Dr Kat and The Theft of the Crown Jewels

hello and welcome back to the channel if you're new here hi you're very welcome this is reading the past and I'm dr. Kat and today we're talking about stealing the crown jewels and I realize now the way I've worded that might be slightly concerning so please don't call anybody I'm not suggesting we hatch a plot but it is a common plot particularly in fiction isn't it whether it's novels film or TV frequently if there's a heist movie happening then perhaps the target might be the crown jewels of the United Kingdom it's happened so often there are so many examples of this narrative that there's too many for me to name here what I want to think about is the fact behind that fiction [Music] when I talk about the crown jewels I am talking today of the items that you will find in the jewel house at the Tower of London these are the ceremonial objects that belong to the office of the monarch they differ from the private collection held by the Queen and members of her family these are objects that I use for state occasions most famously the coronation itself these are the objects that make a monarch they are our tradition so contain within them will be crowns the orb scepter and rod the ampulla used to contain the holy oil for anointing and new monarch the coronation spoon swords that are used within the ceremony the ceremonial bracelets and Spurs that are placed on the Monarchs body and of course the coronation robes these are also the items that are used at the State Opening of Parliament and they may always be brought out for other state occasions because included within these crown jewels are plates of gold and silver maces other ceremonial garments and various other things including musical instruments the crown jewels today in the 21st century refers to an enormous number of objects but I think it's important to highlight this was not the case with the crown jewels or war regalia of the 1200s 1300s or even 1600s what we have had is centuries of time to build up and maintain a collection of regalia and this was not the case previously there was an attrition of objects because of loss theft pawning and various other reasons which we will be looking at today so when I do talk about the crown jewels of 1213 or 1600 please don't be imagining the rooms and rooms and rooms of objects that you might have seen in the jewel house at the Tower of London this guy poor old King John known to many in history as bad King John gets blamed for a lot and one thing he has certainly blamed for is being responsible for the loss of the crown jewels so the story goes in 1216 King John was trying and failing to stabilize his kingdom John decided to cross the wash this is an estuary in the east of England unfortunately it seems he had misjudged the tide as he did so many other things apparently during his reign his baggage train which is believed to have contained the crown jewels was lost the water as if to add insult to injury King John died later that year the cause is believed to have been dysentery the crown jewels have not always been housed in the Tower of London in fact they were moved there on the orders of King Edward the first prior to that they were protected by the abbot and monks of Westminster Abbey and in many ways as a storage location Westminster Abbey makes way more sense in the Tower of London particularly if we think about even today where those jewels see most of their use in coronation it happens at Westminster Abbey the Palace of Westminster where Parliament sits is another key place for them to be used for the State Opening of Parliament but the issue is that in keeping the crown jewels at Westminster Abbey you have to be able to rely on and Trust the abbot and monks and as therefore the first found out in 1303 they could not always be relied upon I think it's worth mentioning that Edward the 1st and his monks had had a bit of a falling out the Pope had said that monks and the clergy were not responsible to pay taxes to their local nation but the 1st was not very keen on this idea he couldn't quite reach the Pope but he could certainly reach members of the Church in England and they would face the brunt of his anger ever the first was a king known for his frankly apocalyptic rages it is said that his entire bloodline was descended from a demon and there's a great story that goes along with that and if you would like me to tell that story then please do let me know in the comment section down below one day in 1303 Edward the first finds out that his royal store of jewels at Westminster Abbey has been ransacked and he is furious it is believed that the world collection of jewels at this time was kept in the security of Westminster Abbey either in the pics chamber a room full of boxes or in the chapterhouse crypt regardless of the exact location for me it's pretty obvious that if somebody's gonna break in and steal all of the crown jewels however small that collection may have been it would have required the monks and probably the abbot to have been complicit otherwise surely an alarm would have been raised ever but the first seems to have thought that's what's going on because he arrests the entire body of monks and abbot and puts in the Tower of London whether because of insufficient evidence or the protection of the ecclesiastical body he couldn't touch the monks he couldn't vent his spleen against them fortunately if you care about the first it wouldn't be long before items from the royal collection started turning up in London's pawnshops and indeed apparently in less salubrious locations such as brothels in addition to being able to reclaim these items and restore this royal collection that had been stolen Edward the first also got a name Richard puddle ikot a merchant when partly caught was tracked down he was found to be in possession of some of these stolen goods unfortunately for him he did not come under the protection of the ecclesiastical courts he was a layman and so Edra was free to vent his wrath against him so the story goes poor dick pottekkatt was flayed alive for his transgressions and then his skin was stretched across the door in Westminster Abbey from behind which he had been able to steal the Kings jewels this is the oldest door in England the door itself is believed to have been constructed in around the 1050 s and it can be found in Westminster Abbey which was consecrated in 1065 perhaps most startlingly and tellingly this door leads the chapter house which is one of the locations that was named as being the King's storehouse for jewels also somewhat disturbingly traces of skin have been found on this door might these be the final remains of the thief which puddle ikot well no the skin has been analyzed and it was actually found to be cowhide presumably put there as a canvas upon which painting could be placed but I think it's quite telling that the people who care for Westminster Abbey and particularly for this door within the Abbey went looking for this skin because it certainly isn't very visible on this photograph it seems to only exist in quite small quantities and when they found it they were prepared spend the money to try and find out what kind of skin it was is it possible that for this curatorial team at least some of them thought it might have been human remains perhaps it is unsurprising but after this Edward the first felt that he could no longer trust the abbey security and so he made the decision to move his regalia to his own palace and fortress of the Tower of London where it would not only be under his own paid God but also it would be in one of the most fortified places in the entire land Edward had strengthened his towers defenses putting an extra curtain wall around the outside making it a concentric castle with two rings of defence this had happened in around about 1300 it seems that ever the first had found the perfect location to keep his crown jewels so perfect in fact that the crown jewels have continued to be stored at the Tower of London in safety ever since well sort of between 1338 and 13 42 King Edward the third decided to pawn his great crown to pay for his wars in France around three centuries later in the early 1640s Henrietta Maria wife of Charles the first allegedly attempted to pawn or sell the crown jewels on the continent she was doing this just before the start of the Civil War ultimately her plan failed Parliament found out what she was up to and blocked her from doing so a few years later in 1649 the Royal jewels and regalia were broken down melted and or sold off on the orders of Oliver Cromwell in this same year Charles the first was tried and convicted of treason and was beheaded outside the banqueting house there was no more need for any crown jewels because as far as our nation was concerned there would be no more kings despite the evident about you of melting down all of the insignia of royalty it did not mean that our nation would remain a republic very long and indeed in 1661 brand-new regalia would have to be created because the interregnum was at an end and charles ii charles the first son was about to be crowned king today the crown jewels are kept under armed guard in the jewel house which is a purpose-built and secured display area in the Waterloo block however they have been stored in various other locations in the Tower of London as well in the 19th century for example paying visitors were able to enjoy a view of these jewels in the upper room of the Wakefield tower in the 17th century charles the second's newly minted royal regalia were being kept in the martin tower this was the home of Talbot Edwards the deputy keeper of the crown jewels his boss was the keeper of the jewels Gilbert Tolbert and it's possible that Gilbert Tolbert failed to pay Torbett Edward sufficiently either way it seems that to make a bit of money Torbett Edwards would allow people into his home to view the regalia some go further and allege that he would permit the crown to be tried on by these visitors for an extra fee in 1671 Tobin Edwards plant and a bit of extra money had the knock-on benefit of seemingly winning him some more friends he became particularly enamored with a couple who'd attended the Tower of London doctor Alif a most reverend parson had appeared with his lovely lady wife while looking at the jewels mrs. Alif was taken ill concerned for her well-being Tobit Edwards permitted her to rest and recuperate in his bedroom parson Alif was gratitude personified and he returned with gifts over the coming weeks and months a friendship grew between Edwards and Alif so much so that Alif was dismayed to see that Edwards daughter Elizabeth was as yet unmarried that would never do and as luck would have it don't you know parson Alif happened to have an unmarried nephew of a similar age perhaps these two might make a likely couple a happy marriage a date was set so that parson Alif his nephew and perhaps a couple of friends might return to the tower maybe have a look at the crown jewels and then we could see if the nephew and Elizabeth might get along all was well and good except that parson Alif was a fabrication yet another disguise of the notorious rogue Thomas blood some referred to him as Captain Blood some as Colonel blood it's unclear to me whether he ever earned either title or in fact if his name was Thomas blood there is a lot of disagreement about that too what we do think we know about him is that he was a thief and a disguise er he fought on both sides of the Civil War he had lands in Ireland which were then confiscated from him he attempted the kidnap and kill the Duke of Oman and he also claimed that he had been involved in plots to assassinate Charles the second the wife that he had brought was in fact an actress probably from Drury Lane the blooded hired for the purpose table Edwards evidently had a high degree of trust and faith in the man he thought was past an alien so much so that he either gifted or sold the man a pair of pistols in effect Torbett Edwards had armed the man who was planning to rob him on the day of the meeting Thomas blood still posing as parson Alif arrived at the tower with somebody claiming to be his nephew and they also brought with them a couple of friends the group convinced Tobit Edwards to show off the crown jewels once they were alone in the room together it wouldn't take much to incapacitate this aging ex soldier he was hit over the heads and stabbed in the belly and the gang set to work hiding the crown jewels about their person Thomas blood had brought a mallet and he started to hammer the crown flat to make it easier to hide under a cloak the royal orb went down somebody's trousers and then they were also setting about soaring the scepter in half to make it easier to conceal but the best laid plans can quickly fall apart when something unexpected happens and it was about to because as luck would have it this was the day that tall but Edwards son with Edwards decided to surprise his family with a visit home the robbers were interrupted midway through apparently soaring through the scepter they had to make an escape and they had to do it now it wouldn't take long before with Edwards would find out what had happened and raised the alarm and raised the alarm he did the gang almost made their way out of the tower they almost escaped with the loot but they were all stopped captured and the jewels smashed and cut as they were were reclaimed anybody with even the most passing interest in history probably has a good idea of what they might expect would happen to Thomas blood after all we have seen how monix tend to react when they feel slighted or robbed I think it's well within the realms of possibility that Thomas Mudd should have expected a fairly grisly end to have met him because of his crimes against the literal crown and that makes what happens next all the more surprising because Thomas Bloods demands a private audience with King Charles a second and King Charles a second accepts to this day no one fully knows what was exactly said in this meeting what passed between these two men and they certainly weren't sharing we do know that blood is said to have confessed to his role in the theft also even more astoundingly he is supposed to have told King Charles a second of his plans to assassinate him for reasons that continue to baffle Charles the second pardons Thomas blood not only that he returns lands in Ireland to him these lands were worth five hundred pounds a year Charles a second also ensures that Thomas blood will be welcome to court perhaps even more astounding is that it seems that Thomas blood was employed by the king and perhaps others to act as a spy after Bloods death in 1680 many a court assumed this was just one more trick or deception being played by an art disguise er this time someone who was attempting to avoid paying his debts a demand was made to have his body exhumed so they could check that it was actually him in the coffin however as they say even a stock clock can be right twice a day and this may have been the only occasion where what seemed to be going on with blood was actually the case as far as we know according to the official reports the failed attempt of Thomas blood represents the last time anybody even came remotely close to stealing the crown jewels today they are among the most securely kept property in the entire world but that doesn't mean that theft doesn't aunt them of all of the many breathtaking gems that are currently on display in the jewel house the Tower of London the Kohinoor diamond is arguably the most spectacular it is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world and currently it is set in the front of Queen Elizabeth the Queen mother's crown according to the table London's website the diamond was discovered in 15th century India it was passed from ill-fated male hand to hand until it earned a reputation of bringing bad luck to men it was presented to Queen Victoria in 18-49 so far so good this is a lovely shiny gift from India to the woman who would eventually become their Empress in 1876 however this narrative to me somewhat obscures what actually happened because the gift of this diamond was made to British troops by the ten-year-old Maharaja of the Punjab Dileep Singh and he made this in quotes gift following the imprisonment of his mother it is perhaps even more telling than at the same time that he was apparently gifting this diamond he was also signing away all claim to sovereignty over his nation in 1851 the diamond was displayed at the Great Exhibition but it seems that the public response was underwhelming and this led to the diamond being recut the process made the stone shine more brilliantly but it did also decrease its overall size but what do you think as always I'm looking forward to seeing your discussion in the comments section underneath this video or you can come and find me over on my social media I'll leave links to my Instagram and Twitter in the description box you can follow me there and we can continue this conversation I do hope you enjoyed this video and found it useful if you did then please let me know by hitting the thumbs up please also subscribe to this channel and while you're there hit the notification bill next subscribe button so that YouTube tells you and I've next uploaded I hope you're gonna have a great day whatever you're doing and I look forward to speaking to in my next video take care of yourselves bye bye for now [Music]

Channel: undefined

Views: 25,345

Rating: 4.977685 out of 5

Keywords: Crown Jewels, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Richard Pudlicott, Thomas Blood, King John, Edward I, Edward III, Charles I, Charles II, Oliver Cromwell, Education, Literature, Culture, History, Early Modern, Renaissance

Id: TDUWuA8MQtI

Length: 20min 10sec (1210 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 19 2020