The Story of London

The never ending war with France was entering its death throes, but in England? A bunch of rather venal and useless men were about to plunge the nation into a political crisis so great that it would distract all from it… and in London? A small cabal of Grocers were to find themselves up to their necks in what was going on. Four chaotic and traumatic years as inept nobility, a catatonic king, a new born prince and the Duke of Yor...

July 1450- and Jack Cade’s rebellion falls upon London. What follows this chapter is a guide to the bloody carnage and mayhem unleashed by this grandiose rebel upon. The city and how the city fought back. Leading up to one of the most dramatic incidents in London’s myriad history… a genuine multi-hour rolling battle on London Bridge that involved heavy weapons from the Tower of London, as the city tried to drive off thousands of ...

We approach 1450 and are introduced to the opening salvos of the rebellion of Jack Cade… but on the way examine the situation in London and the South-East in the years leading up to his rebellion; London faced a new coin shortage (not to be mistaken for the previous half-dozen or so), but this one was producing unexpected side effects; while many went under, some thrived; and London began to see a light at the end of a tunnel… but ...

The story reaches the background to the rebellion of Jack Cade and we begin this cycle with the events taking place across England in the years leading up to that violent rebellion, starting with a perfect day… the coronation of England’s new 15 year old Queen. But as London rejoiced in the pomp and circumstances, powerful men were beginning a series of missteps that was going to bring the city, and the country, to the edge of cris...

We slow down the break neck pace of the Story of London, to take the time to stop and look at how, in practical terms, London WORKED as a city; how all the disparate parts of it, the mayors, the Aldermen, the mass of poor, managed to coexist and function. In a chapter that draws upon the awesome work of historian Barbara Hanawalt, we explore how the city functioned as a living space… while setting up for a crazy few years ahead an...

The Story this week focuses upon several things- fighting between lawyers and butchers over by the Fleet River; the massive attack upon Calais by the French; the political intrigues between the Duke of Gloucester and Cardinal Beaufort as the 100 Years War dragged itself to its inevitable conclusion… but mostly we focus upon the greatest political scandal of the 1440’s; the downfall of the Duchess of Gloucester. But more than that…...

The 1430’s was a dark decade for London, as the most brutal weather to ever hit London landed in a series of freezing winters, that drove up prices and froze the river in a way not seen before and never since. This was the backdrop to a decade which saw London’s economy utterly collapse, and the War with France take a dramatic turn for the worse. From lavish processions through the city, to self-destructive politics, to the decli...

A bumper chapter where the Story of London follows the tale of the city as it deals with the aftermath of the death of Henry V; a tale of the city’s economy starting to be reborn; why it came within an inch of seeing a pitch battle on London bridge between residents north of the river and those from Southwalk; whose side it picked in the growing partisan politics of the new regency; and above all, we look at the legacy of Dick Whit...

A special episode as we leave the city for a few years and look to the ever-so-important war with France raging across on the Continent. Picking up after Henry V’s victory at Agincourt, we look at why the next few years of this war were entirely different from any other part of it so far, look at the situation in France that allowed Henry do so bloody well, follow the King as he rampages across the nation, seemingly invincible… an...

We return to the story with a chapter that unashamedly bases itself deep in the heart of daily life; a few years filled with accidents on the Thames; massive stock takes of wine; crimes big and small and much more. From burning heretics to banning people trying to avoid public office; from punishing housewives for overcharging for chickens, to a failed attempt to reform debt obligations, this is London filled with the awesome event...

A special episode to celebrate our 150th Chapter, with a look at the rather seedy side of London in the 15th century- its sex life. This is a city where the sheer bewildering variety of events in this field leave us wondering what to focus upon. Threesomes with Franciscan monks; respectable political figures profiting from the sex trade; women pimping out their daughters; and what appears to be the first recorded case of a transw...

In January 1414 a small bunch of religious extremists came together to enact the plan of their leader, a veteran solider and captain; a small group of assassins would, posing as actors, attend a Christmas party of the young King Henry V, kill him and as many members of the Royal Family as possible, and then three days later lead an armed force to purge London and then the rest of the country of those Christians who opposed them… th...

Henry V had just been crowned; but the first crisis of his reign was an attempted insurrection against him in London; a group of religious extremists banded together to kill him… but why? Who were the Lollards and how did events get so serious? In this, the first of two episodes on the rebellion, we look at the secret history of the group, and see that for decades, they had existed hidden in plain sight within London’s streets, g...

Henry IV was king; a new start, a new hope, a new world… and quickly, very quickly indeed, everything started to fall apart. London found itself in the front row as the regime was assailed on all sides and an intense few years followed. A fast-paced chapter focusing especially on life in the city, and featuring a couple of riots, many executions, the screams of men being burned alive, urban renewal, the death of poets and visitin...

In 1398 King Richard II of England was all-powerful and seemingly all secure upon the throne of the land. Two years later he was dead, wasted away in a dark, dismal cell, and England had a new king. In this episode we examine how the King fell from power and also how London managed to avoid being involved in almost all of it. The fall of the “White Hart’ (the white stag which Richard used as his personal symbol) was swift and op...