London, now among the most affluent and culturally influential cities in the world, has been built on the annals of over 2000 years of recorded history. Tracing the years all the way back to prehistoric times, Geoffrey of Monmouth, one of the earliest historians of Britain, tells the story of Brutus. Brutus allegedly sailed to Britain, then called Albion, and conquered it for himself. He was an ancient Roman legend, whose greatness was predicted by a magician before his birth. The legend goes that he killed his father and became the most loved leader in Italy. He sailed off and won many battles, and after a vision from the Goddess Diana he was directed to the beautiful Island of Albion. It was a land inhabited by great giants, which Brutus defeated, and named the Island after himself. He set up his palace near the Thames where Guildhall now stands, and a temple to is guiding Goddess Diana where St Paul’s is now built. However, despite excavations there is only evidence that London was a scattered farming settlement in these prehistoric times. As to the real truth of Brutus as Britian’s first King we cannot say.

What we can be sure of is that the Romans founded Londinium seven years after their great invasion of AD 43. It was then about the size that Hyde Park is now! Queen Boudica and the Iceni sacked the city in AD 60, but it recovered after about 10 years. It then grew rapidly under the Romans, but the 3rd century brought some declie. The city was raided repeatedly by Saxon pirates, and by the 5th century Roman occupation came to and end.

The Romans virtually abandoned the city, but the Anglo-Saxons were quick to move in with the advantage of city’s strategic defensive position brought by the River Thames. The centuries that followed brought Viking raids, Christiantiy and struggles for power between English Kings. Although the capital of the Kingdom was then Winchester, London continued to grow in importance, and many royal councils were held there. 1066 and the Norman invasion of Britain in the Battle of Hastings heralded the start of the Medieval period.

The Medieval period brought more struggles for power, and the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381. The ‘commoners’ of London united, stormed the Tower and executed the Lord Chancellor, the Archbishop and the Lord Treasurer. They set fire to numerous public buildings, and the revolt was only quelled when its leader, Wat Tyler, was stabbed to death by the Lord Mayor.

Continue the story into the middle ages when war, plague and fire is followed by a period of rapid growth and prosperity

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