Revision 4421 of "London/History" on wikimania2014wiki

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''London is a remarkable city which has played a unique role in the development of the modern world. In diverse areas from democracy to transportation, and from theatre to sewers, London 
has lead the world. For a full history of London, your best starting point is [[w:History_of_London|the Wikipedia page on the History of London]].''

According to the medieval Welsh monk Geoffrey of Monmouth, London was founded by an exiled group of ancient Trojans who defeated the giants inhabiting Britain at the time and founded a city on the banks of the Thames. 

Sadly, Geoffrey of Monmouth was talking nonsense. London was founded by the Romans around 50 AD. A mere ten years later, it was burned to the ground by the British queen of the Iceni, Boudicca, at the high point of her revolt against the Roman invaders. Recovering quickly, London became the capital of Roman Britain in the 2nd century AD, and it was surrounded by a thick wall – still visible in places, and still largely the boundary of today's City of London.

With the decline of the Roman Empire, London appears to have declined as well. The Roman army finally withdrew from Britain in 410 AD, and in the centuries that followed an Anglo-Saxon settlement grew alongside the old Roman London. From the 9th Century, Viking raids and invasions became an increasing problem, only stopping after 1066 with the Norman conquest of England. The new Norman conquerors began the construction of the Tower of London and started the royal buildings in Westminster, adjacent to a Saxon-era Abbey, which would later become the Palace of Westminster, the modern location of the Houses of Parliament. They also formalised London's rights and privileges as a medieval city. 
 
Despite problems including being taken over by revolting peasants in 1381 and the death of half of the population from bubonic plague, London steadily grew in importance. Over the centuries, it became like a modern capital as institutions like the Royal Treasury and the Parliament ceased following the King wherever he went and took up a permanent home in Westminster. And as the economy of Britain grew, so the City of London became a more and more important centre for trade and commerce. 

* Civil War, William of Orange & Parliament
*Shakespeare
*Great Fire of London, Pepys, Black Deatha
*Stock Exchange
*Museums and Universities
*The Great Stink and the Tube
*War
*Swinging Sixties, deindustrialisation
*Docklands, technology, the city

[[Category:Local information]]