The Bell Tower...Day 5o

The Bell Tower. Although the name is charming and conjures forth happy images, it had much to do with King Henry VIII and his all encompassing efforts to find a wife who could bear him a son.

Located next to the Queen's house, the Bell tower was originally built to serve in the defense of the tower during the reign of King Richard, the Lionheart 1189-1199, making it the second oldest tower in the whole Tower of London.  There is a small wooden turret on top of the tower, which can be barely seen in my one and only picture of the Bell Tower. The curfew bell rang when it was time to return to their cells for those prisoners lucky enough to be given liberty to leave their cells and wander through the grounds.

The Bell Tower is the rounded tower on the left with the bell tower partially obscured by leaves

Locking people up in the Tower was Henry's solution for some of his subjects who weren't cooperating with his efforts to secure an heir. All he wanted to do was to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, which would certainly not earn him any points with his in-laws who just happened to be the reigning monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella.  Catherine's nephew also happened to be the emperor of Rome, which had its own interests in the Roman Catholic church. And Catherine did not want to lose her husband of almost 24 years or her status as queen of England. So it appeared an annulment was just not going to happen. Henry's response was to break away from the Catholic church and establish the Church of England. And imprison a few of his more prominent opponents.

And the Bell Tower is where they ended up.

Such as Sir Thomas More, secretary and personal advisor to the king, as well as chancellor over much of Northern England. More was steadfast in his refusal to support the king's divorce from Catherine and was duly incarcerated in the Bell Tower where he was treated rather leniently at first, I suspect, in hopes that he would repent and help Henry VIII in his attempts to discard Catherine in favor of Anne Boleyn. However, More remained staunch in his refusal to support the annulment of the marriage and spent a year and a few months there in the Tower before he went to trial and was convicted, then beheaded on the Tower Green.

Imprisoned in the room just above Sir Thomas Moore was John Fisher who was the Bishop of Rochester. He refused to support a marriage between Henry and Anne Boleyn and vehemently opposed the King's efforts to break away from the Roman papacy and become head of his own new denomination. Fisher and More were imprisoned at the same time and sent messages back and forth via their servants. They were imprisoned, tried and executed within days of each other.

Also spending her share of time in the Bell Tower was Princess Elizabeth, Henry's second daughter, who was to become Queen Elizabeth I. But let's save that story for another post.