Early London: Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon and Norman

In Appendix K to _Geoffrey de Mandeville_, Mr. J. H. Round presents a little group, belonging to this period, of three families, together with a collection of facts and figures...

If there had been any persons living to remember Augusta when the army of King Alfred took possession of the place, then, indeed, they would have shed tears, while standing on t...

The second appearance of London in history springs out of the revolt of the Iceni under Boudicca, or, as her name is Latinised, Boadicea. She was the widow of Prasutagus, King o...

Those who have seen the lake-dwellings of Glastonbury—to take a familiar illustration—and have considered the conditions necessary to such a colony, will come to the conclusion...

Under the protection of the Citadel the merchants first conducted their business; under its shadow the ships lay moored in the river, the bales lay on the quays, and the houses...

It is due to the respect with which all writers upon London must regard the first surveyor and the collector of its traditions and histories that we should quote his words as to...

Such, then, was the condition and the government of Roman London- Augusta. It is a City of great trade when first we find it mentioned. The trade had been diverted by a new road...

The buildings of a town often succeed in masking the minor physical features of its site—irregularities are levelled, brooks are hidden beneath arches and find ignominious ends...

The City at this time occupied the same area as the Roman Augusta. The conditions of marsh and moor on all sides remained very little changed from the prehistoric days when Lond...

If one stands in the Museum of the Guildhall and looks round upon the scanty remains of Roman London there exhibited, one feels a cold doubt as to the alleged wealth and greatne...

To the reign of Henry the Second belongs the only description of London in the twelfth century that we possess. It is, of course, that of FitzStephen. I transcribe it in full; a...

We now come to the period about which, so far as London is concerned, there are no historians and there is no tradition. Yet what happened may be read with certainty. The Roman...

The election of Stephen by London is a fact the full importance of which, in the history of the City, was first brought out by the late J. R. Green. This importance signified, i...

It is sometimes said that one of the earliest acts of King Alfred in gaining possession of London was to build a fortress or tower within the City. The authority for this statem...

The historians commonly attribute this act, which they consider as the burning of a large and important suburb, to a threat of what the Norman would do to London herself, unless...

We know that in the memorable and brief document which is called William’s Charter, the laws and customs of Edward the Confessor were simply confirmed. Probably the City asked n...

Let us turn to the sister city, as yet only Thorney, the Isle of Bramble. We all know the legend of St. Peter’s Hallowing. The legend became in later times an article of faith....

_Stepney._—“In Osuluestan (Ossulston) hundred, the Bishop of London holds Stibenhede (Stepney) for thirty-two hides. There is land to twenty-five ploughs. Fourteen hides belong...

Let us pass on to consider the daily life of the people. To begin with, they were a busy people; there were no idle men: everybody followed some pursuit; there were the wholesal...

Let us return to the establishment of Christianity in London. It was in 604, as we have seen, that the East Saxons were baptized, their king, Sebert, being the nephew of Ethelbe...

The life of London began again somewhere about the end of the sixth century. As London was created for purposes of trade, and as it fell with the destruction of trade, so it was...

The Danes, then, held London for twelve years. In after years, when the country was governed by Danish kings, large numbers of Danes settled in London, and, with the national re...

We come next to the consideration of the bridge. It is not a little remarkable that of the three great buildings belonging to Roman London—Citadel, Wall, and Bridge—not one shou...

1. General. 2. St. Martin’s-le-Grand. 3. The Priory of the Holy Trinity, or Christ Church Priory. 4. The Charter House. 5. Elsyng Spital. 6. St. Bartholomew. 7. St. Thomas of Ac...

By the death of Edmund, Cnut was left without a rival. Edmund died on the 30th of November. At Christmas, Cnut summoned to London the Witan of all England to name and crown thei...

In August of the year 55 B.C., Cæsar landed on the coast of Britain with eighty ships, and two legions, the 7th and the 10th. He stayed in the country three weeks, and during th...

William Rufus was killed on Thursday, August 2, 1100, and buried on Friday. Henry rode off to London without the least delay: he arrived on Saturday; conferred with the leading...

This king—of a strange and inexplicable personality—gave no Charter to the City so far as is known, nor do there appear to have been any events of importance in London itself du...

As for the monuments which remain of Saxon London there are none; the Roman monuments are older, the mediæval monuments are later. There is not one single stone in the City of L...

Besides the wall, there are two other monuments, still surviving, of Roman London. One is “London Stone”; the other is the Roman bath in the Strand, which I have already mention...

1. General View. 2. Port and Trade of London. 3. Trade and Gentility. 4. The Streets. 5. The Buildings. 6. Furniture. 7. Wealth and State of Nobles and Citizens. 8. Manners and...

1. Henry II. 2. Richard I. 3. John. 4. Henry III. 5. Edward I. 6. Edward II. 7. Edward III. 8. Richard II. 9. Henry IV. 10. Henry V. 11. Henry VI. 12. Edward IV. 13. Richard III.

1. The Records. 2. The Charter of Henry the Second. 3. The Commune. 4. The Wards. 5. The Factions of the City. 6. The Century of Uncertain Steps. 7. After the Commune. 8. The Ci...

1. The Religious Life. 2. Church Furniture. 3. The Calendar of the Year. 4. Hermits and Anchorites. 5. Pilgrimage. 6. Ordeal. 7. Sanctuary. 8. Miracle and Mystery Plays. 9. Supe...