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Social Cultural and Religous
History
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Social
History of London LondonŐs social history is one marked by
severe class division, and a great amount of difference between
the rich and the poor of its society. When founded in AD 43
as the Roman outpost of Londinium its citizens were mostly
traders, merchants. In the early 11th century London became
the seat of government of the last Anglo-Saxon kings, and
in 1066, when the Normans invaded Britain, William the Conqueror
granted London its charter and made the city his capital.
This move caused the influx of the noble classes in LondonŐs
population. Class distinctions became even more apparent during
the middle ages when Parliament was first formed, and the
prominence of the feudal system increased. Parliament was
originally supposed to be an advisory board to the king made
up mostly of lords, and other nobles, but it eventually included
members of the lower classes. While Parliament had a wide
variety of classes in its membership, they were always separated
into two different sections, one for the upper classes (the
house of lords) and one for the lower classes (the house of
commons). During the Elizabethan age London under went a Renaissance
of sorts, the arts were revived and LondonŐs citizens witnessed
the birth of the modern theater. It was also around this time
that LondonŐs population began to increase, the lower classes
were affected the most by this influx due to the overcrowding
of low income housing. By the late eighteenth century London
was one of the most overcrowded cities in the world. The poor
were living in unsanitary, and suffocation conditions. By
1729 gin had become an increasingly population drink with
the working classes in London, and religious leaders and upper
class politicians had deemed gin as the cause of laziness
and criminal behavior. A high tax on Gin was implement in
1729 in order to take Gin out of the hands of the poor workers.
This action was unpopular with the working-classes and in
1743 resulted in riots in London. The upper and lower classes
would clash with violent consequences on a number of other
occasions over similar issues. By the early 19th century London
was the most crowded urban metropolises in Europe. The overcrowding
had led to widespread outbreaks of disease, inhumane living
conditions, and a center for crime. As these issues came to
light the city began to plan a sort of urban renewal, with
which the conditions of LondonŐs poor would hopefully improve.
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