LONDON. 



The hofpital or priory ef St. Mary of Bcthelem or Bed- 

 lam, wa<; granted by Simon P'itz-Mary, in i 247. 



The convent of St. Clare, in the Minories, by Edn:iund 

 «arl of Lancafter, in 1 29 J. 



A college and hofpital, called Elfing Spittle, were founded 

 by William Elfing, a citizen, in 1329- 



Sir John PouDlncy founded a college in Cannon-ftreet, 

 in i^i^2. 



St. Mary of Graces, or Eaft-Minfler, a Ciftertian abbey, 

 was. founded by king Edward III. in 1350. 



The Chartcr-Houfc, before 1.^70, by fir Walter de 

 Manny, and Mitfhael de Northburgh, billiop of London. 

 See CuAnTHEL'sE. 



The hofpital of the Savoy, in 15O), by Henry VII. 



Befidts thefe, the guilds or fraternities of London were 

 very numerous. There was a brotherhood and chapel of 

 the Holy Trinity in Leadenhall, and feveral others were 

 founded in moll churches. The grand fupproffion of the 

 whole commenced in 1 53 7. Exclufive of the religious 

 houfes, the bilhops and parliamentary abbots had each a 

 town refidence of Hale. 



The abbot of St. Anftin's, Canterbury, honfe was in the 

 parifh of St. Olave's, Soiithwark. 



The abbot of Evefliam's, in the parllli of St. Catherine 

 Crce. 



The abbot of Reading's, at Baynard caflle, in the parifii 

 of St. Andrew Wardrobe. 



The abbot of St. Mary's, York, at St. Peter's Place, 

 Paul's Wharf 



The abbot of Glaftonbury, in Weft Smithfield. 



The abbot of PIvde, in the parilh of St. Mary at 

 Hill. 



The abbot of Ramfey, in Whitecrofs-ftreet. 



Tlie abbot of Bury St. Edmund's, in St. Mary-ftreet, 

 Aldga^e. 



The abbot of St. Alban's, in Lothbury. 



The abbot of Peterborough, in the paridi of St. Gre- 

 gory. 



The abbot of Salop, near St. Bartholomew's, Well Smith- 

 field. 



The abbot of Leiceftor, in the parifli of St. Sepulchre. 



One inflance of the fen'ice which was rendered to the 

 public, even in London, by the monaftic inilitutions, is 

 worthy of note : the priory of St. Mary Spittle contained, 

 at its di[rc;lulion about the year 15,6, no lefs than 180 beds 

 for the reception of fick perfons and travellers. The hof- 

 pitals which were fuffered to remain, owed their continuance 

 to fir Richard Grefham, mayor of London, in 1537, who 

 petitioned the king to beftow the lands belonging' to this, 

 St. Bartholomew's, St. Thomas's, and the new ajibcy on 

 Tower-hill, on the corporation, for the relief and ufe of the 

 poor, the lick, and the vagrant. 



yinnah of London, from the Depart lire of the Romans to the 

 Accejfion of Edivard I.— Wlien the Ron!ans, from the dif- 

 tradtod Hate of the empire, found it neceffiiry, in the early 

 part of the fifth century, to withdraw their troops irom the 

 dillant provinces, London again became a Bntifii town, and 

 is mentioned in the Saxon chronicle in the year 457, when 

 the Britons fled hither on their defeat by the Saxons under 

 Hengift, who, about twenty years afterwards, made himfcif 

 raafter of London ; but on his death, in 498, it was retaken 

 by Ambrofius, and retained by the Britons during a con- 

 fjderable part of the next century. It afterwards became 

 fiibjedled to the newly-ellablifhed Saxon kingdom of Ellex. 

 Qn the converlion of the Eall Saxons to Chriitianity, Lon- 

 don was nominated as the bilhop's.fee, MelitHS being ap- 

 ptjinted the firil bifhop in the year 604 ; a cathedral church 



2 



was erecfled in 610, on the fcite of the prelent St. Paul's. 

 During the period of the Saxon heptarchy, but few notices 

 of London appear to have been recorded. In 664 it was 

 ravaged by the plague ; and in 764, 798, and 801, it fuf- 

 fcrcd feverely by fires ; in that of 798 it was almoll wholly 

 confumed, and great numbers of tlie inhabitants perifned. 

 On the union of the Saxon kingdom under Ei'^bert, Lon- 

 don, though not the royal refidence, or feat ot government, 

 as has been erroneoufly Hated, was advancing in confequence, 

 as appears from a Wittenagemot having been held here in 

 833, to confult on proper means to repel the Danes. By 

 thefe invaders London was repeatedly pillaged and laid 

 walle. In 925 king Athelllan had a palace here; the city 

 increafed in importance under the Danilb fovereigns, and 

 under Edi<'ard the Coiifeffor j and on the fuccefsful invafion 

 of William the Conqueror, the magiftrates of London, 

 ccnijointly with the prelates and nobility, invited him to 

 accept the title of king of England. From this period 

 London may be coulidered as the metropolis of the king- 

 dom. 



William, at the commencement of his reign, granted a 

 charter to the citizens, which is beautifully written in the 

 Saxon characters, and i? ilill preferved among the city ar- 

 chives : it conlills of only five lines on a flip of parchment, 

 fix inches long and cne broad. In the year 1077 the 

 greatell part of the city was dellroyed by fire. In the 

 loUowing year the king founded the fortrefs, now called the 

 White Tower, for the purpofe of keeping the citizens in 

 awe, as he had reafon to fufpeft their fidelity. In 1086 

 another fire confumed the principal part of the city, toge- 

 ther with the church of St. Paul. Maurice, then bifhop 

 of London, laid the foundation of the new church : " a 

 workc," Stow obferves, " that men of that time judged 

 would never have been finifhed, it was then fo wonderful." 

 It is remarkable that Domefday bock, though io minute 

 in regard to other cities and towns, does not contain any 

 notice of London. A vineyard is mentioned in Holborn 

 belonging to the crown, and ten acres of land near Bilhopf- 

 gate (now the manor of Norton-Falgate) belonging to the 

 dean and chapter of St. Paul's. h\ November, 1090,' 

 above 600 houlej and feveral churches were blown down by 

 a tremendous hurricane, and Staw fays, " the Tower of 

 London was alfo broken." About two years afterwards 

 another dellruftn'e fire happened. In the fucccedi.'g years 

 William Rufus repaired the Tower, and llrengthened it by 

 additional works ; and in 1097 he built a great liall at Vv'elt- 

 miiifter. Henry I., as a reward for the ready fubmiirioii of 

 the Londoners to his ufurped authority, granted to the city 

 an extenfive charter of privilege?, among which was the 

 perpetual flierilTwick of Middlelex. On the death of Henry, 

 the Londoners took a decided part in favour of Stephen in 

 his contell with the emprefs, and greatly contributed to his 

 eftab ilhment on the throne. In the firfl year of his reign 

 a fire, beginning near London Stone, eonlumed all the 

 houfes ealtward to Aldi^ate, .::id wcilward to St. Paul's, 

 together with London bridge, which was then of wood. 

 Henry II. does not appear to have held the citizens in any 

 great degree of favour, probably refenting their attachment 

 to Stephen : and we find that large fums of money were 

 extorted from them under the fpecious name of Free -gifts. 

 In 1176 the building of a new bridge of iione was com- 

 menced at London, but was not completed tiil the year 

 1209. On the coronation of Richard I. a dreadful maf- 

 facre of the Jews, who were fettled in London, was made 

 by the brutal and ignorant popui.<ce. At the coronation, 

 dinner, the chief magillrate of London, who at that time 

 had the title of bailiff, acted as chief butler. Early v\ this 



leign 



