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The Story of London — Government
The Story of London

Welcome to The Story of London, a podcast dedicated to telling the history of London as a single narrative tale; from its birth until the present day.

Each episode takes us along that tale, a chronicle of the most fascinating and vibrant city on Earth.

There is a lot of content in here and each listener can enjoy it in a variety of ways. You can listen to an episode by itself for a slice of life from London’s past; or, if you have a favourite period of time you want to explore, find the era and follow the Chapters in that section.

Or maybe you want to join us on the grand journey, starting at the beginning and following along? Whatever option, welcome to the chronological tale of this amazing place.

The Story of London covers events as they happened, from the actions of the great and the good, down to those of the poor and marginalised. We try to be as historically precise as possible, sometimes stumbling upon little gems of history that change the way we see the past, and never take ourselves too seriously.

Feel free to join us… new episodes every week.

Copyright: © Saul Boyle 2022

Latest Episodes:

Chapter 66- The Child of the Anarchy (1148-1154) Nov 01, 2023

Show notes

The Story continues as we come to the end of ‘The Anarchy’- that wild rambling civil war unlike any before; the nation around them slowly drags itself towards a most unusual solution, and in the meantime London deals with the Thames freezing over, the death of the most charismatic man in the city, a new local family basically takes over St. Paul’s cathedral… and something much darker begins to grow…

Chapter 65- A London Way of War (1142-1148) Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

The Anarchy continues, and London finds itself in the thick of it! As the civil war continues to slow burn itself across England, this chapter examines how London copes and then profits from this. It also covers how London politics may well have instigated a second front in the war, the way the 2nd Crusade was going on while this was happening (and how this impacted on some of the figures in the Story) and how these events were linked to events in London’s distant past.

Chapter 64- The Empress & The Bells of London… (1141) Oct 18, 2023

Show notes

1141 is one of the most important, and overlooked, years in the story of the City of London, and this episode is dedicated to telling its tale in full. Why had The Anarchy erupted? Why was it different from other civil wars? How did the city cope with being on the losing side? And how did London help turn the course of this war upon it’s head? All hell breaks lose… and I try to do this story justice.

Chapter 63- The Acts of Great and Terrible Men… (1136-1141) Oct 11, 2023

Show notes

While England was sliding into civil war, London itself seemed mostly unconcerned; a new class of Oligarchs were enjoying the benefits of London’s new Commune status, and this episode serves as an introduction to some of them; their personalities, friendships, nepotism and rivalries. It also explains why the new Bishop of London was fired by the Pope, what Rahere of St. Bart’s did next, and why London may have wondered if they had picked the wrong King…

Chapter 62- The King of London (1135-1136) Oct 04, 2023

Show notes

Away to the south, in the furthest corner of his realm, King Henry I was dying… and events were to be unleashed that was to see London transformed. A look at the opening salvos of The Anarchy, how London was involved from the very beginning, why London got so involved and how all the events of the last few generations seemed to come to a head in a court case…

Chapter 61- The Golden Deal (1130-1135) Sep 27, 2023

Show notes

We arrive at the period of 1130 to 1135; the age of The Pentecost Fire of London; the birth of Bartholomew’s Fair; sundry legal issues and the King, Henry I made a deal with London- creating a new, generous charter for the City. A suspiciously generous Charter for the city… which begs the question- was it a fake? All of this and the tale of an odd hermit and his impact upon tourism in London today in this weeks episode.

Chapter 60- The Passion of London (1122-1130) Sep 20, 2023

Show notes

The story returns to all things London with an in-depth look at a decade where London’s spirit, the one that made it the place to defy Kings and which had been hiding since the Norman’s showed up, began to wake up… a chapter filled with miracles, and above all, the passion of the city.

Chapter 59- The Ghost of The White Ship (1120-c1125) Sep 14, 2023

Show notes

A special episode looking at the situation in Normandy during the early 1120’s- how did the sons of William I get themselves so wrapped up in such a mess, how it involved the French, and then, ultimately, how it leads to the biggest disaster of Medieval English history- a shipwreck like no other, and the consequences of it. Welcome to The Ghost of The White Ship.

Chapter 58- A London Ephemeris (1111-1120) Sep 13, 2023

Show notes

We celebrate our first year anniversary with an episode that tries to get into the heads of 12th Century Londoners; how did they think about things & what did they have to cope with living in London at the time? A look at how people came to terms with the difficulties in writing, overcrowded streets, sudden infant death, and new migrants arriving. Full script will be available here: https://imgur.com/gallery/hajiHGM

Chapter 57- The Tears of Barefoot Priests (1101-1111) Sep 06, 2023

Show notes

A bumper episode crammed with detail as we try and get through events in London during the first decade of the 12th Century; churches were built; volcanos in Iceland ruined crops; there was ANOTHER invasion from Normandy, we have a brilliant new Queen; Jewish and Christian scholars engaged in debates; and the first escape from the Tower of London took place. Oh, and 200 priests staged a pitiful protest about proposed changes in inheritance laws. A wild decade ahead. https://www.realpolitik.zone/the-story-of-london/

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