Norman and Medieval London

This period saw a great deal of new church building and rebuilding of older churches, and by the 12th century there were over 100 churches within the city walls alone, one for every 300 inhabitants.[19][29] St. Paul's Cathedral was destroyed in a Great Fire in 1087.[27] It was rebuilt as what is now known as Old St. Paul's in this period, begun in the 12th cenutry and finished in 1314.[30] The church of St. Bartholomew-the-Great was founded in 1123 and remains one of the few remaining churches built in the Norman style of architecture in London.[31] The first London church built in the Gothic style of architecture was Temple Church, which was consecrated in 1185.[32] Westminster Abbey predates this period, but most of the current building dates from the 13th and 14th centuries, when the earlier abbey was mostly pulled down and rebuilt at great expense as a place for kings to be buried.[33]

London had three castles constructed in this period. The centre of the Tower of London, the White Tower, was constructed under William I in the 1070s, with most of the fabric of the modern Tower added in the 13th century.[30] London's two other castles, Baynard's Castle and Montfichet's Tower, may have also been begun under William I.[20] There was also some fortification at the Palace of Westminster, the only part of which remains is the 14th-century Jewel Tower.[34]

As London became more politically important in this period, it also acquired grand government halls. Westminster Hall was built 1097-1099,[31] with the roof added in the 1390s. It was the Great Hall of the Palace of Westminster, originally built as a place for the king to reside rather than a meeting place for Parliament, although it also encompassed government meeting rooms and the Royal Courts of Justice.[35] London's Guildhall existed on its present site from at least 1284,[10] but the current hall dates from 1411, and when it was built, was one of the largest in the country, second only to Westminster Hall.[17]

A model of London Bridge as it appeared in 1440

Although a wooden bridge existed prior to this period in the location of today's London Bridge, a stone version was completed in 1209, designed by master builder Peter of Colechurch.[18] It had a portcullis at the southern end to keep out attackers, and was covered in houses on either side, several storeys high and hanging out over the side of the bridge.[18] In the centre was a chapel dedicated to St. Thomas Becket.[18] The piers of the bridge were so large that they created very dangerous currents, meaning many boatmen refused to pilot underneath the bridge.[18]

As a wealthy and important place, lots of palaces and private mansions were also built in and around London. The Savoy Palace was a mansion situated in the Strand which was originally built for Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester in 1189, and occupied by Peter, Count of Savoy from 1246.[36] It was destroyed in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381.[37]Eltham Palace was built 1296-1311 for Antony Bek, the Bishop of Durham.[38] In 1433, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester began building work on what would become Greenwich Palace.[39] In the 1460s, Crosby Hall was built near Bishopsgate for a London merchant, which has since been moved wholesale to its present site in Chelsea.[40] Outside the city walls, the area now known as Greater London was mostly agricultural, with buildings mostly being built in wood. In 1427, a Great Barn was built at Harmondsworth to store grain, which can still be seen today.[41]

In 1290, Queen Eleanor of Castile died in Nottinghamshire, and her body was brought to London for burial in Westminster Abbey. Wherever the cortege stopped overnight, a cross was built, including two in London- Cheapside Cross and Charing Cross.[42]

The interior of St. Bartholomew-the-Great, founded in 1123, with rounded arches indicative of the Norman style

The White Tower of the Tower of London, built in the late 11th century

London's Guildhall, built in the 15th century

The interior of Harmondsworth Great Barn, a farm building from 1426

The period began with England being invaded by William of Normandy, later William I, in 1066.[45] London had declared a Saxon man called Edgar Atheling king, but William arrived in Southwark with his army,[45] According to the writer William of Jumieges, his army caused "no little mourning to the City because of the very many deaths of her own sons and citizens".[46] The leaders of London swore fealty to William, and in return, William promised that London would keep its status and privileges.[45] He was crowned at Westminster Abbey later that year.[45] In order to ensure the co-operation of the city, William had three castles built around London: Montfichet's Tower, Baynard's Castle, and the Tower of London.[47] Large pieces of land were granted to William's Norman supporters, including Harmondsworth, which was given to Rouen Abbey in 1069.[48]

In 1080, the forces of Bishop Odo attacked London in an attempt to oust William II.[27]

A page from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, detailing The Anarchy

In 1135, Henry I died with only one surviving child: a daughter, Matilda, whom he had made his heir.[49] However, Matilda was not in England at the time of her father's death, and so her cousin, Stephen, had himself crowned king instead, supported by the citizens of London.[49] Throughout the following period of civil war known as The Anarchy, London remained loyal to Stephen.[49] Stephen resided in the easily-defensible Tower of London in 1140, but in 1141 he left and was captured in Lincoln. The City sent delegates to bargain for his release, but were unsuccessful. In June, Matilda arrived in London for her coronation, but was driven out by angry Londoners. They proceeded to attack her ally Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex at the Tower, who promptly switched allegiance to Stephen.[50]

In 1191, the country was ruled by Richard I, who was often abroad fighting in wars.[3] In his absence, the Bishop of Ely William de Longchamp, and Richard's brother Prince John, fought each other for control of England.[3] On 7th October, John marched on London, while Longchamp secured himself in the Tower.[3] John promised the City its corporate rights and the status of a "commune", and in return, the City sided with John.[3] In 1194, Richard was captured and ransomed for the huge sum of 150,000 marks, to be paid by the English taxpayer.[23] Two years later, a man called William Fitz Osbert alleged that the City authorities had dodged this tax, leaving the burden to fall upon ordinary Londoners.[23] Fighting broke out, during which Fitz Osbert killed one of the king's men.[23] He fled to St. Mary-le-Bow church to claim sanctuary, but was dragged out and executed at Smithfield.[23]

A 14th-century manuscript showing King John's forces fighting the Franks (left) and Prince Louis' forces (right)

During the reign of King John in the 1210s, resentment was growing among his barons, which by 1215 had broken out into all-out conflict. While John was staying at the Tower of London, the city welcomed the barons' army into the city walls.[51] They proceeded to attack the homes of the king's supporters and London's Jewish population, who were thought to be his financial backers.[51] They also laid siege to the Tower.[51] Later that year, the king was forced to agree to the barons' terms as set out in Magna Carta, which was celebrated by a jousting tournament at Harrow.[51] However, John reneged on these promises, and so next year, the barons offered the crown of England to the French Prince Louis.[51] Louis arrived in England with an army, and once again, Londoners let them in the gates.[51] However, after John died later that year, the barons switched their allegiance to John's son Henry III, while Londoners remained loyal to Louis.[51] Henry's army blockaded London with Louis inside, and Louis swiftly negotiated his safe passage to France in return for giving up his claim to the English throne.[51]

By 1263, tensions were again increasing between Henry and his barons, which broke out into a full revolt led by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester called the Second Barons' War.[1] Henry fled to the Tower while his son, Prince Edward, arrived with an army, looted Temple Church, and stole £10,000 of the City's money.[1] In retaliation, Londoners attacked the houses of his allies and threw things at Henry's queen, Eleanor of Provence, as she sailed underneath London Bridge.[1] De Montfort took shelter in London, which was loyal to the barons.[1] In 1264, London's army was involved in clashes at Isleworth and Norbury, and De Montfort claimed victory later that year after capturing Henry and Edward.[1] The next year, selected knights, citizens, burgesses, churchmen and barons met at Westminster Hall to discuss their release in what has since been identified as the first Parliament.[1]

The king's forces prevailed in 1265 at the Battle of Evesham. Afterwards, London was punished for supporting the rebels.[1] It was governed by the king's warden for five years; the Lord Mayor, Thomas Fitzthomas, was imprisoned; the City was fined, and the property of 60 Londoners was confiscated.[1] However, in 1267, Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester led another rebellion, and was able to negotiate some concessions from the king.[52]

Queen Isabella's army gathers outside London. In the middle distance, Roger Mortimer is being executed, and in the far distance, St. Paul's Cathedral can be seen.

In 1321, Edward II began an inquiry into the City's behaviour.[53] In retaliation, the City indicted Edward II's Constable of the Tower.[53] When, later that year, Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford rebelled against the king for his favouritism towards the Despenser family, the City declined to support the king.[53] The next year, the king executed Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, who was popular among Londoners.[53] In 1326, the king's wife, Queen Isabella of France, and her partner, Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, went into open rebellion against the king in the London Uprising.[53] Many Londoners supported her, and beheaded the king's allies on Cheapside, leaving the corpses in the middle of the road.[53] The Bishop of Exeter, Walter Stapledon's head was sent to the queen, and a mob of Londoners attacked the houses of Lombardy merchants and released prisoners from the Tower.[53] The rebellion was successful, and the king's underage son, Edward III, was crowned instead, under the control of the Queen and Mortimer. In 1330, Edward III had Mortimer hanged, drawn and quartered in London.[54]

The rebels of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt meet at Blackheath, as depicted around a hundred years later in Froissart's Chronicles. The preacher John Ball is shown in the centre, riding a horse, and Wat Tyler is depicted wearing a black hat, left.

Richard II was a child king, governed by his main adviser, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. In order to raise money, he instituted a poll tax, where all those taxed paid the same amount, regardless of their income. This was a much bigger imposition on poor peasants than on wealthy earls and merchants, and a non-payment campaign started in the nearby counties of Essex and Kent. On 13 June 1381, the two rebels convened at Blackheath, and marched on London.[55] They went to Southwark and released prisoners in Marshalsea Prison, and then crossed London Bridge to ransack John of Gaunt's home at the Savoy Palace. They also attacked the priory of the Knights Hospitaller, Newgate Prison, and the Tower of London, where they found another unpopular figure, Simon Sudbury. They dragged Sudbury out of the Tower and beheaded him on Tower Hill. On 15 June, the king and the Lord Mayor of London, William Walworth, went to meet one of the rebel leaders, Wat Tyler, at Smithfield. Walworth killed Tyler, and the rebellion was put down.[55]

In 1450, a rebellion formed against high tax rates and unpopular royal officials like the sheriff of Kent William Cromer and James Fiennes, Lord Saye and Sele. On the 1st June, the rebels assembled at Blackheath, led by a man called Jack Cade. They moved to Sevenoaks, where they won a victory against the king's forces, and on the 3rd July, entered London via Southwark.[56] Both Cromer and Fiennes were found and executed. After a few days of fighting, the king issued pardons to the rebels and they dispersed back to their homes, but these pardons were not honoured and rebels were later rounded up and hanged, including Cade himself, who died en route back to London. His body was beheaded and quartered in Southwark, and his head put on a spike at the end of London Bridge.[56]

Richard of York, depicted in the Talbot Shrewsbury Book, made in the 1440s

In the 1450s, as Henry VI's mental health deteriorated, nobles in his court began fighting for power amongst themselves. In 1452, Richard of York brought an army to London to fight the king's favourite, Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, only to find that London was backing Somerset and the gates were closed to him. He withdrew, and an uneasy truce was formed until 1454, when it became clear that the king was no longer able to perform his duties. York marched on London again, but this time London attempted to remain neutral, and York became the king's regent, with Somerset thrown in prison.[56] When the king briefly recovered the next year, he released Somerset and removed York from the position of regent, so York raised an army against the king's forces at the First Battle of St. Albans, which resulted in the king being arrested and kept imprisoned at the Bishop of London's house near St. Paul's Cathedral.[57]

Although London was officially neutral, most Londoners supported Richard of York. In 1460, Yorkist forces successfully beseiged the Tower and forced the king to nominate York as his heir. With the king often indisposed, his wife Margaret of Anjou often commanded forces in his name. In 1461, she demanded that London provide her army with provisions under threat of ransacking the city. London officials loaded up carts to head towards her army, but as they were about to leave, they heard news that Richard of York's son, Edward, had won a victory and was heading towards London, and the carts were stopped. London cast aside its neutrality and pivoted entirely to supporting the Yorkist cause. Margaret of Anjou was forced to retreat, and Edward was welcomed into London and crowned King Edward IV in Westminster Abbey.[58] Henry VI was imprisoned in the Tower.[59]

Thomas Neville's men on ladders beseiging London, while Edward IV's forces ride out from the city gates

By 1470, however, the tide of the war had turned again. Former allies of Edward such as the George Plantagenet, the Duke of Clarence and Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, switched sides, and Edward found himself imprisoned. Warwick marched on London and Edward's wife, Elizabeth Woodville, took her children to the safety of Westminster Abbey, where she gave birth to the future Edward V. With Henry VI imprisoned and Edward IV fled to Europe, Warwick was now in a position to choose which would be restored to the throne, and he chose Henry.[59] However, the next year, Edward IV returned with an army to meet Warwick's forces at the decisive Battle of Barnet. Due to a heavy mist, Warwick's forces attacked each other and Warwick himself was killed. Edward then defeated an uprising by a captain called Thomas Neville at Kingston-upon-Thames, and marched into London victorious on 21st May 1471. Henry VI was murdered in the Tower on the same day.[59]

After 12 years of rule, Edward IV died, leaving his 12-year-old son to become Edward V. The young king and his eight-year-old brother, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, moved into the Tower to prepare for a coronation, but the ceremony never took place, and instead, Edward IV's brother instead crowned himself Richard III. Many historians have assumed that Richard III had the "Princes in the Tower" murdered.[60]

Many noisome and unsanitary activities were carried on in the city. The streets were unpaved, and so could become muddy and clogged with animal dung.[29] Many Londoners kept pigs, and these often broke free and roamed through the streets.[29] London had strong-smelling industries such as tanneries, soap-makers, tallow chandlers, slaughterhouses, and fishmongers.[29] London had several springs and wells for fresh water, but as the city's population grew, these became insufficient.[70] In 1236, a system of pipes was built to funnel fresh water from the River Tyburn to the Great Conduit in Cheapside, where Londoners could collect their water.[70][36] London had its first public toilet from early 12th century near Queenhithe.[70]

There were several efforts to clean up London's roads from waste and noisome activities during this period. For example, in 1309, leaving human or animal excrement on the road was made punishable by a heavy fine; from 1357 throwing rubbish in the Thames was prohibited; and from 1371 the slaughter of animals was banned within the city walls.[71]

A modern depiction of the interior of St. Bartholomew's Hospital in the medieval period

Hospitals in this period were run by monastic establishments, and were more focussed on being a place of hospitality than strictly of medicine. St. Thomas' Hospital was founded in 1106, and St. Bartholomew's Hospital was founded in 1123, both run by Augustinian canons.[22] A leper hospital was established at St. Giles in the Fields c.1117.[72] From 1163, the clergy were forbidden from practices which might draw blood, such as surgery, and so operations such as tooth-pulling, blood-letting, and amputations became the sphere of barbers instead.[12] In 1247, the priory of St. Mary Bethlehem was founded on the site of the modern-day Liverpool Street station. From 1403 it began to specialise in treating mental illness, becoming the notorious insane asylum, Bedlam,[36] but London's first mental hospital was at All Hallows Barking, established in 1370 for those suffering "the phrenzie".[68] In 1448, a hospital specialising in treatment for leprosy was opened on the site of the modern-day St. James' Palace.[56]

Wealthy Londoners could hire private physicians, who had university training and diagnosed problems according to the four humours theory of medicine.[73]

A 14th-century depiction of the expulsion of Jewish people from England in 1290

Violence against Jews took place in 1190, after it was rumoured that Richard I had ordered their massacre after they had presented themselves at his coronation.[76] Anti-Jewish violence became particularly serious in the reign of Henry III, who was unpopular in London and to whom some Jewish financiers lent money. For example, in 1262, after a Jewish man wounded a Christian man in a fight, Londoners stabbed him and attacked many houses in the Jewish district.[1] In 1264 during the Second Barons' War, Simon de Montfort's rebels occupied London and killed 500 Jews while attempting to seize records of debts.[77] Edward I banned Jewish people from moneylending in 1275, leaving many unable to make a living, as they were also not allowed to join the city's trade guilds.[78] Instead, he encouraged merchants from Lombardy in Italy to migrate to London to work as moneylenders.[74] Three years later, 600 were imprisoned in the Tower for coin clipping, of which 293 were hanged.[74] In 1285, London's synagogue was closed,[10] and London's Jewish community was forced to leave England by the Edict of Expulsion in 1290. An estimated 15,000 left for France, Holland and further afield; their property was seized, and many suffered robbery and murder as they departed.[76][11]

Memorial to William Wallace, close to the site of his execution in Smithfield

The most commonly-used execution ground was Tyburn, where executions took place almost every day from 1388 onwards,[79] including the executions of famous traitors such as Roger Mortimer.[80] Smithfield was used as a place for hanging, drawing and quartering, as in the case of the Scottish leader William Wallace.[81] Tower Hill, Newgate, and Cheapside were also used as execution grounds.[79][69] Burning at the stake was an execution method used for heretics such as John Bradley, a Lollard who was burned at Smithfield in 1410. According to one story, the future Henry V was present, and was so horrified by the screams that he ordered the fire to be doused He offered Bradley a pension and a pardon, but Bradley rejected these and was burned a short while later.[17]

London had several gaols for the imprisonment of those suspected of crimes. The Tower of London was used as a prison from 1100, with its first prisoner, Ranulf Flambard, also becoming the first escapee in 1101.[22] The Fleet Prison and Newgate Prison were founded some time in the 12th century,[21][8] and the Cornhill Tun prison was built in 1283.[10]

Those convicted of smaller crimes might be placed in the stocks. Stocks could be erected anywhere in London, but there was a set of permanent stocks on the site of Mansion House.[10] The pillory was also used for petty criminals, such as the West Ham butcher William Sperling, who was put in the pillory for selling "putrid and poisonous" beef in 1319.[82] Those found guilty of prostitution might be made to do a walk of penance through London, holding a candle and dressed in their nightgown or a white sheet. This happened to Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester, who walked through London three times in 1441 as punishment for seeking out the services of a witch to ascertain the date of the king's death.[83] Edward IV's mistress, Jane Shore, was also sentenced to do a penance walk after Edward died and his brother, Richard III, took the throne.[60] The City strictly controlled the weight of a standard halfpenny loaf, and any baker found to be selling underweight bread might be dragged through the streets on a hurdle behind horses, with his bad loaves tied around his neck.[62]