Five Notable Tower of London Prisoners

Bishop Ranulf Flambard

Imprisoned in 1101 for 6 months.

Bearing the dubious honour of becoming the first prisoner in the Tower, Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham, had made himself filthy rich as a tax collector under the reign of King William Rufus.  When William’s brother Henry I came to the throne, he had Flambard sent to the tower in chains for extortion.

Flambard actually managed to escape by getting his guards drunk and climbing out of the window using a rope he’d had smuggled in concealed in a barrel of wine.  So, the Tower didn’t exactly get off to a great start as a maximum security stronghold!

Sir William Wallace

Imprisoned in 1305 prior to public execution.

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Leader of the Scottish rebellion against English King Edward I, William Wallace defeated the English army at Stirling and became the Guardian of Scotland until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk after which he went into hiding.  Upon his capture, he was taken to the Tower just before Edward had him executed in 1305.  He was hung, drawn and quartered and his head was tastefully arranged on a spike outside the Tower next to that of the Welsh Prince Llewellyn.  Obviously, the idea of a ‘United Kingdom’ was still some way off!

Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester

Imprisoned for life in 1441.

Immortalised by Shakespeare, Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester, was the second wife of Duke Humphrey of Gloucester who acted as Lord Protector of England for his nephew the child King Henry VI.  She was found guilty of trying to assassinate King Henry using witchcraft, along with several others, with the aim of securing the throne for her husband.  Her sentence was life imprisonment after a penance which involved walking around the streets of London dressed only in a sheet.  She was incarcerated in several prisons, including the Tower, but she was better off than her co-conspirators, one of whom was burned to death.  Another was hung, drawn and quartered.

King Henry VI

Imprisoned in 1465, 1470 and 1471.

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Unlike his father Henry V the hero of Agincourt (Once more unto the breach etc. etc.), Henry VI was a weak, ineffective King who presided over the loss of England’s lands in France, famously losing Orleans to an army led by a teenage girl named Joan of Arc!