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Medieval London
By David Nash Ford
The corporation of the City of
London predates even England's parliament and is
based on the French model, with the "maire" at
its head. This form of organisation was already an
established principle at the time of King Stephen 's imprisonment, when the people
successfully demanded his release. There is no
evidence of the London citizenry of the time
being recognised as a corporate entity but there
were strong examples to be followed in the great
merchant cities of France and Flanders.
The strength of the Mayoralty
in London was confirmed under Richard the Lionheart and even more during his absence on
crusade, under the future King John 's regency. The mayor's authority,
supported by his aldermen and councilmen was
given such a firm basis that it still continues
in much the same form. London was made the first
municipal corporation in England, later emulated
by 28 medieval towns in their own charters.
Londoners were always willing
to take the opportunities presented by power
struggles within the national government. John,
brother of Richard I, was able to win
unaccustomed support in his opposition to
Longchamp, Richard's ruthless representative, by
accepting the "commune" of London. This
was ultimately to lead, in 1191, to the meeting
of the English Barons with the Citizens of London
and their removing Longchamp in order to bring
John to power. At this point John kept his word
and publicly recognised the commune, agreeing to
respect the rights of all those involved. It is
not entirely clear what led to this exceptional
event, but civil unrest is widely suspected. At
this time many individual territories, or sokes,
with their own jurisdiction would have existed
within the area and the transition for these
would have been particularly problematic.n portreeve and was a very powerful
man.
The first record of a London
mayor, Henry FitzAilwyn, is not until 1193. His
term of office was to last until his death in
1212. Some aldermen, particularly those with
major land holdings, were especially powerful and
held great influence in the choice of the mayor.
It is clear that from Edward I's reign, the
aldermen formed the prime decision-making group
and from this group the mayor has always been
chosen.
The Lord Mayor's Show, a
popular annual spectacle, derives from the
original 'ridings' to Westminster, to obtain
approval from the monarch or his minister for the
people's choice of mayor. This election had been
instituted as a result of King John's charter in
1215, which gave Londoners the right to choose
their own leader.
London's mayor was amongst the
treasurers of Richard the Lionheart's ransom.
During the troubles of King John's reign, London
supported the Rebel Barons. The City even allowed
them within the city walls and provided them with
troops and money. These barons were led by Robert
FitzWalter, 'Castellan' of the city's
western riverside fortress of Baynard's Castle.
The Magna Carta gave responsibility to both the Mayor
of London and FitzWalter for upholding the terms
of the charter and thus protecting the liberties
of the city.
The reigns of Henry III and Edward I mark a period of unrest in London,
during which more than one mayor was removed from
power and replaced by a royal warden. This
tendency for London to be 'taken into the king's
hands' may reflect the inclination of the people
to oppose the harsher monarchs. Indeed a band of
Londoners supported Simon de Montfort against Henry III at the Battle of
Lewes in 1264. Both kings were obliged for a
period to rule London through their 'custos',
Henry from 1265 to 1270 and Edward from 1285 to
1298.
Our documentation for the 13th
century, in London, is much more complete,
particularly towards the end of the century. To
supplement the chroniclers' narratives, we have
the contemporary archives of the City, including
the Letter Books begun under Edward I, rolls from
the mayor's court and the 'Hustings' court
and citizens' wills. From these, we can learn a
great deal about the social and professional
lives of Londoners, as well as the structure of
the city. The crowded city clustered along the
riverbank, with a small settlement across the
river in Southwark.
Being so cramped, the city was
regularly devastated by fire. To limit the
dangers that this posed, FitzAilwyn, the first
mayor, introduced the first Building Act. Stone
was to be used for partitioning walls and
thatched roofs were prohibited. However, it was
some time before these principles were widely put
into practice. We can gain a good picture of the
buildings of the time from plans which have
survived to this day.
To the west of the city walls
lay the western liberty, a site of many town
hostels for religious groups. By 1189 the Knights Templar had moved from Holborn and constructed
their Round Church near the Thames. However, in
1312, their order was suppressed and their
successors, the Hospitallers, leased many of
their buildings to London lawyers. These were the
beginnings of the Inns of Court and Chancery:
hostels for barristers and students which took on
the role of a University in the city. The four
most ancient are the Inner (1312) and Middle
Temple (1320), Lincoln's (c.1348) and Gray's
(1370) Inn. They taught history, music and
dancing, as well as the law, to medieval and
later students and still retain today the
exclusive right to provide barristers for the
English Courts. The London legal system would
have sent criminals to prisons such as Newgate
established by the 12th century, adjoining one of
the eight medieval gateways into the City.
Executions took place at Smithfield and, from
1388, at Tyburn.
Perhaps the most significant
construction work of the medieval period was the
replacement of the early wooden bridges by 'Old
London Bridge', built entirely of stone and
normally dated from King John's reign. Having
taken 30 years to complete, it was to last until
1832, when it was finally taken down. Some of its
more interesting features were its drawbridge and
houses along its length.
From at least the time of Canute , London had been the main city and commercial centre of England but never the political capital. Winchester was the capital under the Anglo-Saxon rulers and later Edward the Confessor built his palace at Westminster. During the 12th century, Westminster increased in importance, culminating in the building of the great Norman palace there, of which the magnificent Westminster Hall still remains today.
Westminster also became the home of the royal courts of justice and the exchequer. Later, the parliaments were to meet regularly in the chapter house of the Abbey and then in St Stephen's Chapel at the palace. Occasionally they gathered at the popular Royal Palace of Eltham, not far away in the countryside south of the river.
The medieval Kings of England also held the Palace of Sheen, first erected in Richmond in the reign of Edward III. It was the favourite home of King Richard II and his queen, Anne of Bohemia, died there. Edward IV and his brother Richard III are known to have lodged at Baynard's Castle and, though Henry VII later made a permanent home there, subsequent monarchs always lived outside the city walls.
The Church held great influence in the Medieval City of
London, as evidenced by its architecture. The
Guildhall, the only great civic building, built
in its present form in the early 15th century,
was surrounded by outstandingly beautiful church
buildings. Old St. Paul's, with its vast wooden
steeple (destroyed by lightning in 1561), was
believed to be the greatest cathedral in Europe,
a Wonder of the World. Paul's Preaching Cross n the churchyard was an important medieval meeting place, while the church itself was a great centre for
pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Eorcenwald,
though this was not nearly as popular as St.
Edward the Confessor's Shrine at Westminster.
Londoners themselves often travelled to the Shrine of London-born St. Thomas A'Becket at Canterbury, as described in Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales'.
Other medieval churches in the city of London include
the once-vast Priory and hospital of St
Bartholomew, Smithfield (1123) of which, sadly,
only the Norman chancel, transepts and restored
Lady chapel remain. The Priory of the Holy
Trinity within Aldgate is completely lost. Other
buildings such as the nunnery church of St
Helen's, Bishopsgate survive as part of existing
places of worship on their sites. South of the
river, the greatest reminder of monastic London
is Southwark Cathedral (see photo below), originally the priory of
St Mary Overy ("Over the Ferry").
The arrival of the Dominican Friars , to care for the poor and destitute in
England in 1221, was to mark the beginning of a
new era for London and the ecclesiastical
influence was to contribute many magnificent
buildings to the city. In 1276, they moved from
Holborn to the Thameside area named Blackfriars after them. This had required authority from
Edward I to remove the city wall between the
river and Ludgate and rebuild it around their precinct. The Franciscans, arriving in
1224, settled within Newgate; the Carmelites (1241), in Fleet Street. Finally the ustin Friars came over in 1253. The only one to survive
of all these buildings, the nave of Austin Friars
Church, was finally destroyed in World War II.
For over three hundred years it was, and its
replacement still is, the city's Dutch Protestant
Church.
It was not long before the
Friars accumulated significant resources and used
these to erect churches which were the greatest
in London, second only to the cathedral. Their
opulence was not without criticism, as Piers
Plowman's description of Blackfriars' Church with
"gay glittering glass glowing as the
sun" demonstrates. The Greyfriars'
(Franciscan) Christ Church was larger still. Work
started on it in 1306, with Royal support, and it
was later to become the burial place of Queen
Margaret, second wife of Edward I, and Isabella,
wife of his successor. Edward's first queen,
Eleanor of Castile, had been buried at
Westminster Abbey. Since this was conveniently
situated beside the usual Royal residence, it
became the resting-place of most subsequent
medieval English Monarchs; but Eleanor also had
memorials elsewhere. The King's devotion to her
led him to have preaching crosses erected at
every place where the Queen's body rested on its
journey south from Lincoln where she died.
Cheapside and Charing Cross were the last of
these.
The church also had great
Episcopal Palaces, both within and without the
city, that rivaled Westminster. Ely Place (1290)
was the residence of the Bishops of the town and
their chapel of St. Etheldreda survives to this
day. The Bishop of Winchester had a great estate
south of the river, covering much of modern day
Southwark. The Bishops of London lived out at
Fulham (until 1973). The most fashionable area
for such mansions, however, was the Strand which
emerged between the City and the village of
Charing as early as the 12th century. Here stood
Durham House, Carlisle House, Norwich Place and
the residence of the Bishop of Bath & Wells.
The Savoy Palace also fronted the Strand, on the
site of the present hotel, and there were many
other noble palaces within the city walls. Henry
III had granted the Savoy lands to his wife's
uncle, Count Peter of Savoy, in 1246. The mansion
built there later became the home of Prince
Edmund, the Earl of Lancaster, and his
descendants, the Dukes of the same town, lived
there throughout the next century. It was John of
Gaunt's London residence, but was destroyed by
rioters in during Wat Tyler's Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Normally a peaceful place,
London was twice shaken by popular uprisings. The
second was Jack Cade's Rebellion in 1450.
Another elegant town house was
that of the Neville family from Essex. Their 'Leaden-Hall'
(named from its roof) was erected on the site
of the old Roman basilica as early as 1195. By
1321, they were allowing non-Londoners to sell
poultry and dairy produce in its courtyard. You
can still buy these today at Leadenhall Market,
though the present building is late 19th century.
Smithfield Market, north of the City, was
established as a horse fair by 1173 and two
hundred years later was selling pigs and sheep as
well. Trade like this was booming in Medieval
London. The city's population was far greater
than that of any rival in England. This led to
London becoming a major centre for the importing,
as well as distributing, of goods to other parts
of the country. The early Saxon Thames ports
continued at Queenhithe and Billingsgate, but the
high levels of goods from the Continent requiring
unloading and storage soon led to the creation of
many other wharves. By 1157, the German 'Hansa'
merchants had a base in London. From the late
14th century onwards, the city became more
important commercially, with the decline of the
traditional fairs in the country. Great fortunes
were made by merchants such as the mayors,
Richard Whittington, John Pounteney and John
Philpot.
In order to improve their
industries, trades and craftsmen of the city
organised themselves into a complex system of
guilds. These were a major influence in the
Middle Ages. Their successors today are the City
Livery Companies, which keep up traditions, but
hold little power. With membership of a guild
came the highly prized 'freedom of the city',
which became very widespread. Royal permission
was required to establish a guild and harsh fines
could be levied against those set-up without
license. Indeed, in 1160 under King Henry II, 18 guilds were fined for this reason.
By the 15th century, cloth production was
England's biggest industry and large amounts were
being exported from London. The City, thus
strengthened, was able to finance the attempts by
Edward III and Henry V to conquer France.
The ongoing feuds of the Wars of the Roses left London relatively unscathed. The city, unhappy with the lavish ways of Henry VI chose to support Edward IV of York. In 1471, the decisive Battle of Barnet took place just north of the city in modern suburbia. Here the great 'Warwick the Kingmaker' was killed. Soon afterward, the Vice-Admiral of his Lancastrian Fleet, having been denied access into London, laid siege to the City. The 'Bombardment of London' continued for several days until the Lancastrian troops, meeting with little success, decided to withdraw to Kingston. In the reign of Edward's brother, Richard III, Westminster Abbey was the scene of Queen Elizabeth Woodville's claim for sanctuary with her youngest son. He was persuaded to leave for 'safety' in the Tower of London; but he and his brother, the "Princes in the Tower," were never seen alive again.
Next: Tudor
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