With the collapse of Roman rule in the early 5th century, London ceased to be a capital and the walled city of Londinium was effectively abandoned, although Roman civilisation continued in the St Martin-in-the-Fields area until around 450.[56] From around 500, an Anglo-Saxon settlement known as Lundenwic developed in the same area, slightly to the west of the old Roman city.[57] By about 680, it had revived sufficiently to become a major port, although there is little evidence of large-scale production of goods. From the 820s the town declined because of repeated Viking invasions. There are three recorded Viking assaults on London; two of which were successful in 851 and 886 AD, although they were defeated during the attack of 994 AD.[58]The Lancastrian siege of London in 1471 is attacked by a Yorkist sally.The Vikings established Danelaw over much of the eastern and northern part of England with its boundary roughly stretching from London to Chester. It was an area of political and geographical control imposed by the Viking incursions which was formally agreed to by the Danish warlord, Guthrum and west-Saxon king, Alfred the Great in 886 AD. Danelaw lasted in many parts of England for centuries to come. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that London was "refounded" by Alfred the Great in 886. Archaeological research shows that this involved abandonment of Lundenwic and a revival of life and trade within the old Roman walls. London then grew slowly until about 950, after which activity increased dramatically.[59]
By the 11th century, London was beyond all comparison the largest town in England. Westminster Abbey, rebuilt in the Romanesque style by King Edward the Confessor, was one of the grandest churches in Europe. Winchester had previously been the capital of Anglo-Saxon England, but from this time on, London became the main forum for foreign traders and the base for defence in time of war. In the view of Frank Stenton: "It had the resources, and it was rapidly developing the dignity and the political self-consciousness appropriate to a national capital."[60][61]
Middle Ages[edit]
Westminster Abbey, as seen in this painting (Canaletto, 1749), is a World Heritage Site and one of London's oldest and most important buildings
Following his victory in the Battle of Hastings, William, Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England in the newly finished Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066.[62] William constructed the Tower of London, the first of the many Norman castles in England to be rebuilt in stone, in the southeastern corner of the city, to intimidate the native inhabitants.[63] In 1097, William II began the building of Westminster Hall, close by the abbey of the same name. The hall became the basis of a new Palace of Westminster.[64][65]
During the 12th century, the institutions of central government, which had hitherto accompanied the royal English court as it moved around the country, grew in size and sophistication and became increasingly fixed in one place. In most cases this was Westminster, although the royal treasury, having been moved from Winchester, came to rest in the Tower. While the City of Westminster developed into a true capital in governmental terms, its distinct neighbour, the City of London, remained England's largest city and principal commercial centre, and it flourished under its own unique administration, the Corporation of London. In 1100, its population was around 18,000; by 1300 it had grown to nearly 100,000.[66]
Disaster struck during the Black Death in the mid-14th century, when London lost nearly a third of its population.[67] London was the focus of the Peasants' Revolt in 1381.[68]
Early modern[edit]
The Great Fire of London destroyed many parts of the city in 1666.
Map of London in 1593. There is only one bridge across the Thames, but parts of Southwark on the south bank of the river have been developed.
During the Tudor period the Reformation produced a gradual shift to Protestantism, much of London passing from church to private ownership.[69] The traffic in woollen cloths shipped undyed and undressed from London to the nearby shores of the Low Countries, where it was considered indispensable.[70] But the tentacles of English maritime enterprise hardly extended beyond the seas of north-west Europe. The commercial route to Italy and the Mediterranean Sea normally lay through Antwerp and over the Alps; any ships passing through the Strait of Gibraltar to or from England were likely to be Italian or Ragusan. Upon the re-opening of the Netherlands to English shipping in January 1565, there ensued a strong outburst of commercial activity.[71] The Royal Exchange was founded.[72] Mercantilism grew, and monopoly trading companies such as the East India Company were established, with trade expanding to the New World. London became the principal North Sea port, with migrants arriving from England and abroad. The population rose from an estimated 50,000 in 1530 to about 225,000 in 1605.[69]
In the 16th century William Shakespeare and his contemporaries lived in London at a time of hostility to the development of the theatre. By the end of the Tudor period in 1603, London was still very compact. There was an assassination attempt on James I in Westminster, through the Gunpowder Plot on 5 November 1605.[73] London was plagued by disease in the early 17th century,[74] culminating in the Great Plague of 1665–1666, which killed up to 100,000 people, or a fifth of the population.[75]
The Great Fire of London broke out in 1666 in Pudding Lane in the city and quickly swept through the wooden buildings.[76] Rebuilding took over ten years and was supervised by Robert Hooke[77][78][79] as Surveyor of London.[80] In 1708 Christopher Wren's masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral was completed. During the Georgian era, new districts such as Mayfair were formed in the west; new bridges over the Thames encouraged development in South London. In the east, the Port of London expanded downstream.
In 1762, George III acquired Buckingham House and it was enlarged over the next 75 years. During the 18th century, London was dogged by crime, and the Bow Street Runners were established in 1750 as a professional police force.[81] In total, more than 200 offences were punishable by death,[82] including petty theft.[83] Most children born in the city died before reaching their third birthday.[84] The coffeehouse became a popular place to debate ideas, with growing literacy and the development of the printing press making news widely available; and Fleet Street became the centre of the British press.
According to Samuel Johnson:
You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.
— Samuel Johnson, 1777[85]
Late modern and contemporary[edit]
British volunteer recruits in London, August 1914
A bombed-out London street during the Blitz of the Second World War
London was the world's largest city from about 1831 to 1925.[86] London's overcrowded conditions led to cholera epidemics,[87] claiming 14,000 lives in 1848, and 6,000 in 1866.[88] Rising traffic congestion led to the creation of the world's first local urban rail network. The Metropolitan Board of Works oversaw infrastructure expansion in the capital and some of the surrounding counties; it was abolished in 1889 when the London County Council was created out of those areas of the counties surrounding the capital. London was bombed by the Germans during the First World War while during the Second World War, the Blitz and other bombings by the German Luftwaffe, killed over 30,000 Londoners and destroyed large tracts of housing and other buildings across the city. Immediately after the war, the 1948 Summer Olympics were held at the original Wembley Stadium, at a time when London had barely recovered from the war.
In 1951, the Festival of Britain was held on the South Bank. The Great Smog of 1952 led to the Clean Air Act 1956, which ended the "pea soup fogs" for which London had been notorious. From the 1940s onwards, London became home to a large number of immigrants, largely from Commonwealth countries such as Jamaica, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, making London one of the most diverse cities in Europe.
A view from Victoria Tower, in late 1920s
Primarily starting in the mid-1960s, London became a centre for the worldwide youth culture, exemplified by the Swinging London subculture associated with the King's Road, Chelsea and Carnaby Street. The role of trendsetter was revived during the punk era. In 1965 London's political boundaries were expanded to take into account the growth of the urban area and a new Greater London Council was created. During The Troubles in Northern Ireland, London was subjected to bombing attacks by the Provisional IRA. Racial inequality was highlighted by the 1981 Brixton riot.
Greater London's population declined steadily in the decades after the Second World War, from an estimated peak of 8.6 million in 1939 to around 6.8 million in the 1980s. The principal ports for London moved downstream to Felixstowe and Tilbury, with the London Docklands area becoming a focus for regeneration, including the Canary Wharf development. This was borne out of London's ever-increasing role as a major international financial centre during the 1980s. The Thames Barrier was completed in the 1980s to protect London against tidal surges from the North Sea.
The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986, which left London as the only large metropolis in the world without a central administration. In 2000, London-wide government was restored, with the creation of the Greater London Authority. To celebrate the start of the 21st century, the Millennium Dome, London Eye and Millennium Bridge were constructed. On 6 July 2005 London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics, making London the first city to stage
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