The Story of London

In the mediæval city the proper protection of the municipality and the citizens largely depended upon the condition of the walls and gates. The government of town life was speci...

When I mentioned to a friend that I intended to devote one of the chapters of this book to the consideration of sanitation in the Middle Ages, he hinted that as there was no suc...

Under Roman rule the agricultural and mineral resources of Britain were more fully developed. Julius Cæsar praised the Southdown mutton, and Rome was supplied with oysters which...

'London claims the first place... as the greatest municipality, as the model on which, by their charters of liberties, the other large towns of the country were allowed or charg...

Mediæval London was almost entirely within the walls; but outside the walls, to the west, there was a connecting line of mansions on the river front leading to the village of Ch...

The influence of the Church during the mediæval period was great. In London the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's (secular canons) held the first place after the bishop, then came...

Our notices of the sports of mediæval London must commence with a reference to the curious essay of the monk Fitz-Stephen, who was the first to describe the chief features of Lo...

The Tower of London has existed for over eight centuries, and long before the Conquest the site was occupied by a Roman fortification. It is the most time-honoured building in G...

The question as to the great antiquity of London has formed a field for varied and long-continued disputes. An elaborate picture of a British London, founded by Brut, a descenda...

Having considered some of the chief conditions of life in a walled town, and the manners of the inhabitants, we can now proceed to look at old London through the eyes of the gre...

The river has made London, and London has acknowledged its obligations to the Thames. It was the Silent Highway along which the chief traffic of the city passed during the Middl...

The chief of the officials of the City of London was for many years after the Conquest the Castellan and Bannerer. When William the Conqueror obtained possession of London he bu...

recorded impurities of the streets the water of the river was pure, as may be proved from the fact that fishing was general. In 1343 an Inquisition was held before the Mayor and...

[327] The reason given for the repeal of the Act of Edward II. excluding victuallers from the office of Mayor is that 'since the making of the Statute many and the most part of...

found wandering in the King's highway, to whomsoever they might belong, within the walls of the city and the suburbs thereof.' The Earl of Lincoln complained to Parliament in 13...

is obtained. The whole history of the cultivation and use of woad is one of great interest. It was cultivated in England from the earliest times, and the trade was ruined by the...