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The Tower of London, built in in the 11th century, originated as a fortress and castle. By the time of Henry VIII’s reign, however, the Tower had fallen into disrepair; as such, the Tower ceased to be a royal residence and became London’s most fearsome prison. Because the Tower of London sits on the Thames River, it was often necessary to arrive there by barge, giving the prison an especially forbidding aura. In Bring Up the Bodies, all of Cromwell’s high-profile prisoners (including Anne Boleyn, George Boleyn, and Harry Norris) are jailed at the Tower.
The Tower of London Quotes in Bring Up the Bodies
The Bring Up the Bodies quotes below are all either spoken by The Tower of London or refer to The Tower of London. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 2, Chapter 2: Master of Phantoms Quotes
‘Now listen to me, Crumb. If I say I need to see the Tudor, no blacksmith’s boy will say me nay.’
‘He may weld you, my lord,’ Richard Riche says. They had not noticed him slip aboard. ‘He may take upon him to beat and reshape your head. Master Secretary has skills you have never imagined.’
A sort of giddiness has seized them, a reaction to the horrible sight they have left behind on the quay. ‘He may pound you into a different shape entirely,’ Audley says. ‘You may wake up a duke and by noon you may be curved into a horseboy.’
‘He may melt you,’ Fitzwilliam says. ‘You begin as a duke and end as a leaden drip.’
‘You may live out your days as a trivet,’ Riche says. ‘Or a hinge.’
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As Cromwell drags Anne across the “quay” to her new prison cell in the Tower of London, her uncle Norfolk trails behind, loudly demanding to see the king—even though Cromwell insists that Henry is not taking visitors. Norfolk’s initial explosion here demonstrates that despite Cromwell’s close proximity to the king, some of the court’s most pompous nobles still refuse to accept his authority, continuing to write “Crumb” off because of his working-class origins (“no blacksmith’s boy will say me nay”). But the swift rebuke from Riche, Fitzwilliam, and others also demonstrates the important power shift that has occurred over the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscip
‘I must take your mind back. I do not ask you to remember the manifold favors you received at the cardinal’s hands. I only asked you to recall an entertainment, a certain interlude played at court. It was a play in which the late cardinal was set upon by demons and carried down to Hell.’
He sees Norris’s eyes move, as the scene rises before him: the firelight, the heat, the baying spectators. Himself and Boleyn grasping the victim’s hands, Brereton and Weston laying hold of him by his feet. The four of them tossing the scarlet figure, tumbling him and kicking him. Four men, who for a joke turned the cardinal into a beast.
[…] Would Norris understand if he spelled it out? He needs guilty men. So he has found men who are guilty. Though perhaps not guilty as charged.
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Now that Cromwell has had Harry Norris arrested and jailed in the Tower of London, Cromwell can at last reveal his true motives to this courtier, once a beloved friend of Henry’s. In instructing Norris to recall the play where he, George Boleyn, William Brereton, and Francis Weston mocked Wolsey, Cromwell makes it known that he is focused less on truth and more on revenge; “he has found men who are guilty” of something (namely their cruel defamation of Wolsey), even if they are not “guilty as charged.” More than perhaps anywhere else in the narrative, Cromwell now “spells out” Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a dese
The queen is alone now, as alone as she has ever been in her life. She says, Christ have mercy, Jesus have mercy, Christ receive my soul. […] There is a groan, one single sound from the whole crowd. Then a silence, and into that silence, a sharp sigh or a sound like a whistle through a keyhole: the body exsanguinates, and its flat little presence becomes a puddle of gore.
The Duke of Suffolk is still standing. Richmond too. The executioner has turned away, modestly, and already handed over his sword. His assistant is approaching the corpse but the four women are there first, blocking him with their bodies. One of them says fiercely, ‘We do not want men to handle her.’
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As Cromwell, Gregory, and many of the palace’s most prominent courtiers look on, Anne Boleyn is publicly beheaded (a gruesome event that marks an infamous moment in English history). First, this passage is notable because of how it complicates the novel’s obsession with language. It was language—whispered gossip, twisted accusations, and detailed legal indictments—that brought Anne to the Tower of London’s scaffold. But now, the bodily horror of this moment defies words entirely, as the crowd’s collective “groan” gives way to “silence,” then to the “sharp sigh” of Anne’s blood leaving her body, a sound painful precisely because of the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid is
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The Tower of London Term Timeline in Bring Up the Bodies
The timeline below shows where the term The Tower of London appears in Bring Up the Bodies. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 2, Chapter 2: Master of Phantoms
Cromwell orders Mark Smeaton to be sent to the Tower of London. Across the city, servants will be preparing for the royal jousts, where both...
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It is time to bring Anne to the Tower, but she does not want to go, instead asking politely to speak with Henry. Cromwell...
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Outside Anne’s chambers, William Kingston, the Constable of the Tower, waits to take the Queen away. Cromwell, Norfolk, Fitzwilliam, and a few others board the...
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...dutiful Kingston) that Anne has thrown herself on the floor of her room in the Tower, weeping that even this jail cell is “too good” for her. Wriothesley sees this as...
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...is mysterious even to him. The next day, Cromwell decides, he will go to the Tower to interrogate Harry Norris.
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...and Cromwell reminds Norris just how much Wolsey suffered as he, too, sat in the Tower, awaiting execution. As Cromwell takes his leave, he checks off a mental list: “left forepaw.”
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...he referenced growing to be “forty-five or fifty”—has touched him. Cromwell rushes out of the Tower. As Cromwell tries to stave off panic, he reflects that “the lambs have butchered and...
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...now May, and everything is in bloom. When Cromwell goes to visit Anne in the Tower, he brings some flowers with him. Cromwell wonders if this is the last time he...
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...Cromwell, Anne calls out for Thomas Wyatt, wondering when he will join her in the Tower.
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...against these prominent courtiers. Still, for now, Cromwell will have to bring Wyatt to the Tower.
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At the Tower, the order comes in for Kingston: “bring up the bodies.” This means that Kingston has...
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...little cap instead of the customary hood. A makeshift court has been built in the Tower, and Cromwell sees courtiers and ambassadors who have gathered for the trial. Cromwell asks Anne...
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The next day, May 16th, the French ambassador meets Cromwell at the Tower. When Cromwell wonders why the ambassador has come, he explains he is here to defend...
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...have her old ladies-in-waiting back, not the new women who have been assigned in the Tower. Henry agrees to this request as he signs the death warrants in neat, big block...
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