Tudor dynasty

   The first monarch of the Tudor dynasty had a great impact on London architecture in the form of 'Henry VII's Chapel,' the addition he made to the eastern end of Westminster Abbey. This place became later Henry VII's mausoleum. He also gave more palatial style to the Baynard's palace. He was the last monarch to have a permanent residence within the city walls. He also rebuilt the Palace of Sheen, when it burnt to the ground in 1498, and had it renamed as Richmond Palace. He died there in 1509. His son, Henry VIII, was another great palatial builder.
   He expanded York House, the London residence of the Archbishop of York, to become the Palace of Whitehall, joining Westminster with Charing Cross. He also erected Bridewell Palace when the Royal apartments at Whitehall were wrecked by fire. Henry also built St. James' Palace. Henry VIII confiscated Hampton Court from Cardinal Wolsey and added much of what we see there today. However, Henry's favourite residence was Greenwich Palace, where he had been born; and it thus became the scene of many important historical episodes during his reign.    The prelates from Canterbury had a London home across the river at Lambeth Palace. The complex was originally established in 1197 and a medieval chapel crypt survives where the hearings for Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn's divorce were heard. Most of the present building is Tudor including the Gatehouse and Great Hall. Its Lollards Tower was where the heretical followers of John Wycliff were imprisoned.
   At the beginning of Henry III's regime a lots of monasteries have been demolished or reorganize. Thus the buildings of the Carthusian Church were incorporated into a great town house for one of the King's Royal Courtiers. Such changes were being held under the governing of three rulers of Britain. Under Edward VI the Strand Inn, Church of Nativity and the houses of Bishop of Chester and Worcester were torn down to make way for this new Somerset House.
   The King Henry VIII claimed about establishing of the hospital of St. Bartholomew at the place of St. Thomas Hospital. The re-foundation of the Bethlehem Hospital for the mentally ill (Bedlam), outside Bishopgate, was also performed at Henry's times.
   In the final years of Elizabeth I's reign, the first realistic Poor Law Act was introduced. Until then, the poor had largely been oppressed. King Edward VI gave Bridewell Palace to the city as a boys' training house for industry. Similarly, Christ's Hospital School for the education of poor children, was created from the Greyfriars' buildings at Newgate. Many well-known public schools, founded through the generosity of city merchants, date from this time, including: Charterhouse, St. Paul's, the City of London School, the Merchant Taylors' and Mercers' Schools.
   There were two significant rebellions against the monarch in London during the Tudor period. The first was against Queen Mary, in 1554, when Sir Thomas Wyat marched on the city but was unable to enter the Ludgate because it had been closed against him. The second was led by the Earl of Essex against Elizabeth I in 1601, but neither held much chance of success as the Londoners were not willing to support them.
   The accession of Queen Mary was delayed a little by the proclamation, at Baynard's Castle, of Lady Jane Grey, who reigned for nine days. The mayor was absent from this ceremony and the people are said to have been unenthusiastic. In contrast, on July 11th 1553, the mayor and the Recorder and crowds of aldermen attended Mary's proclamation as Queen. This lady was a staunch catholic, like her Spanish mother, and her time on the throne was not a happy period for Londoners, many of whom had embraced the Protestantism of Mary's brother's reign. In only four years she had some 200 Protestant martyrs burnt at Smithfield for not renouncing their faith.
   Elizabeth I's accession to the throne eventually brought more relaxed times to the people of London. It was the heyday of the English theatre, and Londoners flocked to Southwark as the entertainment capital of the city. Here were the Hope, the Swan, the Rose and the Globe: great theatres all. The latter two were the work places of William Shakespeare who spent most of his life in this area of London.
   After the attempted invasion of Britain by the Spanish Armada in 1588, when the loyal Londoners raised a large band of men to help defeat the invaders, England became more politically stable. There was a marked increase in prosperity and the population of London grew accordingly.
    In the year 1603, the King James VI of Scotland occupied the English throne and, having turned into James I, became the King of Britain. This entailed the wave of Scots coming to London. Under the Regime of James I and later of Charles I a lot of wonderful places such as Queen's House at Greenwich Palace and Banqueting Hall at Whitehall were built.
   The most important civic achievement of James I 's reign was the provision of a clean water supply for the capital under the New River Scheme, overseen originally by the City Corporation and later by Hugh Myddelton with help from the King.
   Charles I's ruling was outstanding with his attempts to occupy and to bend in his will the City of London. One day he came up to the wall of London with the army. But Londoners did not lose their courage. They were quickly put to flight by Lord Essex's men, supported by a large group of Londoners, and were forced to fall back to Reading and Oxford. The next time Charles came to the capital was 7 years later, when he was brought to the city for his trial in Westminster Hall and execution outside the Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace.