#arbella seymour

[scansfrommagazinesandbooks]

[thepastisalreadywritten]

ON THIS DAY:

On 25 September 1615, Lady Arabella Stuart died at the Tower of London of starvation after refusing to eat. 🏰

Arabella and her husband both had distant claims to the throne and were imprisoned at the Tower of London after marrying without permission from the King.

📷: Alamy

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Lady Arbella Stuart (also Arabella or Stewart; 1575 – 25 September 1615) was an English noblewoman who was considered a possible successor to Queen Elizabeth I of England.

During the reign of King James VI and I (her first cousin), she married William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, another claimant to the English throne, in secret.

King James imprisoned William Seymour and placed her under house arrest.

When she and her husband tried to escape England, she was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London, where she died at age 39.

[widvile-blog]

Arbella Stuart, Duchess of Somerset (1575 - 25 September 1615)

[scotlandsladies]

The Ladies ♔ Noblewomen → Arbella Stuart (1575-1615)

Arbella Stuart was born in the year of 1575 in England to Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox (the grand-son of Margaret Tudor) and his wife Elizabeth Cavendish (the daughter of Bess of Hardwick). Since Arbella was a great-great-granddaughter of Henry VII of England, she was in the line of succession to the English throne, even being considered one of the natural candidates to succeed her first cousin twice removed, Elizabeth I. In 1576, Arbella’s father died and she was raised by only her mother for six years, until she too died leaving her an orphan to be raised as a ward by her grandmother Bess. Most of Arbella’s childhood was lived in protective isolation in Hardwick Hall, enjoying short visits to court every few summers. On her first visit to the court of Elizabeth, she made such an impression that the Queen spoke openly about the twelve year old one day being queen. In 1588 at the age of thirteen, Arbella became a Lady in Waiting to Elizabeth, though she was soon banished after herself and the Earl of Essex were seen flirting. After leaving Elizabeth’s court behind and returning to the watchful eyes of Bess, Arbella continued her education into her twenties; being fluent in Latin, Greek, French, Italian and Spanish. She learned philosophy and became an accomplished musician, being able play the lute, viol and virginals as well as a highly-educated writer. By her mid twenties, feeling isolated and not in control of her own life, Arbella made plans to secure a marriage between herself and Edward Seymour. Elizabeth I saw the marriage as a threat and stopped it from happening. Arbella was eventually forgiven.

In 1603, when James VI of Scotland also became James I of England, those involved in the Main Plot allegedly conspired to overthrow him and put Arbella and Thomas Grey on the throne. Arbella reported the murder plot, having no intentions of becoming Queen herself. James now trusted her and invited her back to court, where she received her own income. She was appointed state governor to Princess Elizabeth and became godmother to Princess Mary in 1605. It appears that Arbella had been well received at the court of King James, although she found the mood and morality of Court to be ‘ridiculous’ and ‘wicked’. In 1608 Bess of Hardwick died, along with Arbella contracting a bout of smallpox. Nearing her mid-thirties and still unmarried with no future plans, along with James’ unwillingness to let her marry, Arbella decided to make her own destiny and looked for marriage with the Seymour family again. In 1610, when Arbella was thirty-five, a betrothal to the twenty-two year old William Seymour, was made and in June the couple secretly married. Around two weeks later their secret was revealed and they were separated; William was imprisoned in the Tower of London and Arbella was placed under house arrest in Lambeth. The couple managed to have secret liaisons and by September, Arbella thought she was pregnant and was sent north to the custody of the Bishop of Durham. It is uncertain if she had a miscarriage or was not pregnant at all. By early June 1611, Arbella disguised herself as a man and managed to escape to a boat setting sail for France. She had planned to meet William, though he did not show and her ship was soon intercepted near France. Arbella was sent back to the Tower whilst William was able to successfully escape to Belgium; never making any effort to help or communicate with Arbella. Without being charged of a crime, Arbella argued that she only wanted to live with her husband freely, but she was still held in close confinement. For three years Arbella held out hope of being released, along with having declining health. By 1614, that hope had faded away, and in the autumn she went to bed refusing any medical attention and food. The refusal would go on for year until Arbella died on 25 September 1615 aged only 39. James refused a royal funeral and so her body was laid to rest in the vault alongside her aunt and first cousin once removed Mary, Queen of Scots in Westminster Abbey, without a ceremony. There was nothing to mark her burial place until years later, when a simple slab was placed by the tomb stating only – ‘Arbella Stuart 1575-1615’.

[minervacasterly]

Arbella Stuart 101:

LADY ARBELLA STUART was the descendant of Margaret Tudor via her second marriage to Archibald Douglas, the Earl of Angus. That marriage produced one offspring, Lady Margaret Douglas who married Matthew Stuart, the Earl of Lennox. Margaret Douglas' second son, Charles Stuart married Elizabeth Cavendish who was the daughter of Sir William Cavendish and Elizabeth Talbot. The latter has now become known as Bess of Hardwick and was one of the richest and most influential women in England in Elizabethan times.  Arbella’s parents died when she was one and she came into the custody of her maternal grandmother. As she got older, she became a valuable chess piece for James VI of Scotland I of England’s enemies. The Stuarts had a legitimate claim to the throne after Bess I of England died, because they descended from Henry VII via his eldest daughter's first marriage to the King of Scotland. However, when Arbella started to show interest in Edward Seymour (son of the infamous Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford who had married Katherine Grey without royal permission and as a result the two were imprisoned in the tower, with him being released and his wife as well, but becoming mad with grief and dying in 1568), the King became nervous. She moved on to his younger brother, William Seymour who later became Duke of Somerset.

When she married William in 1610, this was the last straw for the Stuart King. He imprisoned Arbella and she fell ill at once, and refused to eat as a protest for her treatment. She died five years later on 25 September. Arbella's story is one of the saddest in Tudor and Stuart history and it parallels her husband's ancestress, Katherine Grey who also died because of her imprisonment. James as his predecessor feared what their offspring could do him. While he descended from Margaret's royal marriage, a child born out of the descendants of two Tudor sisters would outrank him and as it had happened many times before, nobles could view him or her as an alternative to James' rule. Some had already begun to view Arbella as such.

William Seymour survived Arbella dying forty five years later in 1660. For further reading, check out the link I posted from The Freelance History Writer on Arbella Stuart. Sarah Gristwood has a good biography on her titled: Arbella: England's lost Queen.

[invisible-souls13]

The Tower of London

Located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London is a 900-year-old fortress. It was symbol of oppression and death to many because of the many executions that were held there, the most notable of which was Anne Boleyn, wife to Henry the VIII. It has had several different uses over the centuries even becoming a zoo at one point. Today it is one of England’s most popular tourist attractions and houses The Crown Jewels. With 900 years of grisly history, it’s no surprise that its haunted.

In 1483, Richard III seized the crown and imprisoned his two young nephews, in the tower. Their fate is unknown, but many believe they were murdered so they wouldn’t have any claim over the throne. In 1674, two boy’s skeletons were discovered buried underneath the tower’s stairs. Their spirits of two little boys have been seen in “The Bloody Tower”, dressed in their nightshirts. They have also been spotted playing on the battlements, and people have claimed to hear the sound of children laughing.

Another spirit frequently seen at the Tower of London, is that of Margaret de la Pole, Countess of Salisbury, who was imprisoned at the tower in 1541 as an enemy of the state after her son denounced Henry VIII as the head of the Church of England. When it was time for her execution she held on to the scaffold and said refusing to kneel, “So should traitors do, I am none.” There were about 150 people present. When the executioner raised his axe, she ran. He pursued her and hacked her around the scaffold until she was dead. Visitors today report hearing ghostly, blood-curdling screams coming from the scaffold, and for a few unfortunate people have even seen a reenactment of the gruesome event.

Lady Jane Grey was 16 years old at the time of her execution. She was the great-granddaughter of Henry IV, and some tried to have her crowned as the rightful Queen. This didn’t sit well with Henry VIII’s daughter, Mary I, who married Phillip of Spain and was crowned queen instead, and sentenced Lady Jane and her husband, Guilford Dudley to death. She was beheaded along with her husband, and several other male family members. At Beauchamp Tower, reports say that the spirit of Dudley sits and weeps throughout the night. People also claim that he’s responsible for the word, “Jane” etched into the wall, which is still visible today. Jane has been seen wandering among the battlements.

Another famous haunting is that of Lady Arbella Stuart, who was the second cousin of Queen Elizabeth I. She secretly married a nephew of Lady Jane Grey, which in turn angered King James I, who perceived this as a threat and put both her and her husband in the tower. They attempted to escape, but their ship was intercepted, and she was returned to the tower. Seymour however, escaped to Flanders where he would never see his wife again. Lady Arbella refused to eat and died in the tower in 1615. It is said that she haunts the Queen’s House. The governor, who lived in those rooms from 1994 – 2006 reported that his wife had been violently pushed out the room and into the hallway. Visitors also claim to hear weeping and seeing her spirit wander the grounds.

Before I get to the ghost of Anne Boleyn, I want to tell you about some bizarre occurrences that have happened at the Tower of London. In 1210, King John made the tower into a Royal Menagerie, where they held everything from monkeys and bears, lions, and at one point a polar bear. To visit the menagerie, you had to pay a toll, which often including sacrificing a cat or a dog to one of the animals.  Many of the animals were forced to fight for the spectator’s amusement. (What is wrong with people?!) Some believe that the troubled spirits of the animals still haunt the tower and can be heard crying and wailing in pain. One guard at the tower even reported that the ghost of a bear charged at him and when he stabbed it with his bayonet in self-defense it disappeared.

Besides the spirits of the mistreated animals at the Tower of London, there have been several reports of a feeling of being crushed and the minute they leave the room it subsides. Guards have also been physically attacked. One was even covered by a cloak, when he freed himself, he found that he was the only one in the room. Another stopped to rest and heard a voice whisper, “There’s only you and I here.” Some people theorize that it’s the malevolent spirit of Henry VIII.

In 2003, CCTV footage caught the image of a ghostly figure pushing open a pair of fire doors at Hampton Court. For three days, staff reported that the door would open on its own and when the reviewed the footage they saw the doors opening with great force. No one was in the area at the time.

Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII and is the most notorious ghost of the Tower of London. She was accused of adultery and incest and was beheaded in 1536. Henry VIII invented these charges so that he could remarry and produce a male heir.  She is usually seen around the site of her execution, which is now the Queen’s House. One guard claims to have seen a hooded figure walk towards him in one of the rooms in the Tower. It was only when the figure got closer that he realized that it was missing its head.

If you’ve had any experiences while visiting The Tower of London let me know. I would love to hear them! Do you think the Tower of London is haunted?

[sundiscsandemptyciphers]

Potential successors to Elizabeth I

Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox

Mary Queen of Scots and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

Arbella Stuart 

Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby and Anne Stanley, Countess of Castlehaven

James VI

Lady Mary and Lady Katherine Grey

Edward and Thomas Seymour 

Isabella Clara Eugenia

Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon

[nanshe-of-nina]

English princesses aesthetic, part III

Elizabeth of York, Queen of England. Daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Wydeville. Mother of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots and Mary Tudor, reine de France. Grandmother of Mary I and Elizabeth I of England.

Cecily of York, Viscountess Welles. Daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Wydeville.

Anne of York. Daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Wydeville.

Catherine of York, Countess of Devon. Daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Wydeville. Mother of Margaret Courtenay, Baroness Herbert.

Bridget of York. Daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Wydeville. A nun at Dartford Priory.

Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, Countess of Angus, and Lady Methven. Daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Mother of Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox. Grandmother of Mary I of Scotland and great-grandmother of Lady Arbella Stewart.

Mary Tudor, reine de France and Duchess of Suffolk. Daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Mother of Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk and Eleanor Clifford, Countess of Cumberland. Grandmother of Lady Jane Grey; Katherine Seymour, Countess of Hertford; Lady Mary Keyes; and Margaret Stanley, Countess of Derby.

Elizabeth Stuart, Pfalzgräfin bei Rhein and Česká královna. Daughter of James I and Anna af Danmark. Mother of Elisabeth von der Pfalz; Luise Hollandine von der Pfalz; Henriette Marie von der Pfalz; and Sophie von der Pfalz, Kurfürstin von Braunschweig-Lüneburg. Grandmother of Elisabeth Charlotte von der Pfalz, duchesse d’Orléans; Luise Marie von der Pfalz, Fürstin zu Salm; Anna Henriette von Pfalz-Simmern, princesse de Condé; and Benedicta Henriette von der Pfalz, Herzogin von Braunschweig-Calenberg.

Mary Henrietta, Princess Royal and Prinses van Oranje-Nassau. Daughter of Charles I and Henriette-Marie de France.

Henrietta Anne, duchesse d’Orléans . Daughter of Charles I and Henriette-Marie de France. Mother of Marie Louise d’Orléans, reina de España and Anne Marie d’Orléans, duchessa di Savoia. Grandmother of Maria Adelaide di Savoia, dauphine de France and Maria Luisa di Savoia, reina de España.

[jezabelofthenorth]

A few thing I’ve talked about already but I wanna get a bit more in detail

Mary Stuart, by hereditary right through her grandmother Margaret Tudor had a claim to the English throne, but legally Margaret’s children were disinherited by Henry VIII in his will in 1547 and neither Edward or Mary included them again, legally it was Mary Tudor’s line that was the senior line to the throne and expected early in Elizabeth’s reign to be the likely heiresses

Mary’s claim was heavily championed by France and other Catholic foreign powers, not by England or even Scotland, legally a foreigner could not inherit the English throne and by Elizabeth’s reign neither could a Catholic, while Mary been royalty herself was in the spotlight to be Elizabeth’s heir should she remain childless, this idea was never popular in England nor was the idea that Mary had a better claim than Elizabeth, Mary was Scottish born, French raised and Catholic, Elizabeth through out her reign used both her very English parents to connect with her subjects, she was the daughter of Henry VIII who was still popular in the hearts of the English people and was popular through out her reign herself

James being a boy and the son of two potential claimants to the throne was a possible choice to be Elizabeth’s heir, but that was far from settled at the time he was born, James in his adulthood worked closely with England to make himself be an attractive ally who favoured English interest, he never would have inherited the throne without his careful work with England over nearly 20 years, even by the 1590′s Elizabeth was seen to be considering making Arbella Stuart her heir, although that eventually came to nothing, James was aware that his position was far from assured by Elizabeth who would never name an heir. It would be James’s relationship with William and Robert Cecil, his work as an important protestant ally to England and his acceptance of his mother’s fate in England that would deliver him the crown in 1603 and even by that time and through out his reign James was paranoid about the other Tudor claimants such as Arbella and her eventual husband Edward Seymour and others of Mary Tudor’s line, the Tudor line never lacked in claimants and James was far from the obvious and only choice in 1603.

tdlr: James’s succession was not a ‘victory’ for Mary, she had nothing to do with it and her plotting against Elizabeth only weakened his image as a friend to England while he was in the position of having to choose between his mother and Elizabeth, it is debatable whether Elizabeth even wanted James as her heir as his proclamation to kingship was decided by Robert Cecil as Elizabeth never named an heir, although he would claim she did on her deathbed, this is doubted

[samanthachowiln3001]

The Tower of London Research

When William the Conqueror built a mighty stone tower at the centre of his London fortress in the 1070s, defeated Londoners must have looked on in awe. Now nearly 1000 years later, the Tower still has the capacity to fascinate and horrify. As protector of the Crown Jewels, home of the Yeomen Warders and its legendary guardians, the pampered ravens, the Tower now attracts over three million visitors a year. Here, the Ceremony of the Keys and other traditions live on, as do the ghost stories and terrible tales of torture and execution. But the Tower also has a richer and more complex history, having been home to a wide array of institutions including the Royal Mint, the Royal Armouries and even a zoo. As the most secure castle in the land, the Tower guarded royal possessions and even the royal family in times of war and rebellion. But for 500 years monarchs also used the Tower as a surprisingly luxurious palace. Throughout history, the Tower has also been a visible symbol of awe and fear. Kings and queens imprisoned their rivals and enemies within its walls. The stories of prisoners, rich and poor, still haunt the Tower.

The Conqueror’s fortress

In the 1070s, William the Conqueror, fresh from his victory but nervous of rebellion, began to build a massive stone fortress in London to defend and proclaim his royal power. Nothing like it had ever been seen in England before. William intended his mighty castle keep not only to dominate the skyline, but also the hearts and minds of the defeated Londoners. The Tower took around 20 years to build. Masons arrived from Normandy, bringing with them stone from Caen in France. Most of the actual labour was provided by Englishmen. Throughout history, the Tower has been adapted and developed to defend and control the nation. Henry III (1216-72) and Edward I (1272-1307) expanded William’s fortress, adding huge ‘curtain’ (defensive) walls with a series of smaller towers, and enlarging the moat. In 1240, Henry III had the Tower’s great keep painted white, making it the White Tower.

The Medieval Tower

They also transformed the Tower into England’s largest and strongest ‘concentric’ castle (with one ring of defences inside another). Inside, the medieval kings built magnificent royal lodgings.  

Tower of strength

Kings and queens used the Tower in times of trouble to protect their possessions and themselves. Arms and armour were made, tested and stored here until the 1800s. The Tower also controlled the supply of the nation’s money. All coins of the realm were made at the Tower Mint from the reign of Edward I until 1810. Kings and queens also locked away their valuables and jewels at the Tower and even today, the Crown Jewels are protected by a garrison of soldiers.

The Tower’s defences failed once. During the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, rebels ran in through the open gates!

The Bloodier Tower

The Tower of London has also been the infamous setting for stories of royal tragedy and death. During the Wars of the Roses, Henry VI was murdered here in 1471 and, later, the children of his great rival Edward IV – the Princes in the Tower - vanished within its walls in 1483. In 1674, two skeletons were unearthed at the Tower. The bones were re-examined in 1933 and proved to be those of two boys aged about 12 and 10, exactly the same ages as the princes when they disappeared. Henry VI was supposedly murdered while at prayer in the King's Private Chapel in the Wakefield Tower.

The palace guards

The famous Yeoman Warders, recognised as symbols of the Tower all over the world, have been here for centuries. They were originally part of the Yeomen of the Guard, the monarch’s personal bodyguard who travelled with him. Henry VIII (1507-47) decreed that some of them would stay and guard the Tower permanently. 

Henry VII's personal guards were the first 'Beefeaters', so named as they were permitted to eat as much beef as they wanted from the King's table.

Ceremony of the Keys

Today the Yeomen Warders or the 'Beefeaters' guard the visitors, but still carry out ceremonial duties, such as unlocking and locking the Tower every day in the Ceremony of the Keys. They wear their red state ‘dress uniforms’ for important occasions at the Tower, and also for special events such as the firing of the huge cannon on the Wharf, known as the Gun Salutes.

Royal life and death

Medieval kings and queens lived in luxurious apartments at the Tower. They worshipped in the Chapel Royal, kept a menagerie of exotic animals (which lasted until the 19th century) and welcomed foreign rulers at magnificent ceremonial occasions. Although long since vanished, there was once a splendid royal palace to the south of the White Tower. Henry VIII modernised the rooms inside in preparation for the coronation of his new bride, Anne Boleyn in 1533. She and the King feasted here in splendour the night before Anne processed in triumph through the City of London to Westminster Abbey. Three years later Anne was back at the Tower, this time accused of adultery and treason. She was held in the same luxurious lodgings before being executed by sword on Tower Green.

Sent to the Tower

For over 800 years, men and women have arrived at the Tower, uncertain of their fate. Some stayed for only a few days, other many years. During the Tudor age, the Tower became the most important state prison in the country. Anyone thought to be a threat to national security came here. The future Elizabeth I, Lady Jane Grey, Sir Walter Raleigh and Guy Fawkes were all ‘sent to the Tower’. Even in the 20th century, German spies were brought here and shot.

The Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula

The Chapel is perhaps best known as being the burial place of some of the most famous Tower prisoners. This include three queens of England: Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Jane Grey, all of whom were executed within the Tower in the 16th century. Henry VIII's wives were accused of adultery and treason. Lady Jane Grey was an unfortunate pawn in a plot to replace Mary I and was executed for high treason in 1554, aged only 17.After their execution, the headless bodies of the queens were buried quickly and carelessly under the Chapel without any memorial.

Resting in peace

In 1876, when the Chapel was restored, the remains unearthed in the chancel, including those of Anne Boleyn, were reburied beneath a marble pavement, inscribed with their names and coats of arms.

Legends and ghosts

The Tower has been a visitor attraction since the 18th century, but numbers of tourists increased dramatically in the 1800s. Visitors were fascinated by the stories of England’s turbulent and sometimes gruesome history. Stories of ghosts haunt the Tower. Anne Boleyn is said to stalk the site of her execution on Tower Green. Arbella Stuart, the cousin of Elizabeth I who starved while under arrest for marrying without royal permission, is said to frequent the Queen’s House still. Two smaller ghosts are thought to be the ‘princes in the Tower’, and the Yeomen Warders even tell a chilling tale of a huge bear who occasionally appears to frighten visitors to death.‌

The Tower today

The Tower of London is still one the world’s leading tourist attractions and a world heritage site, attracting visitors from all over the world. And when the gates are locked and all the visitors have gone, the Tower embraces a thriving community within its walls. The Tower of London is still home to the Yeomen Warders and their families, the Resident Governor, and a garrison of soldiers.  There is a doctor and a chaplain. And there is even a pub!

Hauntings:

During its 900 years of existence, the Tower of London has earned the reputation of being one of the most haunted places in the UK. Thomas A. Becket is said to be one of the first ghosts seen in the tower. When the Inner Curtain Wall was still in construction, Thomas seemed to be very unhappy about it and reduced the wall to rubble with the strike of his cross. The grandfather of Henry III was said to be the reason for Thomas A. Beckett’s death so he built a chapel in the Tower for the Archbishop. People believe that Beckett was pleased with the construction of the chapel because no further interruptions were reported after the incident with the Inner Curtain Wall.

Arbella Stuart is one of the castle’s most famous ghosts. It is said that her ghost stays in The Queen’s House on Tower Green. According to records, Arbella Stuart married the nephew of Lady Jane Grey, William Seymour.  The marriage was thought of as a threat because it did not have the permission of King James I. Arbella was put under house arrest in Lambeth while her husband William was sent to the tower. Arbella plotted to get William released so that they could travel together to France, however, William missed the rendezvous. Arbella set sail all alone but she was recognised and was sent back, this time to the Tower. William, on the other hand, made it to freedom. She stayed there until her death in 1615 in The Queen’s House.  It is believed that she was murdered in the castle.

The most persistent of all ghosts in the Tower of London is that of no other than Queen Anne Boleyn. She was married to King Henry VIII. She was arrested and taken to Tower Green and was beheaded on the 19th of May 1536. Several sightings of Anne Boleyn have been reported. She appears close to the site where she was executed and has also been seen leading a procession down the aisle of a chapel. Several people have reported seeing her headless body walking the Tower’s corridors.

The Bloody Tower is a place in the castle which conjures up grisly images. There is the story of the two young princes, Edward V and his brother Richard, who were declared illegitimate by Parliament and sent to the tower. They were often seen playing around happily in the grounds but suddenly vanished and were never seen again. It was assumed that they were murdered by order of their uncle, the Duke of Gloucester. Two skeletons, believed to be the children, were unearthed beneath a staircase in the White Tower. The ghosts of the children are often seen wearing nightgowns clutching each other in terror in the rooms of the castle. They are also heard throughout the Tower.

There is also the White Lady of the massive White Tower. The White Tower is one of the oldest and most foreboding buildings and it is the eerie haunt of the White Lady. She was said to have stood once at a window waving to little children at the building on the opposite side. Her cheap perfume impregnates the air on the entrance to St. John’s Chapel.

Guards of the Tower of London have reported having a terrible crushing sensation upon entering the place where King Henry’s VIII impressive suit armour is exhibited. A guard who was patrolling the grounds have reported a sensation of someone throwing a cloak over him. When he tried to free himself, the cloth was seized from behind and pulled tightly around his throat by his unseen attacker.

The Tower of London was built by William the Conqueror in 1078. It is a complex of multiple buildings set within two rings of walls built to keep intruders out. Several expansions have been made by kings during the 12th and 13th century. Although there have been a lot of modifications and additions to the tower, the original layout of the tower remains. The Tower of London has played a major role in the history of England. It has been a treasury, a public records office, an armoury, the Royal Mint’s home, and the home of the country’s crown jewels.

The country’s history would be incomplete if the Tower of London is not mentioned. The tower has been besieged several times. Kings and conquerors believed that in order to control the country, the tower must be controlled first. During the 15th century, the castle was used as a prison.  However, the peak period of the castle’s use as a prison was in the 16th and 17th centuries. Elizabeth I was one of the many prominent figures who were held captive in the tower. The use of the tower as place for captives popularized the term “sent to the Tower”.

Although there has been a lot of talk and a pervading belief that the tower is a place of death and torture, only a total of seven people were executed within the tower, a figure which is low compared to other places. The executions were commonly held on the Notorious Hill of the castle. In a 400-year period, 112 executions took place on Notorious Hill.

Two men, John Taylor and Anthony Salvin, restored the castle to what they believed was its medieval appearance. They cleared out most of the vacant post-medieval structures. During the two World Wars, the castle was again used as a prison and 12 men were executed for espionage. The castle was badly damaged during Blitz in the Second World War but it was repaired and opened to the public. Today, the castle is cared for by the Historic Royal Palace, a charity, and protected as a World Heritage Site. 1483, the two young princes were infamously murdered in the Tower, with their murder remaining unsolved to this day. The shadowy figures of two lost little boys – holding hands – are a relatively common sight in the White Tower, as they drift between rooms and melt into the walls.

In Many other tales of Tower of London ghosts involve Anne Boleyn. Anne was, of course, imprisoned in the Tower and beheaded in 1536. The ghost of Anne has been spotted in many different parts of the Tower of London: both roaming the inside of the buildings, and outside upon the Tower Green. It’s said that her headless torso paces through the Tower at night, and is most frequently spotted in the Chapel of St Peter, where she was buried following her execution.

In 1864, it’s recorded that a soldier guarding the Tower saw the terrifying, headless figure of Anne, panicked, and tried to stab it with his bayonet. The dagger, of course, went straight through her ghostly figure. The soldier fainted from fright, and was about to be court-martialled for being asleep on duty.

However, many other guards came forward and claimed they’d also seen the ghost of Anne whilst on night duty. As a result, the soldier was let off.

As I mentioned above, Anne’s decapitated body was originally buried beneath the floor of St Peter’s Chapel. In 1876, Queen Victoria ordered that the bodies in the chapel should be exhumed, and buried more appropriately.

A short while later, one of the captains of the guard was patrolling the Tower at night and saw a strange flickering light in the chapel. He climbed to one of the windows and pressed his face against the glass. He was amazed by what he saw. Inside the chapel, he saw a procession of lords, ladies and knights in armour. At the centre of the festivity was a small, delicately dressed woman. Later, he identified her as being Anne Boleyn. He remained at the window, transfixed by this strange and otherworldly scene.

After a few minutes, the lights in the chapel faded – and the procession of ghosts disappeared into thin air. The captain of the guard was left gazing through the window of a dark and empty old church.

The White Tower is effectively the ‘keep’ at the heart of the Tower of London.

Here’s a truly terrifying fact for you. Almost every castle keep in England seems to be haunted by one common ghost – a spectre of a woman, either dressed in white or black robes. These ‘white women’ or ‘black women’ feature in countless tales. They haunt all manner of castles – from Warwick to Goodrich, Tamworth to Leeds.

As you might expect, the White Woman of the Tower of London is spookier than most.

Often, visitors only glimpse a figure in white in the corner of their eyes. Then, quite suddenly, they smell the terrible, pungent smell of an old, overpowering perfume. Some visitors then describe the feeling of the world closing in around them; and chills run from their neck down their spine.

In recent years, tourists to the tower have even reported the sensation that something is tapping them on the shoulder. When they turn around, there’s nothing there- just a wisp of white which disappears into the periphery of their vision. 

Here’s a very strange story indeed. Edmund Lenthal Swifte was the Keeper of the Crown Jewels between 1814 and 1852. He lived inside the Tower of London with his family.

He recorded a truly spooky experience. In his own words, it happened on a Saturday night in October, at “about the witching hour”.He was in the Jewel House (now the Martin Tower) – the “doleful prison” of Anne Boleyn. The windows were closed; the curtains were pulled over, and the room was lighted by a couple of candles. His family were seated within. Suddenly, something very odd happened. Let’s hear it, in exactly his own words.

“[My wife looked up] and exclaimed, ‘Good God ! what is that?’

“I looked up, and saw a cylindrical figure, like a glass tube, seemingly about the thickness of my arm. [It was] hovering between the ceiling and the table: its contents appeared to be a dense fluid, white and pale azure, like… the gathering of a summer cloud, and incessantly rolling and mingling within the cylinder.

“This lasted about two minutes. [Then] it began slowly to move before my sister-in-law; then, following the oblong shape of the table, before my son and myself; passing behind my wife, it paused for a moment over her right shoulder.

“Instantly she crouched down, and with both hands covering her shoulder, she shrieked out, ‘Oh, Christ! it has seized me!’

“Even now, while writing, I feel the fresh horror of that moment.”

To help give a bit of context to this story, we know that all types of exotic animals were imprisoned in the Tower of London during Tudor times. It was a bit like a modern zoo. Some of these animals still haunt the place. There are many stories describing the roars of long-lost lions, which echo around the Tower at night. Some have also described the phantom shapes of horses, which gallop along the cobbles at night – their eyes a terrifying, blazing red. However, this animal-from-the-underworld was something more ominous altogether. I’ll again quote from E.L. Swifte, writing in the 1800s.

“[One of the] sentries at the [Martin Tower] was… alarmed by a figure like a huge bear [emerging] from underneath the door.

“He thrust at it with his bayonet, which stuck in the door.

“He dropped in a fit, and was carried senseless to the guard-room…

“Of all this, I avouch nothing more than that I saw the poor man in the guard-house prostrated with terror….

“And that in two or three days the ‘fatal result,’… was that he died.”

This chilling tale has been told and re-told over the years, and many now say that the bear was no less than the devil in ghostly disguise, pulling the hapless to the underworld with him.

Have your wits about you when you visit the Tower, because one of its most popular exhibits – the old armour of Hing Henry VIII – is said to be possessed by a particularly malevolent ghost.

To explain, over the years, many guards have reported horrible sensations when patrolling the Tower of London at night. Different men and women have described the feelings of dread or of chills running through their spine when entering a particular chamber. However, some guards have told of truly harrowing experiences. Some describe walking into a room and feeling like they’re being crushed alive.

Some say that it feels like an demon has jumped from the ceiling, has wrapped its arms tight around their chest, and is trying to suffocate them. Others say that it feels like an invisible monster is trying to strangle them. They’ve felt the tight grip of hands around their neck, and have stumbled, gasping for oxygen, into another room. There’s even a tale which tells of a guard being assaulted by a ghost wielding a visible cloak. Again, the guard struggled as he felt the cloak wrap right around his neck. He managed to escape the room – but although his assailant was invisible, the remaining bright red marks on his neck were real. All these stories of suffocation and strangling have one thing in common: they occurred in the room storing Henry VIII’s armour. Wherever the armour was moved in the Tower of London, these terrifying experiences would occur in the same room. Nowadays, the armour is on plain display in the Tower. I’d advise you to be very careful when you pay it a visit – it appears to be home to a one of the most vicious Tower of London ghosts.

One guard patrolling through here in the early hours of a stormy winter morning got a sudden and unnerving sensation that a black cloak had been flung over his head. As he struggled, the cloak was seized from behind by his phantom assailant and pulled tight around his throat. When he arrived at the guard room, after freeing himself, gasping and choking, the marks on his neck bore vivid testimony to his brush with the unseen horror

There is an old prophecy that, if the ravens leave the Tower, the monarchy will fall. These proud territorial birds are, therefore, protected by Royal Decree, and the future of the monarchy is assured by the clipping of the ravens. wings.

Here another tragic resident, Lady Jane Grey, "The Nine Day Queen", was kept prisoner.

On 12 February, 1554, she watched from an upstairs window as her husband, Guildford Dudley, was led, sobbing, to his execution.

Later that same day, the sixteen-year-old girl, who had been pushed onto the throne by an ambitious father-in-law, walked bravely to her own death.

Ever since, her ghost has appeared on the anniversary of her execution as a white shimmering figure that floats from the rolling river mists, strolls sadly around the green or glides along the battlements, then withers slowly away.

You are standing upon the spot where a number of illustrious historical figures ended their days on the headsman's block. Many of them are buried in the church you are facing – St Peter Ad Vincula.

One execution, however, stands out as more shameful and gruesome than all the others, that of seventy-two-year-old Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury.

Her crime was nothing more than the fact that she was the mother of Cardinal Pole, who from his safe haven in France had vilified Henry VIII’s claim as head of the Church in England.

Unable to punish the Cardinal, Henry opted to exact savage retribution by sentencing his mother to death.

On 27th May, 1541, she stepped onto the scaffold and stared contemptuously at the executioner.

When told to place her head on the block she refused. "So should traitors do and I am none."

The executioner raised his axe, took a swing at her, and then chased the screaming countess around the scaffold and hacked her to death.

Her last moments have been played out on the anniversary of the shameful event ever since, as her screaming phantom attempts to escape from a ghostly executioner.

The exhibition inside the Bloody Tower commemorates the imprisonment here of Sir Walter Raleigh, and his ghost seems to appreciate the fact, as it has been seen here on more than one occasion.

But it is the little princes, Richard and Edward, whose tragic tale has given the Bloody Tower its sinister reputation.

The boys were sent to the tower by their uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, in 1483 when he became Richard III, both boys mysteriously disappeared.

It was always assumed that they had been murdered on Richard's instructions and their bodies buried somewhere within the grim fortress.

When two skeletons were uncovered beneath a staircase of the White Tower in 1674 they were presumed to be the remains of the little princes and afforded royal burial in Westminster Abbey.

But their whimpering ghosts, wearing white nightgowns and clutching each other in terror, often return to the dim rooms of their imprisonment. Witnesses are moved to pity, longing to reach out and console the spectral boys. But, if they do, the trembling wraiths back slowly towards the wall and fade into the fabric.

TRAITORS GATE

Kings, queens, lords, ladies, clerics and commoners would have taken their last look at the outside world from the top of those steps.

The Tower of London has been no respecter of birthright or rank. So offer a prayer for their repose as you shake the dust of history from your shoes and leave this grim fortress to its memories and shadows.

Our first ghost story was pretty recent – only as far back as the mid 1980s. One young yeoman warder was up in the Byward Tower reading the paper. Suddenly, next to the fireplace, the warder noticed a pair of “spindly medieval-looking men” smoking clay pipes. As he stared, one of the men turned and stared back. Then the moment was over, the men vanished. In Yeoman Clerk Wilson’s words, the young man wasn’t sure “whether he had seen the past, or the past had seen the future”. 

There have been sightings of two young boys dressed in white gowns wandering aimlessly around the Tower grounds. Even children of pre-school age, who couldn’t possibly know the history, have reported the two melancholy youths in “funny clothes”.

You might be surprised to learn that only six people have been beheaded at the Tower of London. The first was Anne Boleyn, but the second – Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury – was far more gruesome.

Margaret was sentenced to death as a Roman Catholic in Henry VIII’s new Protestant England. But she didn’t go quietly to the Tower scaffolding, claiming her treatment was for traitors and she was no such thing. She broke free of the executioner and ran back towards her lodgings. But the executioner pursued, hacking her with his axe. On the anniversary of her death – which became seen as martyrdom – her screams are said to still be heard at the Tower. More than that, the shadow of the executioner’s axe has been seen cast against the walls.

One quiet day a yeoman warder was in one of the Tower’s rooms full of engravings remembering some of the Tower’s many prisoners. He was approached by a woman and her daughter, who were interested in the room’s sombre decorations. But as he happily explained, the daughter (perhaps 18 or 19 years old) started wailing: “So, so much suffering.” The warder was concerned, but his mother reassure him that sometimes she just picked up vibes and would be alright soon. They then proceeded to an area around a former altar where other interesting engravings were to be found. “So, so much suffering,” the teenager wailed once more. The warder tried to reassure her that they were “all gone now”. “Not him,” the woman replied, putting her hand behind her as if touching a man’s shoulder. She pointed to an engraving reading “Thomas Talbot, 1498″.

Bibliography: 

Historic Royal Palaces. (n.d.). The story of the Tower of London. [online] Available at: https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/the-story-of-the-tower-of-london/#gs.kbibi8 [Accessed 2 Nov. 2020].

‌Exploring Castles. (n.d.). The Tower of London Ghosts: Headless Haunts, Suffocating Sensations and Wandering White Women. [online] Available at: https://www.exploring-castles.com/uk/england/tower_london_ghosts/ [Accessed 2 Nov. 2020].

Richard Jones. 2020. The Ghosts of the Tower of London.. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.london-walking-tours.co.uk/free-tours/tower-of-london-ghosts.htm. [Accessed 02 November 2020].‌

http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/tech-news/6-of-the-spookiest-tower-of-london-ghost-stories-as-the-chilling-tour-goes-live-on-periscope-11364013274910

Haunted Rooms®. (n.d.). The Tower of London, London. [online] Available at: https://www.hauntedrooms.co.uk/the-tower-of-london-ghosts [Accessed 2 Nov. 2020].

Londonist. (2016). Who Exactly Are The Ghosts Of London? [online] Available at: https://londonist.com/ 2016/10/who-exactly-are-the-ghosts-of-london [Accessed 29 Oct. 2020].

Geographics (2019). The Tower of London: History’s Most Notorious Prison. YouTube. Available at: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ebqW84tH2k [Accessed 29 Oct. 2020]. 

[leandadelisle]

This is Van Dyck’s portrait of Frances Devereuz, daughter of Elizabeth I’s last favourite, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and wife of William Seymour, Earl of Hertford, the grandson of the Tudor princess, Lady Katherine Grey. Frances was the keeper of the flame when it came to her father’s heroic memory. In this portrait she is wearing a lock of her father’s hair, cut off after his execution as an ‘innocent’ traitor against Queen Elizabeth.  Another relic she kept was a ring, now in the Westminster Abbey museum. The ring is central to one of the most famous of the myths about the favourite.The story began within days of Elizabeth’s death when one of the Queen’s ladies in waiting (a future Catholic convert) claimed that when the Queen had had her coronation ring cut from her swollen finger she had replaced it with  ‘ a ring which the Earl of Essex gave her’. This then played into a legend (promoted during Charles I’s reign) that the Queen had discovered in the last weeks of her life that Essex had asked her for mercy. According to the story, in February 1603, Elizabeth’s cousin, the Countess of Nottingham, had called Elizabeth to her deathbed. The dying Countess reminded Elizabeth how she had once given Essex a ring saying that if he ever needed her help or protection he should send it to her and it would be forthcoming. In the Tower, under sentence of death, he had given the ring to a boy to take to Lady Scrope, intending for her to pass on his ring to the Queen as a sign that he was asking for mercy, but the boy gave the ring to Lady Scrope’s sister, the Countess of Nottingham, instead. Her husband, Nottingham, (or Essex’s other enemy Robert Cecil, depending on the version of the story) persuaded her to keep it, but having seen Elizabeth’s unhappiness after Essex’s death she wanted the Queen to know the truth and beg forgiveness. The Queen’s response was to shake her cousin in her bed saying, ‘God may forgive you, but I never can’.The Van Dyck portrait was painted in around 1640, when Frances’s husband was deeply involved in the opposition to Charles I, and is a telling advertisement of the supposed virtues of the noble Puritan elite of whom her father was a member, as her husband is, as well a reminder of royal injustice. Tellingly their house was hung with portraits of Hertford’s great aunt, Lady Jane Grey (executed by Mary I and regarded as a Protestant martyr) his grandmother Lady Katherine Grey (died imprisoned by Elizabeth I, separated from her husband and elder son), and his first wife, Lady Arbella Stuart (died in the Tower, imprisoned by James I) The ring was passed from mother to daughter through the family until it was sold by the Thynne family in 1911. It is gold with a sardonyx cameo bust of the Queen, who wears an auburn wig. The inside is enamelled with blue flowers, probably forget me nots, on a gold ground. The ring was originally fixed on a mount on the side of the tomb but was later moved to the Abbey Museum. It appears to have been made for a female finger and to have been subsequently enlarged.

[wikitopx]

Gender: Female

Origin: English

Meaning: Beautiful Lion

1. Meaning of the name "Arabella"

The name Arabella is the name of a girl of Latin origin meaning "to bring prayer". Arabella was used as a name starting in the 12th century with the birth of Arabella de Leuchars, granddaughter of William the Lion, King of Scotland.

It is derived from the Latin oraveis, from which Arabella has its meaning. Some scholars associate Arabella with Amabel, arguing that the former was developed as a variant of the latter in Scotland, like the name Annabel.

Arabella, lovely and elegant, has long been used well in the UK and finally reached the US list in 2005. Its meaning can also be understood as "beautiful", thanks to -bella.

Arabella has been a great favorite in English novels, dating as far back as Samuel Richardson's Clarissa and Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, and also appeared in The Vicar of Wakefield, Dickens's Pickwick Papers, George Eliot's Felix Holt and Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure, and more recently in Harry Potter.

Arabella is the title of a lyric comic opera by Richard Strauss, and was chosen for their daughters by Ivanka Trump and Dr. Oz. A real-life heroine is Arabella Mansfield (born Aur Aurelia), the first American woman to become a lawyer. Arabella is a recommended, sophisticated choice.

2. Top 3 Famous Person Named Arabella

Lady Arbella Stuart:

During the reign of King James VI and I, she married William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset in secret. King James imprisoned William Seymour and placed her under house arrest. When she and her husband tried to escape England, she was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London, where she passed away at age 39.

Arabella Churchill (royal mistress):

Arabella Churchill (23 February 1648 – 30 May 1730) was the mistress of King James II, and the mother of four of his children (surnamed FitzJames, that is, "son of James").

Arabella Mansfield:

She is a teacher and university administrator. Despite Iowa state laws restricting the bar exam for men, Mansfield took the exam and scored high. Shortly after challenging in its court, Iowa amended its licensing rules and became the first state to accept women and minorities into its bars.

During her career, Mansfield worked primarily as an educator and activist, teaching at Iowa Wesleyan College and DePauw University. Later, she also became a university administrator, serving successively as dean in the 1890s of two different schools.

More ideas for you: Sara Name Meaning

From : https://wikitopx.com/name-meanings/arabella-name-meaning-714614.html

[scotlandsladies]

A portrait of Lady Arbella Stuart possibly by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger

“This is one of several portraits of Arbella thought to have been executed by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. The velvet cushion balancing on the arm of the chair is said to be characteristic of the artist’s work. It is likely that the portrait was painted shortly after Arbella’s cousin James VI came to the English throne, but before her marriage to William Seymour. It was around this time, in 1603, that Sir Walter Raleigh was put on trial for conspiring to establish Arbella as Queen.”