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London and Environs
Tower of
London - Executions
 In North America,
probably thanks to Hollywood, many of us have the perception that endless
heads were removed in the Tower of London. The truth is, only 7 people
were ever executed within the Tower grounds. Another few may have died
there but such comments as made recently by a major tourism magazine when
discussing executions in the Tower that “Hundred’s of prisoners have died
there” is simply not true.
Executions within the Tower were considered “private” and reserved for a
few very special prisoners, even though there may have been dozens or some
few hundred spectators; at least they were privileged spectators and not
the thousands of unruly party goers that attended the executions outside
on Tower Hill.
Most executions in the Tower were by beheading with an axe. Only Anne
Boleyn that I know of was allowed to have a swordsman from France attend
to her death. While movies portray beheadings as a swift and decisive
death, it could be anything but. A dull axe, or new executioner, could
mean several swings and cuts before death finally released the hapless
prisoner. It’s recorded that the aging Countess of Salisbury (in her late
60s) was hit some 11 times before she was finally beheaded. I’ve also
heard it was because they lady intended to make as much trouble for her
executioner as possible and ran away and fought him to the very end.
Considering the ridiculous charges most were executed for within the
Tower, one can only applaud the lady’s determination to make the blighters
work for it.
 The prisoners, with the
King’s kindly permission, were allowed to speak to the crowds watching,
and usually had a priest in attendance to help them along to their chosen
god. The prisoner was expected to pay the executioner, and a nice tip
would hopefully get you a quick and careful job done. (One wonders if the
Countess of Salisbury agreed to pay hers.) The tradition of holding the
head aloft afterwards was not for the benefit of the crowds, but to allow
the still living person to get a quick view of their own body in those
last several seconds of life before the lack of oxygen caused
unconsciousness and death.
1483, the First Baron Hastings, William Hastings (1431 - 1483) was
beheaded without trial within the Tower grounds for his support of King
Edward’s child Edward V.
On May 19, 1536 Anne Boleyn, Queen of England (1507-1536)
Anne was the second wife of Henry VIII. Henry had left the Church in Rome,
created his own State religion, and divorced his first wife Katherine of
Aragon in order to marry Anne. In short time however he lost interest in
Anne and had her arrested and charged with treason on trumped up charges
of adultery and incest with her brother George Boleyn, Lord Rochford. Anne
was married to Henry in January of 1533 and was dead by May of 1536.
27th May 1541 Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (1473-1541)
The countess made the mistake of looking like she may have been siding
with Katherine of Aragon, Henry’s first wife. So good King Henry VIII,
being the sort of fellow he was, had her declared a traitor. She was
arrested and held prisoner for two years before her execution; it’s said
the small, frail lady was badly treated and neglected during that time.
She was never given a trial.
13th February 1542, Catherine Howard, Queen of England (1524 - 1542)
Catherine Howard was the fifth wife of King Henry VIII, and the cousin of
Anne Boleyn. Young and spoiled, by the time this child married Henry he
was already an obese and generally repulsive old lecher. Catherine did
what others had been accused of, she quickly found herself a lover in the
handsome Thomas Culpepper. She was caught and arrested in short order.
Since she had always been the darling favorite of King Henry it’s said she
never believed she would be executed until the day before it actually
happened. He lover was executed before her, to make sure she did not miss
out on that event, and it’s said she requested the block be brought to her
the night before her death so she could practice using it in the hope that
things would go smoothly and quickly. Catherine married Henry in July of
1540 and was dead at the age of 18 in February 1542.
13th February 1542 Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford (1505 - 1542)
Jane Rochford may be one of the few executed within the Tower who could
claim some justice in her death. She was the wife of George Boleyn, the
same brother of Queen Anne Boleyn who had been executed on the trumped up
charge of incest with his sister; charges dear Jane helped to lay and
support. She apparently did not like her husband George all that much, and
if his sister Anne died in Jane’s scheme to get rid of him, that was no
reason to give up wanting to get rid of him and keep the bugger around. And besides, it pleased
the ever
charming King Henry VIII at the time.
Later, in reward perhaps for services rendered to Henry, Jane was
appointed Lady of the Privy Chamber to Henry’s new child wife Catherine
Howard. Jane encouraged Catherine’s affair with Culpepper, living
vicariously through her, and when she was caught being a go-between for
the lovers she was arrested and interrogated and rapidly went insane.
Maybe. At the time there was a law that insane people could not be
executed. One can not help but wonder at her leaving behind so readily the
burden of sanity. However, never one to let a small matter like laws and
morals stand in his way, Henry had a new law passed that allowed the
insane to be executed. Before her death Jane confessed freely that all her
charges against Anne and George had been totally fabricated to serve her
own ends. She was executed immediately following Queen Catherine.
 12th February 1554 Lady
Jane Grey, Queen of England (1537–1554)
Lady Jane Grey’s story is one of the saddest and most poignant of all
those connected to the Tower of London. Partly because of religious fears,
party through the unbridled ambition of her mother Lady Frances Brandon,
her father Henry Grey, and her hated father-in-law John Dudley, Lady Jane
was forced into accepting the throne through loyalty and obedience and a
great deal of bullying. Married off to the son of John Dudley against her
will, she was proclaimed queen on Monday 10th July 1553, four days after
the death of Edward VI. On his death bed King Edward had chosen the family
line that lead directly to Lady Jane as his successors, over that of his
sister Mary who had by far the strongest claim to the throne.
The sixteen year old Lady Jane lasted only 9 days as Queen. When Mary laid
her better claim, Jane, on Wednesday 19th July 1553, happily handed over
the throne. It’s said that Mary knew of her cousin’s innocence in the
matter and would probably have released her in time had not yet another person
willing to use the child not declared his intent to “save” her and place
her back on the English throne to further his own political aims. Queen
Mary (the Queen later called Bloody Mary) signed Jane’s execution papers
when it seemed she had no choice to remove the threat to her rightful
claim to the throne.
Though only a child at the time of her death, Jane was determined to meet
it with dignity and honor. Being blindfolded in an act of kindness she
nearly panicked when she could not find the block on her own, that one
single act being the last thing she had left to accomplish. Lady Jane Grey
was just 17 years old when she died.
25th February 1601 Robert Devereux 2nd Earl of Essex (1566 - 1601)
A rival of Sir Walter Raleigh for the favors of Queen Elizabeth I,
Devereux spent his life pursuing military greatness and political power.
Often rushing off against the wishes of his Queen led to many fights with
her, although his charm and good looks kept him in her favors far longer
than his record of losses would cause one to expect.
Finally a failure, made in direct opposition to the Queen’s order, tried
her patience with Devereux and he was arrested. Had he left well enough
alone his future may have turned out very different, but then if he was
the kind of man to leave well enough alone he would probably have never
ended up imprisoned in the first place. He tried to lead a rebellion
against the Queen, and failed, and was tried and convicted of treason.
Over 100 people witnessed his execution and three strokes of the axe were
needed to sever his head from his body.
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