List of prisoners of the Tower of London
The Tower of London from 1101 to 1941 served as a prison of the English and British kings. Most of them were later found in this fortress in London or imprison important prisoners. Many detainees were prisoners of the state or of the king. On the other hand, completely unknown prisoners came into the Tower. In the 800 years of its history, no other English prison was used for various purposes such as the Tower of London.
In the 13th century, for example, the Tower served as an ordinary criminal court. At least four of the murder suspects were imprisoned in the Tower in the 13th century, three cops and a witness for other crimes. The exact number or even the names of the prisoners each time are no longer preserved. Until the year 1337, however, can be found in sources that refer to the Tower as a possible prison for criminals. 1312 was a prisoners outbreak, when it became armed prisoners to flee the Tower Hill and to ring the bells of All Hallows -by-the - Tower, to call the London population to help. The induced amount of flown broke holes in doors and walls. She managed to free two other prisoners. This took place at a time when the Tower was conceived as a normal criminal prison already in decline.
Probably standing on the fortress area in the 12th and 13th century prison building, which served no other purpose than to house prisoners. In later centuries, the prisoners were housed in other parts of the fortress, where virtually every building at some point in its history was also home to prisoners. In the White Tower since at least the 13th century superscript prisoners were housed in the upper floors. However, this could not be detained too long here without disturbing the flow of everyday life in the Tower. The construction of the outer ramparts under Henry III. and Edward I created room for more buildings. The main prisons were probably the Beauchamp Tower and the Martin Tower.
The end of the Towers as a criminal prison came after a hand in London, Newgate Prison was established in the 13th century, on the other hand found the monarchy outside London safe storage places for prisoners and did not have to have it sent to the capital.
The Tower was particularly suitable as a prison for difficult or popular prisoners because he was directly connected with the person of the king and heavily protected. A system of ramparts and fortifications separated him from the potentially restless population of London. Until the 20th century, the Tower was also becoming location of military units that served alongside the regular guards for extra protection of the building. Since the Tower often elite troops of the king were stationed, reliability and commitment was usually higher than in other prisons.
At the same time possessed the Tower comparatively lavish facilities and housing options. Thus it was possible to superscript prisoners a life has to offer, which seemed their stand properly, and as they could be kept safe. Even ordinary prisoners offered the Tower better prison conditions than the other prisons of the city, and the king so could be put as a special act of grace prisoner in the Tower. In addition, the conditions of imprisonment in the Tower could be improved by the guards or the prison administration is paid corresponding amounts of money. Until the 14th century, it had developed a catalog of official fees. The prestige of the Towers had him as an appropriate detention center appear in all crimes that involved directly the interests of the English or the British royal family.