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| Wakefield Tower--the round tower in the center |
England had its own civil war, known as the War of the Roses, which was a tangled mess and if you want to know more, Shakespeare wrote several plays about it. And of course, the Bard is known for his serious scholarship and knowledge of history. So just go see Henry VI Parts 1, 2 and 3 and spare me the trouble of trying to explain it all to you. It's really a mess. But you do have to give the king a little credit for being the youngest person to ever succeed to the throne of England which he did at the tender age of nine months. Then, before he could even have his first birthday and smash a cake, he became king of France. He didn't really do anything remotely kingly until he turned sixteen, though, when his official coronation occurred. And I am not going to attempt to explain all the political intrigue and the wars and campaigns and wins and losses that happened after that or even how poor Henry suffered a mental breakdown and was literally catatonic for an entire year. Go look it up. Check out how he lost the throne, regained it with the help of his wife, Queen Margaret, and then lost it again. And how he was imprisoned in the Wakefield Tower, a king no longer but apparently still a threat to Edward IV, who is widely believed to have ordered his murder, which occurred in the chapel of Wakefield Tower while Henry was at prayer.
We didn't have the opportunity to enter the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula (-St. Peter in chains-) (apparently you have to be part of one of the Beefeater's tours in order to get in--note to self: remember this for next time!) but we did see it as we walked by. As well as being the parish church of the Tower of London and as such a place of worship for the residents of the Tower, it is a burial place. Three queens lay buried here--Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey--as well as some noted historical figures: Thomas Cromwell, Thomas More, John Fisher, George Boleyn, Edmund Dudley and Guildford Dudley. And actually, quite a few others whose names wouldn't be recognizable to you unless you are a serious student of British history (or a student of genealogy who has discovered your family tree branched off in this direction) (or, like me, you are just randomly interested in this stuff)
By now you ought to be familiar with my propensity for poems and for quotes and you will forgive one more inclusion of a quote. This one is from History of England, written in 1848 by Thomas Babington Macaulay:
"In truth there is no sadder spot on the earth than that little cemetery. Death is there associated, not, as in Westminster Abbey and Saint Paul's, with genius and virtue, with public veneration and with imperishable renown; not, as in our humblest churches and churchyards, with everything that is most endearing in social and domestic charities; but with whatever is darkest in human nature and in human destiny, with the savage triumph of implacable enemies, with the inconstancy, the ingratitude, the cowardice of friends, with all the miseries of fallen greatness and of blighted fame."
Three
queens of England Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Jane Grey, and two
saints of the Roman Catholic Church, Sir Thomas More and John Fisher,
are buried here. Their headless bodies were buried under the nave or
chancel without memorial until the 19th century when remains found in
the nave were re-interred in the crypt. - See more at:
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/Sightsandstories/Prisoners/Towers/ChapelRoyalofStPeter#sthash.OUZZ8r4A.dpuf
Three
queens of England Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Jane Grey, and two
saints of the Roman Catholic Church, Sir Thomas More and John Fisher,
are buried here. Their headless bodies were buried under the nave or
chancel without memorial until the 19th century when remains found in
the nave were re-interred in the crypt. - See more at:
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/Sightsandstories/Prisoners/Towers/ChapelRoyalofStPeter#sthash.OUZZ8r4A.dpuf
As
a result of the Victorian renovations, the resting places of Anne
Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey were discovered in the
chancel, near the altar. This led to the Chapel gaining its reputation
as the ‘saddest spot on the earth’. - See more at:
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/thechapelproject/chapelhistory#sthash.d9pzJIF0.dpuf
hree
queens of England Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Jane Grey, and two
saints of the Roman Catholic Church, Sir Thomas More and John Fisher,
are buried here. Their headless bodies were buried under the nave or
chancel without memorial until the 19th century when remains found in
the nave were re-interred in the crypt. - See more at:
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/Sightsandstories/Prisoners/Towers/ChapelRoyalofStPeter#sthash.OUZZ8r4A.dpuf
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