Stuart Era refers to the 17th century England when a number of historically significant events took place. The puritan regime reigned and fell, disasters struck, and structures that would stand their ground for centuries were constructed.

One of the earliest recorded events in the Stuart Era is the infamous Gunpowder Plot. Guy Fawkes had planned to blow up the houses of Parliament, aiming to kill King James I. However, he was caught red-handed in the cellars beneath Parliament with his explosives, before he could realize his plan. It is in commemoration of this event that Bonfire Night is celebrated on 5 November every year.

During this era, self-taught architect Inigo Jones designed numerous edifices that have stand proudly till date. The Convent Garden piazza, Queen’s House in Greenwich, Banqueting Hall in Whitehall and Queen’s Chapel are credited to Inigo Jones.

In 1637, Charles I allowed the public to access Hyde Park (then a royal park). This was the 1st royal park that was made public. Charles I was not a favourite among his subjects, and after the English Civil War he was beheaded outside Banqueting Hall.

Following the death of Charles I, the puritan regime gained total control over England. Theatres, dances and all other forms of entertainment were banned. This phase passed when Charles II occupied the throne in 1660. Theatres were reopened and Theatre Royal Drury Lane received the royal grant in 1665.

The Great Plague and the Great Fire were major disasters that struck England and 1665 and 1666 respectively. The death toll and destruction that resulted is mind-boggling. Christopher Wren redesigned most of the ravished building in the city.

In 1538, Henry VIII began dissolving monasteries to meet his personal needs. The contents of the rich treasuries of the monasteries found their way into the royal treasury. The king sold the monasteries at low prices as his need for cash was great. This resulted in landed sections of the society expanding their estates, and middle class families rising to the status of the gentry.

The clerics did not resist the king’s move, but they did wish that the wealth of the monasteries be put to charitable use – in the construction of religious and educational institutions. 5000 monks, 1600 friars and 2000 nuns, who were a part of the monasteries, were treated with respect and provided with pensions. The few who resisted the king were executed.

The true losers of the enterprise were the many servants associated with the monasteries as they lost their means of living and were not provided with pensions. All those associated with the influx of pilgrims lost their livelihood too.

The worst part of the dissolution of the monasteries was the loss of invaluable literature. The priceless manuscripts that were housed in the monastic libraries were mindlessly destroyed.

It was during the Tudor Period that the gardens and parks of London came into the picture. Chelsea Physic Garden is a botanical garden that was founded in 1673 to investigate the medicinal role of plants. Green Park served as the battleground of duelists. Regents Park and Primrose Hill were the royal hunting grounds during the Tudor kings.

William The Conqueror is credited with making England a European kingdom. He was crowned the king the England following his victory in the Battle Of Hastings in 1066. He was innovative in his administration, and is best remembered for the Domesday Book, which was the nation’s first census. The Tower Of London was originally a castle built by William to interact with his subjects, and was later expanded by other kings, bringing into picture, the Tower Of London as we know it today.

William II, the self-centered, greedy son of William The Conqueror, was a poor administrator, but contributed to the history of England by constructing the Westminster Hall, which later served as the basis of the Palace Of Westminster. On William II’s death, his brother Henry I took over the throne.

Henry I was succeeded by his daughter Maud, but the barons who did not wish to be ruled by a woman, conspired against Maud, and supported Stephen, Henry I’s nephew. For 19 years, Stephen and Maud fought a bitter civil war which came to an end with a pact that said Stephen would rule during his lifetime, and would be succeeded by Maud’s son. During the short time that Maud reigned, her arrogance made her unpopular among his subjects.

Richard I in 1191 acknowledged the right of London to self government, as a result of which the first Mayor was elected in the following year.

It was during the Medieval period that the Peasant’s War occurred, with peasants revolting against the landed gentry’s demand for continuance of servility.

When the Roman invaders left London, the city’s grandeur diminished and the inhabitants of London left the city in large numbers. Most of London was reduced to ruins. However the location of London by River Thames attracted traders during the 7th century and London once more flourished.

In 604 AD St. Pauls Cathedral, the first of five cathedrals built on the same site, was constructed by King Ethelbert of Kent. The wooden church was dedicated to the apostle Paul.

Attracted by the prosperous trade in London, Danish Vikings attacked London in the 9th century. River Thames paved way not only for trade but danger too, as the Danes regularly sailed up the river to attack London. The Danes controlled London for a while, but were ousted by Alfred The Great in 886 AD, upon whose death they regained control of the city. In 1014, a large army of Anglo-Saxons and Norwegian Vikings sailed up the Thames and attacked London. The Danes lined the London Bridge and showered spears on the attackers, who pulled down house-roofs from the river bank and held it over their heads. In this manner, they neared the London Bridge and pulled it down with ropes and piers.

The Danish king Cnut came to power in 1017 and united the Danes and the Anglo-Saxons, and London blossomed under his rule.

Edward The Confessor, an Anglo-Saxon king, succeeded Cnut. Under his rule, London became the largest and the most prosperous city in England. Edward, who was extremely religious, built a vast monastery and church on an island in River Thames. He refounded the monastery in Westminster, and shifter his court there. Harold succeeded Edward The Confessor in 1065.

The origins of London can be traced back to the Roman invasion of the marshy areas surrounding River Thames, where the population of mosquitoes was greater than that of humans. Led by Aulus Plautius, a Roman army built a bridge to cross the River Thames and established a settlement, named Londinium, to the north of this bridge in 43 AD. Londinium steadily developed to become a major trading centre, with goods being shipped up the River Thames to be unloaded at wooden blocks at Londinium.

The bridge mentioned above seems to have been built quite close to the location of the modern day London Bridge, as excavations suggest. The bridge built by the Roman invaders connected Londinium to Colchester, which was the most important town of Britain at the time.

18 years after the Roman invasion, the queen of the Iceni tribe, Boudicca, launched an attack against Britain, with Londinium being her primary target. As a result, Londinium was reduced to rubble, and thousands of traders who had settled in the region lost their lives. However, the city was quickly rebuilt and steadily grew to become a symbol of trade in Britain.

A defensive wall was built around the city by 200 AD, and this wall defined the boundaries of London for over a millennium. Traces of this wall are visible till date, and the area defined by the wall is the present-day financial district of London – the City. The Temple of Mithras is another structure that testifies to the grandeur of the Roman Londinium.

Frost Fairs were held on a frozen River Thames from early 17th century to early 19th century. During the mentioned period, River Thames regularly froze over. The ice formed was so thick, that horse-drawn carriages transported people and goods over the frozen Thames. Henry VIII is recorded to have travelled to Greenwich over the ice. Winter games were held on the frozen Thames, and a number of shops were set up on the Thames during the winter seasons. The first official Frost Fair was conducted in 1608.

The Great Frost Of 1709 was the coldest winter experienced in 500 years, with the temperature recorded at -100 C. People, livestock, flora and fauna of London died on a large scale during that winter. The winter of 1860-61, the coldest winter recorded in 50 years, froze an iron warship –HMS Warrior – to her slipway.

The Major Freeze, which refers to the winter of 1946-47, resulted in severe restrictions on power consumption. Fuel supplies, that were already low due to World War II, were further diminished as the unrelenting snowfalls prevented the transportation of coal to power stations. Domestic power supplies were restricted to 19hours a day, newspapers were made smaller in size, and some magazines were banned from publishing. The snow thawed in mid-march, and created floods that affected over 100,000 properties.

The Big Freeze, which lasted from 22 December 1962 to 5 March 1963, was another extremely harsh winter that tested people’s morale.

The printing press, one of the most important and revolutionary inventions in the history of time, was introduced in England by William Caxton, an English merchant, author, trader and diplomat. His book, ‘The History of Troye’, was the first book to be printed in English in 1474. Caxton is also credited with standardising the English language through his printing press.

Newgate prison, London’s most notorious jail, stood from 1188 to 1902. This abode of psychopathic criminals has an interesting history. The prisoners who were lucky were executed soon after imprisonment while the unlucky folks succumbed to the horrid condition of the prison, where disease was rampant. The gallows were brought to Newgate every Monday morning to carry out weekly executions, which became a family entertainment program and the best seats for the show were sold.

After a complete renovation during 1770-1778, the jail was habitable but food and water were served in shockingly small quantities. However, there was nothing money couldn’t buy and at a fee a prisoner would be provided with the best wine and dinner. A prisoner wed twice and sired ten children during his 40year stint in the prison.

England has had a number of gay monarchs. Edward II, Richard II, Richard the Lionheart, William Rufus, Anne and Mary are rumoured to be homosexual. In fact, Richard II met his death in the hands of his wife’s lover, who on discovering the monarch’s queer sexuality shoved a red hot roasting spit up his anus in 1327.