CHAPTER 11
Tudor Prisoners
One of Henry VIII’s last victims was the Earl of Surrey. Surrey’s enemies convinced Henry that Surrey was plotting against him. This was easy to do because all the courtiers were usually plotting, and Henry was always suspicious.
While Surrey was locked in the Tower, he tried to escape by climbing down the chute of the garderobe. Unfortunately, the guard noticed his empty bed. After Surrey emerged, dirty and stinking, from the privy, he was recaptured. A few days later he was executed.
Princess Mary
When Henry VIII died, his nine-year-old son followed him as King Edward VI. Young Edward died a few years later. In the days after Edward’s death, there was a lot of confusion about who should rule next. Henry VIII’s oldest child was Mary from his first marriage. She was the obvious choice. But King Henry had said that his marriage to Mary’s mother had broken a religious law. This meant Mary couldn’t be queen. His other daughter was Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn who was beheaded. Since Henry had said that Anne was unfaithful, people thought Elizabeth shouldn’t become queen, either.
Edward VI was a strong believer in the new Protestant religion that was introduced to England by his father. He didn’t want Mary to be queen because she was a Catholic. Right before he died, he said that the person who should follow him was Lady Jane Grey. She was a cousin, and her family was not Catholic.
Lady Jane Grey
So Jane became queen—but only for nine days. The advisors who had been ruling for Edward, because he was a child, were in favor of Jane Grey becoming queen, at least at first. But then they turned against her. Jane was accused of treason and thrown into the Tower. She protested that she had never wanted to be queen. It was forced on her. But it was no use. A few months later, she became the third queen to be beheaded in the Tower. She was not yet seventeen.
So Mary became queen and quickly made the country Catholic again. Mary was afraid of her half-sister, Elizabeth. Elizabeth believed in the new religion, and she also had a good claim to the throne. So Mary had Elizabeth sent to the Tower.
People held in the Tower often entered by boat through a gate to the river Thames called the Traitors’ Gate. Elizabeth was angry that she was taken through this gate. She said she was not a traitor. She sat outside in the rain for a long time before she would to go into the Tower.
Mary had Elizabeth watched very closely. She was only allowed to walk along the roof between two towers, not in the garden. Her meals all had to be examined by the Tower staff before she could eat them. Mary wanted to be sure no one could send Elizabeth a secret message.
After a few months, Elizabeth was sent from the Tower to another castle. The next time she entered the Tower, it was to prepare to be crowned queen of England. After Mary’s death in 1558, she became Queen Elizabeth I, one of England’s greatest rulers.
Beefeaters
