulty a zpřístupněna ke studijním účelům

Brně dne 10. srpna 2006 Petra Angelová

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