The Tower of London

Founded nearly a millennium ago and expanded upon over the centuries since, the Tower of London has protected, housed, imprisoned and been for many the last sight they saw on Earth.

It has been the seat of British government and the living quarters of monarchs, the site of renowned political intrigue, and the repository of the Crown Jewels, It has housed lions, bears, and (to this day) flightless ravens, not to mention notorious traitors and framed members of court, lords and ministers, clergymen and knights,

In the Middle Ages the Tower of London became a prison and place of execution for politically related crimes, with most captives being put to death (murdered or executed). Among those killed there were the humanist Sir Thomas More (1535); the second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn (1536). Other notable inmates included Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I), who was briefly imprisoned by Mary I for suspicion of conspiracy; the infamous conspirator Guy Fawkes (1606) and the adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh (1618). Even in the 20^ch century during World War I several spies were executed there by firing squad.

TASK 7. Explain the meaning of the following words and expressions:

a framed member of court

a notable inmate

a notorious traitor

a politically related crime

an infamous conspirator

the repository

of the Crown Jewels

the seat of British government

the site of renowned

political intrigue

TASK 8. Complete the following table with the appropriate verb or noun forms:

Chapter V. Imprisonment: Retribution or Rehabilitation? 157

TASK 9. Match the names of the renowned -prisoners from the boa-with the stories given below;

Catherine Howard; Sir Walter Raleigh; Anne Boleyn; Guy Fawkes; Sir Thomas More

v_____________ ——____________________________________________________________ /

Here are some of the unfortunates held within the Tower walls.

_________________________ , the Lord Chancellor and scholar who

served Henry VIII until the break with Rome, refused to acknowledge Henry VIII as supreme head of the English Church, and continued adamant when the king's subjects were required to subscribe to the oath imposed. He also protested against the divorce of Catherine of Aragon, who had given Henry only one living child» the Princess Mary.

________________________ , Henry VIIPs second wife, was taken to

the Tower on a charge of adultery. Before her crowning she had stayed in what is now called the "Queen's House", built below the Bell Tower in 1530. As a prisoner she returned there Her trial took place in the medieval great hall where she was sentenced to death,

______________________ was Henry VIIPs fifth wife and according

to him his "very jewel of womanhood". He adored her' and showered her with gifts and favours and pampered her in every way. She appointed a former admirer as her private secretary and soon rumours were being whispered at court about the Queen's misconduct Henry's immediate reaction was one of total disbelief. However, he ordered an investigation and found that she had really been flirting behind his back. For this he could show no mercy. She went the way of her cousin Anne Boleyn; she was tried, condemned

and beheaded at the Tower of London.

______________________________ was a leading conspirator in the

Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament. He was a Catholic convert who had served in the Spanish army before becoming involved in the plot. He and his fellow conspirators were taken to the Tower and interrogated in the Queen's House, In January 1606 with three others, he was drawn on a hurdle from the Tower to the Houses of Parliament and there hanged^.beheaded and quartered.

________________________ was an explorer known for his expeditions

to the Americas, and for allegedly bringing tobacco and the potato from the New World to the British Isles. A favourite of Elizabeth I, he fell thoroughly out of favour and spent 12 years in the Tower

Just English. Английский для юристов

on a charge of platting against King James I. He was released in 16113, only to find himself back there in 1618 after his fruitless expedition to look for gold mines in Guyana- This time he was kept in one of the most cold and direful dungeons before being beheaded six weeks later. In his speech from the scaffold he thanked God that he died in the light, and not in the dark prison of the Tower.

TASK 10. Read the text and write dourn Russian equivalents for the words and expressions given in bold type;

The Bastille

The Bastille was a medieval fortress on the East side of Paris that became, in the 17^lh and. 18*^h centuries, a French state prison and a place of detention for important persons charged with miscellaneous offences. The Bastille, stormed by an armed mob of Parisians in the opening days of the French Revolution, was a symbol of the despotism of the Bourbons and held an important place in the ideology of the Revolution.

With its eight towers, 100 feet high, linked by walls of equal height and surrounded by a moat more than SO feet wide, the Bastille dominated Paris. The first stone was laid on April 22, 1370, on the orders of Charles V of France» who had it built as a bastide, or fortification (the name Bastille is a corruption of bastide), to protect this wall around Paris against English attack

The Cardinal de Richelieu was the first to use the Bastille as a state prison in the 17^th century. Prisoners included political troublemakers and individuals held at the request of their families, often to coerce a young member into obedience or to prevent a disreputable member from marring the family's name. Under Louis XIV, the Bastille became a place of judicial detention; and later persons being tried by the Parliament were also detained there. It is noteworthy that prohibited books were also placed in the Bastille, The high cost, of maintaining the building prompted talk of demolition in 1784.

On July 14, 1789, when only seven prisoners were confined in the building, a mob advanced on the Bastille with the intention of asking the prison governor to release the arms and munitions stored there. Angered by the governor's refusal, the people stormed and captured the place. This dramatic action came to symbolise the end of the ancient regime. The Bastille was subsequently demolished by order of the Revolutionary government.

Chapter V. Imprisonment: Retribution or Rehabilitation? 159

TASK 11* Answer the following questions:

1. When and why was the Bastille built?

2. Who was the first to use the Bastille as a state prison?

3. What was the Bastille Шее in the 17^lh and 18^th centuries? Who was confined there?

4* How was the Bastille demolished?

TASK 12. Read the text in the section "It's Interesting to Know". Find more information about the research into the treatment of criminals carried out by the 18^lU century humanists:

It's Interesting to Know

John Howard, 1726—1790

There is in England today a society called The Howard League of Penal Reform* It is named alter one of the greatest figures in the history of law in the eighteenth century, Howard was High Sheriff of Bedfordshire when, in 1773 he started to investigate prison conditions. The thing that drew his interest was the discovery that innocent people were often held in gaol until they had paid the gaoler's fees even though the court had found them not guilty. In the next three years he visited every prison in Great Britain and Ireland as well as many in Europe and wrote a book based on his experiences called The State of Prisons. He died in Russia on his way to find out about sanitary conditions in the Russian army. Through his work and that of Elizabeth Fry prisons were at last improved and prisoners treated more like human beings than animals.

Cesare Beccaria, 1738—1794

Punishment of criminals in the eighteenth century was savage, from torture to death or imprisonment, One of the first people to raise a voice against the inhumanity was Beccaria, who wrote a famous book called Concerning Crimes and Punishment He called for mercy and his pleas were heard by such people as Frederick the Great of Prussia, who was in a position to do something about unjust laws. The book was soon translated into several languages. He was one of the first people to say that the law should consider the person being tried as well ps the crime

he or she has committed.
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REVIEW

Sum up the information from the Unit. Add the facts and data that you have obtained during your classes of law, Make reports and present them in class. Use the patterns and the vocabulary from the Unit. v

Date: 2016-01-03; view: 2767