CHAPITRE I.
Chapter I examines the growth of English town-life in the Thames valley during the Norman period, focusing primarily on Oxford under the D’Oillys and then turning to a detailed picture of medieval London under Henry I.…
Growth of Oxford under the D’Oillys
Although Oxford remained small by statistical measures—containing only about a thousand dwellings in the time of the Confessor—it suffered a severe, unexplained decay before the D…
Fortifications of Oxford
The strategic value of Oxford’s site, recognized long before by Eadward the Elder, had been carefully strengthened by the D’Oillys.…
Churches and Religious Foundations
The D’Oillys directed works of piety and public utility both within and without the city. The first Robert built the High Bridge that still spans the Thames, replacing the ancient…
Intellectual Life and the Augustinian Priories
The centre of intellectual life at Oxford was the ancient monastery of S. Frideswide, which after many vicissitudes passed into the hands of the Austin canons and entered upon a n…
Burgher Life in Oxford
The burgher-life of Oxford had long gathered around the church of S. Martin, in whose churchyard the portmannimot or general assembly of the citizens was held.…
Oxford’s Royal Tradition and Political Revival
Shortly before Henry I’s death, signs emerged that Oxford would soon regain the political stature it had held under the old English and Danish kings.…
Medieval London: Walls and Fortifications
The great picture of medieval London belongs in full completeness to the closing years of the twelfth century, but its main features were already present under Henry I.…
The Tower and Western Castles
The eastern extremity of London was guarded by the Tower, a mighty fortress founded by William the Conqueror in the earliest days of his conquest to hold his new capital in check.…
S. Paul’s and London’s Municipal Life
Within the new cathedral enclosure, a church gorgeous with the latest Norman architectural skill was fast approaching completion. S.…
London’s Civic Charter and Liberties
William’s one surviving English writ to London merely confirmed the citizens in “all the law whereof they had been worthy in King Eadward’s day,” but by the end of Henry I’s reign…
London’s Quarters and Growing Population
The mass of London’s growing life lay chiefly north-east of S. Paul’s, where a crowd of lesser churches—conventual and parochial—rose from a network of close-packed streets and al…
Suburbs and Recreations of the Citizens
London’s population was spreading beyond the walls. Many wealthier citizens dwelt in pleasant suburban houses surrounded by gardens and trees.…
Intellectual and Cultural Life in London
Business, pleasure, piety, and intellectual culture all had their place in London’s vigorous life. Each of the two great minsters—S. Paul’s and S.…
Norman Merchants and Fusion of Races
Under the old English system, a merchant who had made three long overseas voyages on his own account was entitled to rank as a thegn and take his place among the nobles.…
CHAPITRE I.
Chapter I. surveys the social and demographic composition of England under Henry I., examining successive waves of foreign settlers—Norman burghers, Flemings, and Jews—before turning to the domestic arrangements of castle and manor-house, the character of feudal land tenure, and…
Norman Burghers in London
Norman burghers exercised a dominant but legitimate influence on the city of London. Though they prospered individually, they contributed enterprise, vigour, refinement, and polit…
The Home of Gilbert Becket
A typical London citizen’s home of the early twelfth century was that of Gilbert Becket and his wife Rohesia, situated in Cheapside near S. Mary Colechurch and S. Mary-at-Bow.…
Flemish Settlers in England
Flanders, the neighbour and ally of both Normandy and England, supplied merchants to London whose trade was of greater importance than that of Rouen or Caen.…
Flemish Colony in Pembrokeshire
In 1111 Henry I. planted a colony of Flemings in South Pembrokeshire as a means of checking the turbulent Welsh.…
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