"Game Of Thrones has a reputation for having plenty of gruesome violence, with characters meeting their makers in an array of messy ways.
From decapitation to being crowned with molten gold, George RR Martin’s fantasy series certainly keeps things interesting when it comes to dispatching characters.
Season five of the HBO/Sky Atlantic series has had its world premiere at the Tower Of London – and it couldn’t be a more appropriate setting.
First built in Norman times, the Tower has a history just as grisly as any Game Of Thrones wedding…
Torture at the Tower
While Ramsay Bolton might be the king of torture in Game Of Thrones, the Tower Of London was there first. Prisoners held at the Tower were often tortured until they confessed, with the rack and the manacles among the most commonly used. In theory saved for those accused of the most serious crimes, victims of the rack were tied to rollers, which were then used to stretch the body. Muscles and tendons would be ripped, bones would be broken and joints would be separated. The ‘lesser’ torture of the manacles saw victims hung up by their wrists.
the rack, torture
The rack was a particularly nasty method of torture (Picture: Getty)
The imprisonment and execution of Anne Boleyn
Probably one of the most famous of the castle’s residents, she was tried, held and executed at the Tower over the course of just a few days in May 1536. Arrested and accused of adultery and incest on May 2, she was executed on May 19. Her accused lovers Mark Smeaton, Sir Francis Weston, Henry Norris, William Brereton and her brother George were also all executed. There is no firm evidence that any of the alleged affairs actually took place.
The Princes in the Tower
Young Edward V, then 12, was taken to the Tower with his nine-year-old younger brother following the death of their father. While they were supposedly taken there until Edward’s coronation, they were never seen again and their uncle was subsequently crowned Richard III. While skeletons found in the building have not been formally identified as belonging to the princes, most historians accept they were probably murdered in the Tower.
The princes in the tower
The final fate of the princes remains unknown (Picture: Channel 4)
Duke of Clarence (allegedly) drowns in a vat of wine
The Duke of Clarence was imprisoned for treason against his brother, Edward IV, in 1478. It seems he was ‘privately executed’ in the Tower as he was never seen since – but the method of execution has not been officially confirmed. The most popular theory, helped along by a certain William Shakespeare, is that he was drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine.
The (very gruesome) execution of Margaret Pole
If you thought the Duke of Clarence met a sticky end, then wait until you hear what happened to his daughter. One of the last surviving Plantagenets, she made the fatal mistake of crossing Henry VIII in her older years. After two and a half years in the Tower, she was finally sent to her execution at the age of 67. That’s when it all gets rather grim. Beheading wasn’t always a clean affair – it often took more than one blow to remove the head – but Margaret Pole’s execution was particularly awful. After she struggled on the block, the first blow just made a gash in her shoulder. It took 10 more blows to remove her head.
The torture and execution of Anne Askew
A famous protestant preacher, Anne Askew was charged with heresy in June 1546. While awaiting execution in the Tower Of London she was asked to name other protestants, but refused. Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas Wriothesley and Sir Richard Rich subsequently tortured her on the rack, despite the fact she was the daughter of a knight, was condemned to die and had already confessed. She did not name anyone. Her muscles and ligaments were so damaged from the torture that she had to be carried to her execution in a chair. After being tied to the stake she was offered a pardon if she publicly confessed, but she refused and was burnt to death.
catherine howard, the tudors
Catherine Howard’s execution, as depicted in The Tudors (Picture: Showtime)
The executions of Catherine Howard and Jane Boleyn
Yes, it’s another wife of Henry VIII coming to a sticky end. And another Boleyn. Arrested for treason on the grounds of of treason for committing adultery while married to Henry VIII, she was initially imprisoned in Syon Abbey in Middlesex. Her alleged lovers, Francis Dereham and Thomas Culpeper, were both executed first. Both were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered, but Culpeper’s sentence was commuted to beheading. This might seem like a small mercy, but Culpeper was lucky to escape the brutal death. Traitors sentenced to this gruesome execution would be hanged until they were almost dead before being disembowelled (while still alive). They’d then be chopped into four pieces. After Culpeper and Dereham’s deaths their heads were placed on spikes on London Bridge, with Catherine going past them on her way to the Tower Of London. Catherine Howard, aged just 19, was executed shortly before her lady-in-waiting, Jane Boleyn. Boleyn was Anne’s sister-in-law.
The brief reign of Lady Jane Grey
In a spot of Thrones-esque political manoeuvring, Lady Jane Grey was installed on the throne to prevent Edward VI’s sister Mary becoming queen. Queen for just nine days, she originally stayed in the royal apartments at Tower. Arrested in July following Mary’s arrival in London, she was tried in November. Despite her crimes, Mary appears to have been reluctant to execute her. The involvement of Lady Jane’s father in the Wyatt rebellion sealed her fate though and she was beheaded on Tower Green in February 1554. She was aged just 16. As if that wasn’t enough, it was written at the time that Lady Jane first had to watch her husband go to his death, then see his body brought back in a cart with his head wrapped up in a cloth.
Lord Lovat
Lord Lovat has the dubious distinction of being the last man beheaded on Tower Hill, being executed for treason on April 9, 1747. He wasn’t the only person killed that day though. The scaffold built for spectators at the execution collapsed, causing the deaths of 20 onlookers.
Check out the Tower Of London’s website for more information about its gruesome past.
Game Of Thrones season five airs at 9pm, April 13 on Sky Atlantic."
