While visiting the Tower of London today, I began to realize that the history of this castle really has two sides to it. On the one hand, in the present day the castle is obviously a preserved historical site and tourist attraction, yet in its previous life as a military fortress and prison it also represents a much darker part of London's history.Even the exhibits seem to emphasize this duality of the Tower's place in history. The lavish Crown Jewels collection of the monarchy are on display, yet visitors can also see an extensive collection of the weapons of war, along with instruments of torture.
The Tower of London was a good follow-on visit from Hampton Court Palace earlier this
week, as it reinforced the notion of the king wielding absolute power over the land. And, that even the most minor of infractions (legitimate or otherwise) could easily land an unfortunate soul in prison at the Tower, subjected to whatever degree of penalty saw fit by the king. We can at least be thankful that England (and the rest of the world, for the most part) has moved on from this in the last several hundred years!
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