Little Ease: the Tiny Torture Chamber of the Tower of London


Little Ease: the Tiny Torture Chamber of the Tower of London

It was nicknamed "Little Ease", which translates as "uncomfortable - uncomfortable", and was a room of only 1.2 square meters where it was impossible to stand or lie down. The hellish room was destined for terrible torture:

The victim was locked inside for days, sometimes weeks, with no possibility of sitting, lying down or standing.

The room was located in the “White Tower” of the Tower of London, a large castle of medieval origin exploited in the following centuries for the most disparate uses. The Tower is famous for being a prison, although this was never its main use. Despite the reputation, the executions in the Tower of London were not numerous, and death was often inflicted on the condemned in nearby Tower Hill.

The room was naturally kept in complete darkness, and the terror that was to assail the inmates is unimaginable today. The Little Ease was used not as a torture for its own sake, but as a prison room for people who would later be tortured otherwise.

According to the Ancient Fortress website, but also British History Online, there were several condemned to go through the "few comforts" of the Little Ease. Among these, the most famous is certainly Guy Fawkes, one of the authors of the "Powder Plot", who on November 5, 1605 tried to blow up the entire English parliament and the King himself, James I of England.

Fawkes was subjected to several tortures, which probably included the terrible easel, interspersed with confinement inside the "Little Ease", which forced him to confess his name (he called himself John Johnson at first) and the names of his companions.

 Together with him were executed Thomas Wintour, Ambrose Rookwood, and Robert Keyes, sentenced to death by the execution known as "hanged, gutted and quartered".

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