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London History

The name London is commonly thought to have come from the Latin name Londinium, as London was founded by the Romans during their reign over the land, around AD 43– although there is some slight evidence of pre-Roman settlement. The BBC History website, however, claims that the name Londinium is actually "Celtic, not Latin, and may originally have referred to a previous farmstead on the site"; the root is 'Lond' meaning 'wild' (i.e. overgrown or forested) place. This fortified Roman settlement was the capital of the province of Britannia. According to findings displayed in The Museum of London, the initial language of London was Latin with much Greek spoken due to the presence of Greek speaking Roman soldiers and businessmen. Another suggestion for where the name of the city comes from could be that of the mythical leader, King Lud. It was said that Lud laid out the first set of roads in the city. His statue can be seen hidden at the church of St Dunstan's In The West, Fleet Street.

Around AD 61 the Iceni tribe of Celts lead by Queen Boudica stormed London and took the city from the Romans. The Celts burnt the relatively new Roman town to the ground, and archaeological digs have revealed a layer of red ash beneath the City of London, which is believed to be the burnt remains of the old Roman town.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Roman Londinium was initially defended by the sub-Roman administration and used as a base of operations during the early campaigns against the Jutes in Kent led by Hengist. After Kent had been abandoned in 456 desperate attempts were then made to repel Saxon invasion which came from the south and east. These campaigns were not successful and the city and its environs became indefensible. If the language of Gildas who lived at this time is to be believed, the fight for the beleaguered city was probably savage indeed. Besieged and battered by c.571 the city of Caer Llundain was evacuated by the Romano-Britons and remained a largely uninhabited ruin for more than a generation afterwards.

Although the old city was not settled the surrounding farms were taken by the Middle Saxons. Initially this would have been an active frontier between Saxons and the Britons who were regrouping in Calchwyned and Caer Celemion and was the scene of raids by both sides. In the early 7th Century the East Saxons came into ascendancy and Lundencestir became subject to their authority. In 604 the city received Mellitus as its first bishop since the conquest when Saeberht of the East Saxons converted to Christianity. Mellitus founded the first St. Paul's Cathedral amid the crumbling ruins on the site of the old Temple of Diana. This would have only been a modest chapel at first and may well have been destroyed after he was briefly expelled from the city by Saeberht's pagan successors. Later in the 7th Century a Saxon village named Lundenwic was established approximately one mile to the west in what is now Aldwych, in the 7th century, probably using the mouth of the River Fleet as a trading ship and fishing boat harbour.

The new town came under direct Mercian control in c.730 and the East Saxons kingdom of which it had once been part was gradually reduced in size and status. Mercian lordship was replaced by that of Wessex after 825. Over the years that followed the trading city of Lundonwic became an important trading centre.

Disaster struck in 851 when the new city's ramshackle defences were overcome by a massive Viking raid and was razed to the ground. The old Roman city (then called Lundenburh) was reoccupied during this time because a fortified place was now essential for it to be better defended against further Viking attacks.

The tale of the next century is a confused one, with first English, then Danish, then Norman kings controlling the city. The Danes were ousted from the city by Alfred the Great in 886, and Alfred made London a part of his kingdom of Wessex. In the years following the death of Alfred, however, the city fell once more into the hands of the Danes.

The Danes did not have it all their own way. In 1014 they were occupying the city when a large force of Anglo-Saxons and Norwegian Vikings sailed up the Thames to attack London. The Danes lined London Bridge and showered the attackers with spears.

Undaunted, the attackers pulled the roofs off nearby houses and held them over their heads in the boats. Thus protected, they were able to get close enough to the bridge to attach ropes to the piers and pull the bridge down. There is some speculation that the nursery rhyme "London Bridge is Falling Down" stems from this incident.

The attacks ceased when the Danish king Canute came to power in 1017. Canute managed to unite the Danes with the Anglo-Saxons, and invited Danish merchants to settle in the city. London prospered under Canute, but on his death the city reverted to Anglo-Saxon control under Edward the Confessor. Edward had been raised in Normandy, so his rule brought French influence and trade.

London was now the most prosperous and largest city in the island of Britain - but it was not the capital of the realm. The official seat of government was at Winchester, although the royal residence was generally at London.

After the disaster of 1066 when the English king Harold II was slain in battle by the Duke of Normandy the city saw dramatic scenes as the boy prince Edgar Aetheling was declared king and he with the people of London barricaded London Bridge to stop the forces of Duke William entering the city. Their efforts were in vain as a few weeks later Edgar was compelled to submit.

Queen Victoria reigned from 1837-1901In some ways the medieval history of London can be said to have begun on Christmas Day, 1066, when William the Conqueror was crowned king of England in a ceremony at the newly finished Westminster Abbey, just three months after his victory at the Battle of Hastings.

William granted the citizens of London special privileges, but he also built a castle in the southeast corner of the city to keep them under control. This castle was expanded by later kings until it became the complex we now call the Tower of London.

The Tower acted as royal residence, and it was not until later that it became famous as a prison. During the medieval period it also acted as a royal mint, treasury, and housed the beginnings of a zoo.

In 1097 William II began the building of Westminster Hall, close by the abbey of the same name. The hall was to prove the basis of a new Palace of Westminster, the prime royal residence throughout the Middle Ages. Westminster was once a distinct town, and has been the seat of the English royal court and government since the mediæval era. Eventually, Westminster and London grew together and formed the basis of London, becoming England's largest – though not capital – city (Winchester was the capital city of England until the 12th century). On William's death his brother Henry needed the support of London merchants to maintain his dubious grip on the throne. In exchange, Henry I gave city merchants the right to levy taxes and elect a sheriff.

By the early 12th century the population of London was about 18,000 (compare this to the 45,000 estimated at the height of Roman Britain).

London has grown steadily over centuries, surrounding and making suburbs of neighbouring villages and towns, farmland, countryside, meadows and woodlands, spreading in every direction. From the 16th to the early-20th century, London flourished as the capital of the British Empire.

In 1666, the Great Fire of London swept through and destroyed a large part of the City of London. Rebuilding took over 10 years but London's growth accelerated in the 18th century and, by the early-19th century, was the largest city in the world until 1925.

London's local government system struggled to cope with this rapid growth, especially in providing the city with adequate infrastructure. In 1855 the Metropolitan Board of Works was created to provide London with infrastructure to cope with its growth. In 1889 the MBW was abolished, and the County of London was created and was administered by the London County Council, the first elected London-wide administrative body.

Probably the most significant changes to London in the last 100 years were as a result of The Blitz and other bombing by the German Luftwaffe that took place during World War II. The bombing killed over 30,000 Londoners and flattened large tracts of housing and other buildings across London. The rebuilding during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was characterised by a wide range of architectural styles and has resulted in a lack of unity in architecture that has become part of London's character.

Until their 1997 ceasefire, London was regularly a target for IRA bombers seeking to pressure the British government into negotiations with Sinn Féin on Northern Ireland.

On 7 July 2005, there were a series of coordinated bomb attacks by Islamic extremist suicide bombers on three underground stations and a bus, killing 52 people and injuring over 700. The explosions came less than 24 hours after London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics and as the G-8 summit was underway in Gleneagles, Scotland. A series of attempted bombings also took place on 21 July 2005; however in the latter incident there were no fatalities.

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