Did you know that one of England’s queens only lasted ten days? She then was put in prison and, later, beheaded! London has a rich, fascinating medieval history, from beautiful jewels to legendary crows.
Home of the crown jewels
Right now, Queen Elizabeth II is on the throne in England. But before her was a multitude of Henrys, Georges, a few Victorias, and a previous Elizabeth. They all have worn a crown, of course. In the Tower of London, a fortress in London, you can see all the crowns, staffs and jewels. One king had a crown to wear whenever he visited India, but since he only visited India once, his beautiful, ornate crown was only worn once!
The weapons of medieval times ranged from spear to sword. There were axes, bows, crossbows, and more! I learned the different uses of bows and crossbows. An experienced hand could reload a bow in just two seconds. Reloading a crossbow took longer, but crossbows could shoot much farther and were also be used to punch holes in armor. That is why cavalry and foot soldiers had bows because a slow-loading crossbow man would be cut in half. When defending a castle and you had lots of time and a good amount of armor to punch through, crossbow men were popular and effective, because a well-aimed simultaneous wave of crossbow bolts could take down half the first wave.
Tower of London
The Tower of London is a fascinating building along the Thames River in downtown London. It started as a Roman base camp, then became British. Kings upgraded it with extra walls, a moat, additional towers and fortifications, and a pier. Slowly it transformed into this majestic, towering fortress. It has stood almost 1000 years and its defenses have only been breached once. The tower was breached miraculously by peasants angry with high-taxes. The Tower’s defenses were upgraded a good amount after that! The Tower of London is the central castle of all London.
Model of the Tower of London
Beefeaters are a type of costume that the guards wear while they protect the crown jewels, the queen’s palace, and important artifacts. Every day, at 12 o’clock they change the guard at Buckingham Palace, where the royal family lives, with many a tourist watching. Their trumpeting, marching and yelling is very interesting and their costumes are regal and decorative.
All in all, I highly recommend a trip to London to see the changing of the guard and the Tower of London museum. The entrance to the tower may be a little expensive but I would definitely pay the fee.
This was interesting, especially the photos. We never went inside the Tower of London museum. I’m glad it was worth it. Lo, this will make a great report to share with your classmates back home. Speaking of which……you only have three more months.
Hurry…go see lots more exciting stuff…..
hugs,
Omi
Thanks for reading.