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[Illustration: THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT: DESIGNED BY BARRY, OPENED
1852.]




THE

HISTORY OF LONDON


BY

WALTER BESANT

AUTHOR OF 'LONDON' 'CHILDREN OF GIBEON' ETC.


_SECOND EDITION_


LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.

1894

_All rights reserved_




CONTENTS.


LESSON                                                              PAGE

 1. The Foundation of London (I)                                       7

 2. The Foundation of London (II)                                     10

 3. Roman London (I)                                                  13

 4. "     "    (II)                                                   16

 5. After the Romans (I)                                              19

 6. "     "   "     (II)                                              23

 7. "     "   "     (III)                                             26

 8. The First Saxon Settlement                                        29

 9. The Second Saxon Settlement                                       32

10. The Anglo-Saxon Citizen                                           34

11. The Wall of London                                                38

12. Norman London                                                     42

13. FitzStephen's Account of the City (I)                             45

14. FitzStephen's Account of the City (II)                            50

15. London Bridge (I)                                                 54

16. "       "    (II)                                                 57

17. The Tower of London (I)                                           60

18. "    "        "    (II)                                           63

19. The Pilgrims                                                      67

20. St. Bartholomew's Hospital                                        70

21. The Terror of Leprosy                                             74

22. The Terror of Famine                                              78

23. St. Paul's Cathedral (I)                                          82

24. "    "         "    (II)                                          86

25. Paul's Churchyard                                                 91

26. The Religious Houses                                              95

27. Monks, Friars, and Nuns                                          100

28. The London Churches                                              103

29. The Streets                                                      106

30. Whittington (I)                                                  110

31. "      (II)                                                      115

32. "      (III)                                                     118

33. Gifts and Bequests                                               121

34. The Palaces and Great Houses                                     124

35. Amusements                                                       127

36. Westminster Abbey                                                131

37. The Court at Westminster                                         134

38. Justice and Punishments                                        137

39. The Political Power of London                                    140

40. Elizabethan London (I)                                           144

41. "        "    (II)                                               147

42. "        "    (III)                                              151

43. Trade (I)                                                        155

44. "    (II)                                                        158

45. "    (III)                                                       164

46. Plays and Pageants (I)                                           168

47. "    "     "     (II)                                            170

48. "    "     "     (III)                                           173

49. "    "     "     (IV)                                            177

50. The Terror of the Plague (I)                                     180

51. The Terror of the Plague (II)                                    183

52. The Terror of Fire (I)                                           187

53. "   "        "   (II)                                            192

54. Rogues and Vagabonds                                             197

55. Under George the Second (I)                                      201

56. Under George the Second (II)                                     206

57. Under George the Second (III)                                    210

58. Under George the Second (IV)                                     214

59. Under George the Second (V)                                      218

60. The Government of the City (I)                                   222

61. The Government of the City (II)                                  226

62. The Government of the City (III)                                 228

63. London                                                           230

Notes                                                                235




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.


                                                                    PAGE

 1. The New Houses of Parliament: designed by Barry, opened 1852  _Frontispiece_

 2. Early British Pottery                                              9

 3. Roman London                                                      15

 4. Remains of a Viking Ship, from a Cairn at Gokstad                 22

 5. Martyrdom of St. Edmund by the Danes                              31

 6. Saxon Horsemen                                                    33

 7. Saxon Church at Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts                           36

 8. City Gates                                                        39

 9. Remains of the Wall                                               40

10. Part of the Roman Wall at Leicester                               41

11. Tower in the Earlier Style. Church at Earl's Barton               44

12. A Norman Ship                                                     46

13. Building a Church in the later Style                              47

14. Lay Costumes in the Twelfth Century                               50

15. Costume of Shepherds in the Twelfth Century                       51

16. Ecclesiastical Costume in the Twelfth Century                     52

17. Royal Arms of England from Richard I. to Edward III. 54

18. Old London Bridge                                                 57

19. The Tower of London                                           61, 64

20. A Bed in the Reign of Henry III. 67

21. Interior of the Hall at Penshurst, Kent                           71

22. The Upper Chamber or Solar at Sutton Courtenay Manor-house        73

23. The Lepers Begging                                                77

24. London before the Spire of St. Paul's was burned; showing
    the Bridge, Tower, Shipping, &c. 83

25. Old St. Paul's, from the East                                     85

26. Old St. Paul's on Fire                                            87

27. West Front of St. Paul's Cathedral
    Church. (Built by Sir Christopher Wren)                           89

28. Paul's Cross                                                      92

29. Bermondsey Abbey                                                  96

30. Ruins of Gateway of Bermondsey Abbey                              97

31. Christ's Hospital                                                 99

32. Chepe in the Fifteenth Century                                   108

33. Large Ship and Boat of the Fifteenth Century                     111

34. A Sea-Fight                                                      113

35. Durham, Salisbury, and Worcester Houses                          125

36. Bear-baiting                                                     128

37. Shooting at the Butts with the Long-bow                          129

38. Tomb of Edward III. in Westminster Abbey                         132

39. The Embarkation of Henry VIII. from Dover, 1520                  141

40. Coaches in the Reign of Elizabeth                                148

41. The City from Southwark                                          150

42. South-east Part of London in the Fifteenth Century,
    showing the Tower and Wall                                       153

43. King Edward VI. 159

44. Sir Thomas Gresham                                               161

45. First Royal Exchange                                             162

46. Shipping in the Thames, _circa_ 1660                        166

47. Sir Francis Drake, in his Forty-third Year                       167

48. The Globe Theatre                                                179

49. Civil Costume about 1620                                         181

50. Costume of a Lawyer                                              181

    Ordinary Civil Costume; _temp._ Charles I.:

51. A Countryman                                                     185

52. A Countrywoman                                                   185

53. A Citizen                                                        187

54. A Citizen's Wife                                                 187

55. A Gentleman                                                      189

56. A Gentlewoman                                                    189

57. Lud-gate on Fire                                                 190

58. Paul Pindar's House                                              191

59. London, as Rebuilt after the Fire                                193

60. Coach of the latter half of the Seventeenth Century              195

61. Waggon of the second half of the Seventeenth Century             195

62. Ordinary Dress of Gentlemen in 1675                              197

63. Dress of Ladies of Quality                                       199

64. Ordinary Attire of Women of the Lower Classes                    199

65. Group showing Costumes and Sedan Chair, about 1720               202

66. Temple Bar, London                                               203

67. Fleet Street and Temple Bar                                      205

68. A Coach of the Middle of the Seventeenth Century                 207

69. View of School connected with Bunyan's Meeting House             209

70. Grenadier in the time of the Peninsular War                      211

71. Uniform of Sailors, about 1790                                   213

72. Costumes of Gentlefolk, about 1784                               215

73. Vessels unloading at the Customs House, at the beginning
    of the Eighteenth Century                                        217

74. The Old Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, 1803         221




LONDON




1. THE FOUNDATION OF LONDON.

PART I.


'In the year 1108 B.C., Brutus, a descendant of AEneas, who was the son
of Venus, came to England with his companions, after the taking of Troy,
and founded the City of Troynovant, which is now called London. After a
thousand years, during which the City grew and flourished exceedingly,
one Lud became its king. He built walls and towers, and, among other
things, the famous gate whose name still survives in the street called
Ludgate. King Lud was succeeded by his brother Cassivelaunus, in whose
time happened the invasion of the Romans under Julius Caesar. Troynovant,
or London, then became a Roman city. It was newly fortified by Helena,
mother of Constantine the Great.'

This is the legend invented or copied by Geoffrey of Monmouth, and
continued to be copied, and perhaps believed, almost to the present day.
Having paid this tribute to old tradition, let us relate the true early