Norman and medieval London
In London, the Norman period began with the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and the medieval period ended with the death of Richard III in 1485. During this period, Westminster became the capital of England, as monarchs held Parliament at the Palace of Westminster from 1265. London's population increased, reaching a height of 80,000-100,000 by around 1300: three times the size of the next largest city in England. The official boundary of the city was much smaller than today, covering just the square mile within the city walls, although there were also built-up areas in Westminster, Southwark, and Spitalfields.
This period saw a dramatic increase in church-building, with over 100 churches within the city walls by the 12th century. The Tower of London and Old London Bridge were also built in this period. Londoners were instrumental in numerous armed conflicts, including The Anarchy, the Barons' Wars, the Peasants' Revolt, Jack Cade's Rebellion, and the Wars of the Roses.
The city's population massively decreased in the 14th century due to the effects of the Great Famine and the Black Death. However, the period also saw the institution of London's oldest surviving hospitals- St Thomas' and St. Bartholomew's, as well as the lunatic asylum St Mary Bethlehem.
London appointed its first recorded Lord Mayor in this period, Henry FitzAilwin, in 1189. Famous figures from British history, such as the writer Geoffrey Chaucer and the saint Thomas Becket, were born in London. In the 12th century, the writer William Fitzstephen described it as florilegium urbanum — "flower of cities".
Demography
In the 1070s, London's population has been estimated at 18,000. The high point of London's population for this period is around 1300, when the population reached 80,000-100,000. This was greatly reduced following outbreaks of plague in the 14th century, and London's population has been estimated at 40,000 in 1377. This was over three times the size of the next largest English city, York, but smaller than other European cities such as Paris, Rome, Venice and Bruges. 90% of Londoners died before the age of 45, although wealthier people were more likely to live to 70 or 80. On average, London men grew to a height of and London women to.London was a centre of England's Jewish population. There was a Jewish burial ground at Jewin Street, on the site of the modern-day Barbican Centre, from 1177, Old Jewry was known as the Jewish quarter from 1181, and London's first synagogue is on Ironmonger Lane, being first recorded in 1227 and forced to close in 1285. In the 13th century, one member of the community was chosen as Presbyter Judaeorum, or "chief of the Jews", with the physician Elias of London being one notable holder of the post. After Jews were expelled from the country by the 1290 Edict of Expulsion, there was only one legal way for Jews to remain in England, which was to convert to Christianity. There was an almshouse called the Domus Conversorum on Chancery Lane for converted Jews, who were still banned from entering into trades and therefore dependent on charity.
Several communities of foreign merchants were resident in London, including French wine merchants, and Danish and German traders. London also received visitors from further afield, such as Heraclius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, in 1185, and the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos in 1400.
Topography
The only parts of what is now known as Greater London that were built up were the City of London and Westminster, and indeed the outlying areas were not yet considered to be part of London itself. The City of London was surrounded by 18-feet-high city walls, with six gatehouses at Aldersgate, Aldgate, Bishopsgate, Cripplegate, Ludgate and Newgate which could be shut in defence if necessary. In 1415, a new gate was added to the northern wall by a marsh, which came to be known as Moorgate. Outside the wall was a protective ditch, which is still remembered in the street name Houndsditch. Within the walls, streets were narrow, and London had no large, open gathering place or square. London's main market street was Cheapside, which is first mentioned as "Westceape" in 1067. Westminster lay to the city's west, and was the location of the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey. The border between the two was marked as Temple Bar in around 1161. Between them lay Fleet Street and the Strand, which in 1175 was already being described as a "continuous suburb".The built-up area had only one bridge across the River Thames: London Bridge, although there were also bridges outside the city at Bow, Kingston upon Thames, Fulham, and Brentford. London also had many smaller rivers and tributaries which are now entirely underground, such as the Walbrook and the Fleet. The Walbrook began to be covered over as early as 1300, and had disappeared completely underground by the end of the period.
Outside of the City and Westminster, London had large forests such as the Forest of Middlesex, North Wood, and Waltham Forest. There were villages in what is now Greater London at St Pancras, Mortlake, and Camberwell. There were boroughs at Fulham, Barking, Waltham, Bermondsey, and Lambeth. There were also estates, owned by great lords and the Church, and worked by farmers, such as at Chelsea, Stepney, Hampstead and Battersea, Marylebone and Tyburn.
Buildings
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. St. Paul's Cathedral, although existing before this period, was rebuilt as what is now known as Old St. Paul's in this period, begun in the 12th century and finished in 1314. 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. The first London church built in the Gothic style of architecture was Temple Church, which was consecrated in 1185. 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.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. London's two other castles, Baynard's Castle and Montfichet's Tower, may have also been begun under William I. There was also some fortification at the Palace of Westminster, the only part of which remains is the 14th-century Jewel Tower.
As London became more politically important in this period, it acquired grand government halls. Westminster Hall was built 1097–1099, 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. London's Guildhall existed on its present site from at least 1284, 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.
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. 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. In the centre was a chapel dedicated to St. Thomas Becket. The piers of the bridge were so large that they created very dangerous currents, meaning many boatmen refused to pilot underneath the bridge.
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. It was destroyed in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Eltham Palace was built 1296-1311 for Antony Bek, the Bishop of Durham. There was a grand manor house at Sheen which was enlarged under the reigns of Edward III and Henry V. In 1433, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester began building work on what would become Greenwich Palace. 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.
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.
In 1427, a Great Barn was built at Harmondsworth to store grain, which can still be seen today.
Building destruction
London suffered several large fires in this period. St. Paul's Cathedral was destroyed in a fire in 1087. The largest fire of the period was probably the Great Fire of 1212, which began in Southwark on 10 July. It crossed the river, trapping people on London Bridge. Some tried to jump off the bridge into boats, sometimes drowning or sinking boats in the process along with their crews. The fire reached the north bank, where it burned a large area. An estimated 3,000 people died in the fire of 1212.Governance
At the beginning of the period, London was not yet considered the capital of the country, the city of Winchester being more commonly associated with royalty. However, in the 11th century, there was a great fire in Winchester, and several royal offices decamped to London, never to return. By the 1150s, London was called le chef d'Angleterre — the "chief city" — and was the largest city in the country. The treasury was the last royal department to move, doing so in the reign of Henry II in the 12th century. Four times a year, sheriffs from all over the country arrived at this department to deliver the taxes they had raised in the previous months. As addition was done using Roman numerals, and the money was in pounds, shillings and pence, the officials used a chequered cloth as an abacus to help count the money, giving the department the name "exchequer". In 1236, Henry III called a meeting at Merton Priory which has been called England's first Parliament, and which resulted in the Statute of Merton.At the beginning of the period, London was governed by an officer of the Crown called a portreeve and the Bishop of London. London appointed its first recorded mayor, Henry FitzAilwin, in 1189, and the right of the city to have a mayor, aldermen and its own court, was confirmed in Magna Carta, a treaty agreed to by King John in 1215. In 1193, one person wrote, "Londoners shall have no king but their mayor." In fact, London's mayor was a person of such importance that the mayor of 1215 was the only commoner to put his seal to Magna Carta. In 1351, the title was elevated to "Lord Mayor" in order to emphasise the authority of the position after carrying a sword within the walls was banned. The city is split into sections called wards, and each ward is represented by aldermen. London's aldermen are the ones who elect the mayor. Unlike today's Lord Mayors, who only serve for one year, medieval mayors often served for several terms, either consecutively or not. The king did revoke Londoners' right to choose their own mayor on occasion, replacing the elected mayor with a royal Warden of the city. For example, London was given a royal warden between 1265 and 1298, after which the city was allowed to purchase its right to elect a mayor again for 2,000 marks.
The first mention of London's Guildhall is in 1128, and by 1220 a building exists close to its present location in St. Lawrence Jewry. From here, the city's administrators could have offices and store important documents.