The Most Daring Escapes From the Tower of London

For more than 900 years, the Tower of London has occupied its place at the heart of English life. At various times a royal citadel, palace, menagerie, observatory, public records office, mint, arsenal and, even to this day, the home of the crown jewels of England, since 1100 it has famously served as a prison for notorious traitors, heretics, and even royalty. Out of the more than 8,000 unfortunate souls, many who were imprisoned in the Tower never left. Those who did, often did so without their head. For a small number, however, the supposedly impenetrable walls proved merely a minor nuisance. Author and historian Matt Lewis visits the Tower of London to tell the story of those fortunate few who succeeded in escaping one of history's most famous prisons. You can now become a History Hit member right here on YouTube! Join for access to a new exclusive documentary every week, and access to over 160+ of our documentaries presented by world renowned historians like Dan Snow, Eleanor Janega, Tristan Hughes, Mary Beard, Matt Lewis and more. Get an exclusive release every week by signing up here: https://bit.ly/45Y4Oyg #historyhit #toweroflondon #escapes #prisoner 00:00 Introduction 01:42 John Gerard & John Arden (1597) 06:24 Ranulf Flambard (1101) 08:39 Roger Mortimer (1323) 11:15 Alice Tankerville (1534) 14:04 William Maxwell (1716)