The Growth Of London In The Middle Ages

Early on in the Middle Ages, London was not the great city it has become in the world today, in fact it was not even called London, it was called Londinium, then Lundenwic, and finally London. In the beginning of the Middle Ages, London was just a small trading town on the banks of the Thames River in England. As the Middle Ages progressed, so did the city of London. Even with the plagues and wars that occurred in and around the city, it grew into the center of the kingdom of England. At the close of the Middle Ages, London was one of the largest cities in the world. From the time that the Angles, Saxons, and the Jutes arrived and settled London, the city grew to become one of the largest and most important cities in the medieval world.

Before the Middle Ages, London was part of the Roman Empire that existed during that time. After subduing the surrounding region, the Romans established the city of Londinium in A.D. 43 (Bunson 296). It was said that “the city owed much of its historical and economic significance to its location…on the Thames River” (“London,” Middle 3:97). To protect themselves from a possible invasion by raiders, the Romans built a wall around the city in the early 200s (Church). The wall played a major part in the history of London, as it formed the boundaries of the city for hundreds of years (Church). Although the Romans were a powerful empire, they were often attacked by invaders, as was the case in 410. Because of that invasion, they were forced to call the Roman troops in Britain home to fight, and that marked the end of Roman control over Britain (Church).

After the Romans abandoned Londinium, a trio of sea-faring Germanic tribes, the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes, settled a small trading city named Lundenwic, just west of the old Roman city (Church). After about 400 years of peace, “Vikings from Denmark attacked the town in the 800s. In the 880s Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, united most of England into a single Kingdom within the walls of the old Roman city. The site of Lundenwic was abandoned and forgotten” (Church). After the Viking invasion, the city of London grew into a major port, “as merchant ships from France and Flanders unloaded their goods on London docks” (“London,” Middle 3:98). In the mid-1000s, King Edward the Confessor ordered the building of Westminster Abbey and the Palace Westminster, which were two of the most impressive constructions of the Middle Ages (Church). The Palace of Westminster was used as England’s center of government, and served as the chief royal residence until the 1520s (Church).

London was under Anglo-Saxon rule until the Normans conquered England in 1066. On Christmas Day 1066, King William I, also known as William the Conqueror, was crowned King of England in newly finished Westminster Abbey (“Medieval London”). Although the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans had different ruling styles, King William I allowed London to keep their own laws and customs, “but he built a castle, now called the White Tower, just outside of London to impress them with his authority and power. The White Tower today forms the central part of the Tower of London” (Church). The White Tower was a versatile building that was used as a royal residence, and later a prison, a royal mint, treasury, and housed the beginnings of a zoo (“Medieval London”). During Roman times, the Romans had built a wooden bridge that spanned the Thames River, but it was very hard to maintain and had to be replaced many times. In 1209, Londoners built the London Bridge, which was made of stone and remained “intact until it was demolished in the 1800s” (“London,” Middle 3:98).

After the Norman Conquest in the 13th Century, London began to build the beginnings of a city government. While King Henry I was in power, “Londoners were granted the right to choose their own sheriffs and run their own judicial courts” (“London,” Middle 3:98). In 1191, Richard the Lion-Hearted granted the city of London a mayoral office, and that office was filled in 1192 by Henry Fitzailwin (Bunson 297). In 1215, English barons and King John were feuding, and the Londoners took advantage of this by having certain demands included in the Magna Carta. These demands included, “protection for merchants, the right of free navigation on the Thames, and the establishment of London’s system of weights and measures as the standard for the rest of the kingdom” (“London,” Middle 3:98). After they were granted the right to choose their own sheriffs, London was then broken down into wards. Citizens of each ward elected aldermen, men to pave and clean the streets, men to fight fires, and men to keep the peace. Within each ward, taxes were collected and brought to a central building called the Guildhall. Also in the Guildhall, the mayor and aldermen heard cases and handed down justice, and it was used as a place for storing the city records (“London,” Middle 3:98). In 1285, King Edward I took away the right of self-government from the Londoners and “appointed his own official to preside over the city courts and to maintain control over the citizens” (“London,” Middle 3:99). After about 13 years, the right of self-government was given back to the Londoners