London is more than just a normal city: its scale, diversity, cultural and economic might put it on a different scale to anywhere else in Britain. For these reasons many love it, but others complain that it crowds everywhere else out. This was already true in 1500. During the early modern period London had more exports than the rest of the country combined, was home to the first permanent theatres and the Chartered Companies that pioneered empire, and drew migrants and refugees from across Europe. In short, the processes that were to make London one of the world's truly global cities were already in play hundreds of years ago.
This module focuses on the story of London's cultural, economic and political growth, and its relationship with the rest of Britain, and Europe. We explore London's status as a 'free' city, its relationship with the church and Reformation, the life of migrants and marginal communities, theatre and trade. Two cataclysmic events (the Great Plague and the Great Fire) in the space of two years, 1665-6, marked the end of an era, yet London was not reborn as an orderly classical city in the way that many planned. Through examining these events and themes, we will consider the character of the city and its place within the wider world.