The History of London

Reference & Education

  • Author Craig Payne
  • Published July 19, 2022
  • Word count 546

London is currently the home for the Government of the UK and the nations economic center. The city is nestled on the banks of the River Thames in south eastern Britain. The city of London was initially started by the Romans in 43 AD and they controlled there until the fifth century AD, as soon as the Roman Empire fell. The Roman empire called the town Londinium and had a populace then of around 50,000. The city became an important commercial port. Londinium dropped throughout the fifth century because of repeated Anglo-Saxon incursions. In the eighth century it became the capital of the Kingdom of Essex. There was numerous Viking attacks throughout the 9th century with a lot of suffering in that period. Danish settlers then set up themselves in the area resulting in a rise in commerce and enterprises in the city. Since the wealth and strength of this building urban center increased it captivated the interest of the Danish Great Heathen Army that took over the city and taken by King Alfred the Great in 886. After the Norman invasion and defeating of England in 1067, the revolutionary King of England, William Duke of Normandy established the city's existing legal rights, laws and regulations and also privileges. He additionally constructed the Tower of London. Following that in 1199, King John bolstered the city's self-rule. From 1215 the city was able to select a different mayor each and every year.

All through the 14th and 15th century, London’s port became a European center towards the delivery of products, particularly due to the commerce in textiles. Within the sixteenth to 17th century with rule from the Tudors, London took advantage of the centralized national politics along with the greater seafaring trade which was carried on by the Stuarts. During this period the city had 100,000 occupants and by the mid-seventeenth century the population had increased to over 500,000. By 1665, the city’s poor living conditions as a result of limited city planning were responsible for the Great Plague taking hold that killed approximately 70,000 people. In the next year, a massive fire burnt down the vast majority of london. The rebuilding of London took over decade in order to complete, with all the development of major buildings including St. Paul’s Cathedral heightened the selling point of London. This led to the city growing to be the hub of British social life with palaces, halls, theatres and galleries unrivalled in other places. London carried on growing, particularly with the setting up of the Bank of England back in 1694 which led to London’s development as a financial location.

Most of current London arises from the Victorian time period. The Industrial Revolution drew huge numbers of people to the city, significantly growing the city with the inhabitants increased from 700,000 in 1750 to around 4,500,000 in 1901. The overcrowded situations would result in the 1832 cholera epidemic along with the huge foul odor in 1858 as a result of sewerage difficulties within the high temperatures. After having a stable period without a great deal of change in the population of the capital started to decline after World War I and fell below 3.5 million in 1950. Encompassing suburban regions expanded continuously during that time period. In 1963 the city was split administratively of the original London and a further thirty-two metropolitan districts surrounding this.

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