Meandering Abroad: The Tower Of London

Last week, we took Bob's legal ethics class to see the Tower of London. It was built by William the Conquerer. That makes it about 1000 years old. It served as the royal palace for 500 years and has been a prison and home for troops as well. It now houses the royal jewels, armor, etc. The jewels are amazing--perfect diamonds and other jewels the size of golf balls, including the crowns of the kings and Queens of England. They have several sets of Henry VIII's armor, a mere 500 years old. He was imposing. Our guide for the general tour was one of the Beef-eaters, who have guarded the castle since the beginning. No one knows why they have that name. All of them have been in the military for at least 18 years. I think they are chosen because they are such characters. Our guide was very entertaining.

The reason we took Bob's legal ethics class to The Tower was that he began his class with a look at Saint (and Sir) Thomas More, the Lord Chancellor of England (like our Attorney General) during Henry VIII's reign. You will recall More from "A Man for All Seasons" (if you have not seen it, see the original--1966 Academy Award for Best Picture). More shows a lot of conviction and courage, standing up to Henry when Henry wants to divorce his wife and get rid of the Catholic Church. More is imprisoned in the "Bloody Tower" for over a year and then beheaded. Bob learned from a friend that we could get special permission to take the class into Thomas More's cell and crypt which is not normally open to the public.