Ghosts of Londinium

Friday, 15 June 2012

Here's a head scratcher - London is twice a colony.

“The Romans Invade” isn’t exactly unique in world history.  In 43 AD, Romans landed at the narrowest point on the Thames still deep enough for ocean faring boats, about where London Bridge sits today, and established Londinium. Founded as a merchant colony, it quickly grew into a comsmopolitan area and the largest city in “Britannia,” the greater region established in 54 BC under Julius Ceasar as a Roman territory.

Boadicea and her daughters opposite Big Ben

Aside from a short-period following an uprising led by Boadicea in 60AD that temporarily chased the Romans from Londinium and earned a first rate placement for her stone-likeness across from Big Ben, Britania was Roman for five centuries. Abandoned in the early 5th Century, central Londinium likely, remarkably, sat empty for 400 to 500 years, the result of the plague as much as the decline of the Roman Empire.

Another head scratcher for those of us who think of England as a colonizer and empire builder, it was the Angles, a Germanic tride from which the word England descends, that sailed from the northern most State in Germany, Schleswig-Holstein, and settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England first became a unified state in 927 AD, a millennia after Ceasar landed.

The realization for me in all of this: London is not an ancient city like Rome (7th Century BC) or Jerusalum (4 Millennia BC). It began simply as a Colony of another Empire from another era as humans gradually spread the globe from Mesopotmia origins.

A William reference near Leadenhall Market in London

Founded by Romans, and more permanently settled by Germanic tribes, it was William the Conqueror, a Norman King hailing from Normandy, France who got the French into the mix by landing in 1066 near the old Londinium site and begining construction of a fortification known today as the Tower of London and home to the Queen's Crown Jewels. A few years later, seeking to secure the Western approach to London, William designs and begins construction of Windsor Castle 20km upstream. Given Windsor Castle is the oldest in active service, where Queen Elizabeth spends most of her weekends, it could be said William the Conqueror and his posse from across the Channel didn't do a half bad job. Perhaps that further explains why most English refer to William not as "the Conqueror" but alternatively, "the Bastard." A Frenchman founding key assets of the Crown? That explains a lot.

At Windsor Castle, St George Cathedral left, the Center
Keep in the back right

Gradually the tables turned and the English started doing the conquering, frequently going North into Scotland and South into France. In fact, the next thousand years saw the English Channel act as a net dividing two halves of a giant ping-pong table across which Generals and Monarchs served and volleyed attacks as a means to cement their glory (whenever they weren’t at war within their own boundaries). For English Monarchs "invade France" served the same, always popular, political purpose as "cut taxes" does for politicians today.

Edward III with the Crowns of
Scotland and France

Edward III, in his portrait hanging in St George Cathedral on the grounds of Windsor Castle, is painted with two crowns run through on his Sword – one for Scotland, one for France. Fresh off conquests in France, he established the Order of the Garter in 1348. Modeled after King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table, the group had 25 founding members and exists to this day with St George’s Cathedral serving as its home.

Henry VIII, immediately after coming to power invaded France at Calais, a small beachhead from which he laid claim to the greater France. Classic politics – take an inch and claim a mile.

From the French end, why wouldn’t Napoleon, seeking to consolidate his position following the political void opened by French Revolutionaries beheading of Louis XVI, do in the early 19th Century what everyone else had done previously and invade his neighbors to the North?

General Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar and Napoleon’s ultimate demise at Waterloo kept stoneworkers very busy carving English military leaders for placement in St. Paul’s Cathedral forever immortalized as heroes of the State. There are more military and monarchial figures in St Paul’s than religious figures. Though the battle cost Nelson his life, he got his own stone likeness and column with a view placed forever at the center of Trafalgar Square. Yeah, the English disliked Napolean that much.

On Guard at Windsor Castle

Over a century later, the Nazi’s fully intended to take a crack at it by sending troops across the Channel after softening the English up with their bombs. Did Hitler know the Angles Story and presume England was rightfully German? Beats me, but I do know that by D-Day 1944, landing an army across the Channel was hardly a new idea.

Ghost chasers, we zigzag our way across Londinium on double-deck buses, the Underground, boats, and trains, but mostly on foot, gradually assembling the many layers of Londinium, a four dimensional puzzle of pieces forged across two millennia. 

The finger prints of people who took a turn shaping London's second millennia are everywhere. We run into William the Bastard, Edward III, many faces of the Tudor dynasty like Henry VII and VIII and Elizabeth I. We meet the King George(s) of the “American Uprising” era, Queen Victoria, Queen Mary, and many more.

Edward III’s finger prints are most present in the trappings of the aforementioned Order of the Garter established in 1348. Prince Charles claims his membership as one of the greatest honors bestowed upon him. In Windsor Castle, St. George’s Hall is a massive dining room in which all members of the order since its founding are named on the walls along with their Coat of Arms. Their positions are also marked in the choir of seats at St George’s Cathedral. The Order – its customs, traditions, prestigious membership, and annual Trouping of the Color ceremony that will take place today make Edward impossible to forget.

Henry VIII by Hans Holbein

We see the fingerprints of Henry VIII the most. He is embroidered into the tapestries of the Cathedral in Bayeux, France. His armor is prominently displayed at the Tower of London along with recognition of his additions made to the fortifications he retreated into on occasion. The portait of him at about age 40, by which he is infamously known, hangs in the semi-private living apartments at Windsor Castle, one of the more than 60 homes and palaces he owned as Monarch. Of course, his fingerprints are all over Hampton Court Palace, effectively, his man cave. Henry VIII is buried along with his favorite wife, Katherine Seymour, in St George Cathedral at Windsor Castle.

Inside the Globe Theater

The finger prints of Queen Elizabeth I and the Elizabeathan age are most visible at the Globe Theater, a recreation of it anyway. Located 300 meters from the original site of the Globe adjacent the Thames and Millennium Bridge, it is a remarkable homage to the works of William Shakespeare.  A giant doughnut when viewed from above, the center is a courtyard in which up to a 1,000 people would stand for a “stinky penny” to see the show. Today, they let 700 people in for 5 pounds each, still a bargain for a Shakespeare production. Back in the day, those who didn’t smell quite as bad could pay three pennies for one of the 3,000 seats under the thatch roof covering the theaters circular perimeter. Today, the three tiers of bench seating surround the stage on ¾ of the perimeter putting 1,500 people right on top of the stage. From the third level you literally look down with a bird's eye view. The stage occupies the other ¼ of the perimeter and juts into the courtyard. With no microphones, stage lighting, or any other modern accoutrements, the Globe is designed to be as true to the original as possible less the stink of seldom bathed Elizabethans.

Unofficially, our tour guide conquers, the 37 works of William Shakespeare had to have been the product of a team of writers and actors collaborating under the same pen name. That is not to say William Shakespeare was not an individual, he was, but rather the extent of the body of work and insight that went into creating it would have required the perspectives of actors as well as writers to make it work so well. Notably, Shakespeare’s wife and daughter were not able to write. He never attended University. He left behind no books or works in his Will; anecdotal evidence at best, but interesting.

Ascending the Medieval stone stairs
inside Bloody Tower

Elizabeth I finger prints are also prominent at the Tower of London, specifically at Bloody Tower which often served as a prison ward. She twice “Sent to the Tower” Sir Walter Raleigh, perhaps the most famous prisoner before ending up there herself. Originally imprisoned for marrying a member of Elizabeth’s Court without her permission, Raleigh resided comfortably there with his wife, two sons and three servants between quests to find Dorado, the City of Gold, rumored to exist in the New World.

Notably, it was Elizabeth I who restored the authority of the Pope and Rome's influence in England, reversing the act of her father, Henry VIII, who consolidated Church and State under his rule in order to facilitate the granting of his divorce from Katherine of Aragon. The daughter of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, it is ironic that the Pope would later declare Elizabeth as illegitimate off-spring and encourage her subjects not to follow her.  It is further ironic, that Henry VIII’s most effective prodigy as Monarch would turn out to be his youngest daughter. Did I mention he had her mother beheaded such that he could move onto wife number 3 of 6?

Visitor entrance to Windsor Castle

Queen Mary II (of William and Mary fame) is most visible in the Baroque architectural style adopted for the expansion of Hampton Court Palace and similarly applied at Windsor Castle. It stands in stark contrast to the Tudor architecture of Henry VIII and the medieval kings that preceded him.

The ghost of Queen Victoria is visible around many sites; her finger prints mainly in what her taste, style, and strict moral virtue came to define as the Victorian Age. Ascending to the throne at age 18, her reign was the first to see a 60th Jubilee. Her 9 children and many of her grand children married into royal families across the continent garnering her the knickname "the Grand Mother of Europe" and cementing the role and influence of the modern day Monarchy.

The ghost of the later Queen Mary (known as Mary of Teck from German descent and married to Victoria's Grandson George V) is most visible in the form of a doll house constructed in honor of her Birthday. On display in the Apartments of Windsor Castle, 150 different artists contributed to the work. It is a 1:12 scale model with nearly a hundred rooms that are fully functional, in that they have electric lighting, running hot and cold water, working lifts, a wine cellar, replicas of famous oil paintings, furniture, the works.

Queen Elizabeth II, circa 1953

The reigning Queen Elizabeth II, her 60th Anniversary Jubilee occurring the week before our arrival, is truly everywhere. Physically she resides at Buckingham Palace with weekends spent at Windsor Castle. Her jewels, The Crown Jewels, sit at the Tower of London. Her image is on the Pound, in shop windows, souvenirs, newspapers, and all over television. A gallery of sixty images taken over sixty years sits in Windsor Castle near the Queen’s Ballroom. She is featured variously with John F and Jacqueline Kennedy, Diana, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, soldiers and leaders from around the globe, and even Lady Gaga. Pictures of her with infant son Prince Charles and later her infant Grand Children compliment those of that family grown, married, and ready to succeed her.

Queen Elizabeth, 2012

Laura marvels at the wear and tear we see on American presidents after four to eight years in office. The before and after pictures are dramatic of the effect the stresses and schedules of that office have on a person.

“How does a person handle that with such grace over a period of sixty years and look so remarkable at 86 years old?” Laura marvels. Albeit more focused on humanitarian efforts and matters of national pride, than military conquests, the Queen’s tenure and impact is nevertheless remarkable. Who else around the globe has met with both JFK and Lady Gaga?

“We call the US a melting pot,” Laura comments at Lunch as tables around us yammer on in multiple different languages, “but it is nothing compared to London.”

She is right. Whether the result of colonial roots, conquest, occupation, immigration, or its own colonization efforts, the influence of two millennia of ghosts is evident in the multiple cultures and languages always around you. There isn’t a street we have walked where English is the only language in your ears. Londinium is the most international of cities we have visited. Laura nailed it.

It is only fitting this Summer London will become the only City to host the Olympic Games three times (1908, 1948, and 2012). Modern day Persians, Greeks, Italians, French, Germans, members of former colonies, they will all be back; fortunately with athletes, not soldiers.

P.S. Special thanks to Jimmy Wales and the Wikipedia community who helped me understand what we were looking at half the time! Stone inscriptions tend to be rather brief. It would be great to see Wikitags on all the points of interest that you could grab from your mobile phone.; talk about the ultimate waking tour guide.

Ghost Chasing by Boat