Gone Medieval — Tower of London: Medieval Palace
Host: Dr. Eleanor Yanika
Guest: Charles Fox-Paris (Curator)
Date: January 6, 2026
Podcast: Gone Medieval (History Hit)
Main Theme
This episode of Gone Medieval shines a light on the Tower of London’s lesser-known identity: not as a foreboding prison or site of grisly executions, but as a vibrant medieval palace—an epicenter of royal life, cultural exchange, and immense luxury, especially during the 1200s under Henry III and Edward I. Through a detailed walk-and-talk inside the Tower’s latest medieval palace exhibition, Dr. Eleanor Yanika and curator Charles Fox-Paris bring to life the people, stories, and spaces—kings, queens, craftsmen, and even bears—that made the Tower the “beating heart” of medieval England’s capital.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Setting the Scene: The Tower in Medieval London
- The Tower’s Many Faces: Both Eleanor and Charles stress the Tower’s multiple identities—as fortress, palace, prison, and even a menagerie. Its storied walls contained not just royalty, but commoners, craftsmen, clerics, and animals.
“In every direction that you look, the Tower of London seems to whisper, remember what happened here.” — Dr. Eleanor Yanika [04:00]
- A Living Crossroads: By 1300, some 80,000 people lived around the Tower, including a thriving Jewish community until their expulsion in 1290.
2. Life as a Palace (St. Thomas’s Tower)
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Palatial Luxury & Power: Medieval visitors would see richness and color—tapestries, wall paintings, decorated halls. The current exhibition reconstructs this opulence rather than the usual bleak, bare walls.
“Hopefully you can just see a little touch of the real luxury and magnificence of a medieval royal palace.” — Charles Fox-Paris [07:10]
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Symbol of Royal Authority: The expansion of the Tower—especially pushing into the Thames, creating “Water Lane”—was a visual statement of kingly power and a means to control the often rebellious city.
“This is a regime, a dynasty, not to be messed with.” — Charles Fox-Paris [10:52]
3. The People Behind the Palace: Not Just Royals
- Craftsmen and Servants: The exhibition spotlights figures like Robert of Beverly (master mason/architect), John de Navesby (keeper of the “white bear”), and Matilda de Walton (laundress), giving “team normal people” their due.
“You probably know that these kings traveled around a lot… but wherever they went, whenever possible, they wanted to stay in luxury.” — Charles Fox-Paris [08:22]
- Defining Household Roles: The royal household boasted 500+ people at times, from clerks to keepers of the royal menagerie (polar bear included), each recorded in detailed accounts.
4. The Jewish Community & Taxation
- The Jewish community played a complex and often persecuted role, being heavily taxed to fund royal projects—including parts of the Tower itself—before expulsion in 1290.
“One community that's taxed particularly heavily is, of course, the medieval Jewish community… In fact, this room as part of St. Thomas’s Tower… is partly paid for with Jewish taxation.” — Charles Fox-Paris [12:25]
5. Queens & Cultural Life: Eleanor of Provence and Eleanor of Castile
- Both queens shaped the palace’s rhythms, culture, and politics—Eleanor of Castile’s love of luxury, libraries, gardens, and artistic imports, Eleanor of Provence’s intellect and political heft (even summoning parliament).
“She is very cultured, she’s very educated, she’s very learned, she has her own library of books.” — Charles Fox-Paris [34:19]
- Queens as regents and influencers, not mere consorts.
6. Religion, Language, and Worldliness
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Palace Chapels: Serving both private and public religious needs, with Latin prayers, Anglo-Norman spoken at court, and personal piety woven into daily life.
“It was just such an important part and in many ways a public part of royal life as well. And it’s important to show that they were good Christian kings doing good Christian things and maintaining a thorough routine of devotions.” — Charles Fox-Paris [29:34]
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Diversity: A cosmopolitan court—languages, foods, and people from across Europe.
7. Entertaining & Display
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Spaces for Feasts & Power: Grand halls (Wakefield Tower), bedchambers adorned with tapestries, and immersive soundscapes aim to show these were venues for impressing and influencing guests as much as for personal retreat.
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Music & the Arts: Music (Cantigas de Santa Maria) and texts, especially from Spain, signal a court alive with art, not silent or austere.
“It sounds really contemporary… this is exactly the sort of music that would have been played in the 1200s in a palace like this.” — Charles Fox-Paris [36:31]
8. Edward I, Propaganda & Permanence
- Edward I was a “king of propaganda”—from military castles to ornate Eleanor Crosses, he created lasting images of kingly power.
“He really understands what it means to portray kingly power, I think.” — Dr. Eleanor Yanika [34:05]
9. Children’s & Everyday Life, Education
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Toys and Learning: Genuine artifacts, like lead knights and bone styluses, highlight how royal children lived, learned, and played.
“Edward and Eleanor’s children were given castles and siege engines to play with, probably hoping that they would one day be great warriors…” — Charles Fox-Paris [55:07]
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Clerks & Records: The survival of detailed records and household accounts gives us our window onto palace life.
10. The Jewish Story Preserved
- Rare Mikveh Stone: A stone from a medieval Jewish ritual bath, discovered nearby, anchors the exhibition’s section on Jewish London—an unusual and meaningful artifact given the rarity of surviving Jewish material culture from pre-1290 England.
“This is actually from a medieval Jewish mikveh… on the site of the home of the Crespin family. It’s incredibly rare…” — Charles Fox-Paris [60:30]
11. Living History & Interpretation
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Curatorial Reflections: Charles shares how reconstructing the palace—through illustrations, objects, sound—transformed his own perspective, making him “feel closer to the story than I had before.”
“The process of making the illustrations… really made me think about it…as a medieval historian, it’s been a really exciting process.” — Charles Fox-Paris [65:06]
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Sensory Immersion: The recreated tapestries, modeled beds, colored walls, multi-lingual audio, and even background crackling fires allow visitors to step inside the court’s vibrant world.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
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The Tower’s Presence:
“In every direction that you look, the Tower of London seems to whisper, remember what happened here.”
— Dr. Eleanor Yanika [04:00] -
Royal Apartments as Political Statement:
“This isn't just because you enjoy luxury… it’s a statement of intent.”
— Dr. Eleanor Yanika [10:33] -
The Real Luxury:
“People sometimes think of the medieval period as being quite gray and quite cold. And while it is a little bit cold this evening, looking around, hopefully you can just see a little touch of the real luxury and magnificence of a medieval royal palace.”
— Charles Fox-Paris [07:10] -
On Diversity and Inclusion:
“Absolutely. We didn't want to expect any prior knowledge of what the medieval period was… it's for everybody.”
— Charles Fox-Paris [15:22] -
The White Bear!
“We just find very incidental little references to [John De Navesby] in financial accounts… and he was the keeper of the White Bear at the Tower of London.”
— Charles Fox-Paris [19:25–20:05] -
Eleanor of Castile’s Influence:
“She has her own library of books… own scriptorium… She also imports fine foods from all around the world… beautiful textiles… She also has a massive impact on royal gardens…”
— Charles Fox-Paris [34:19–36:03] -
Child’s Toy with a History:
“Edward and Eleanor’s children were given castles and siege engines to play with, probably hoping that they would one day be great warriors…”
— Charles Fox-Paris [55:07] -
Multinationals at Court:
“There were Italian knights, German knights, Spanish knights, French knights… all attracted to their great fame and wanted to be part of their court.”
— Charles Fox-Paris [56:51] -
Sensory Experience:
“You have the fire crackling and the sounds of the Anglo Norman wafting behind the curtains and the Latin coming from the chapel… you can really feel like you’ve at least got a tiny idea of the richness…”
— Charles Fox-Paris [66:32]
Timestamps for Important Segments
- Introduction/Setting the Scene: [01:24–06:00]
- Opulent Royal Apartments & Political Power: [06:04–12:50]
- The Jewish Community & Funding the Tower: [12:52–13:47]
- Household Life, Servants, and the White Bear: [19:25–22:15]
- Women at Court & Queens’ Impact: [14:12–15:22], [34:19–36:31], [50:40–54:00]
- Religion and Multilingual Court: [29:23–31:02]
- Music, Art & Intellectual Exchange: [36:31–38:06]
- Architecture as Royal Propaganda: [42:30–45:52]
- Wakefield Tower & Henry VI: [46:02–47:29]
- Jewish Mikveh Stone & Reflecting on Medieval Diversity: [60:30–61:50]
- Curator’s Reflections: [64:28–66:32]
- Final Thoughts & Favorite Spaces: [66:32–66:53]
Final Reflections
- Bringing the Past Alive: Dr. Yanika marvels that, thanks to the exhibition, “the richness of the tapestries, the paint on the walls… bring the medieval past to life in a way that we ordinarily don’t get to see.” [66:53]
- Invitation to Experience: Both speakers urge listeners to visit and experience the Tower’s layers as a living palace—colorful, ambitious, cosmopolitan, and deeply human.