The history of London is - literally - a tale of twin cities, growing up side by side.
When London was established by the Romans, around two thousand years ago, it was in the area now known as the City of London. Nowadays it is one of the world's major financial and commercial centers.
To the west lay the marshland that characterized the whole area and it was not until about 500 years after the Romans had departed that a quite separate part of London began to grow towards the west.
This was centered around the newly built Westminster Abbey, founded by Edward the Confessor.
In 1066, the Norman invasion was followed by the building of the Tower of London, symbol of Norman power in the heart of the City of London.
In the twelfth century London elected its first mayor. The prosperity of the City of London was firmly centered on trade – particularly international trade, using the excellent links the River Thames provided to continental Europe and beyond.
Gradually the distinctive nature of the twin cities of London (trade) and Westminster (government) began to form. The main occupation of government, raising taxes to waste, did not sit well with the increasingly prosperous merchants of the City. At the same time, the governments needed the money raising abilities of the city to fund their wars and other expensive activities, so were careful not to kill the golden goose with excessive impositions.
Thus arose an uneasy balance of power between the two cities, which is still reflected today in the Chancellor of the Exchequer – the government's chief tax gatherer and financial officer - being invited to attend an annual banquet, in the City of London, at the Guildhall as the guest of the Lord Mayor of London, where they are allowed to make a speech, setting out their financial plans for the expenditure.
Also to this day, to be given the Freedom Of The City of London is the highest honour the City of London can bestow. Recipients are met at Temple Bar, where The Strand – the road running west from Westminster – merges into Fleet Street, at the western edge of the City of London, and a short ceremony is performed.
© copyright 2006 Jon Michael and London Vacation Secrets