The first monarch of the Tudor dynasty was Henry VII. When he took the throne the population of the city of London was about 75,000. By 1600 that figure had risen to 200,000. London under the Tudors was a prosperous, bustling city.

Henry VII also had a great impact on London architecture, in the form of "Henry VII's Chapel", an addition at the eastern end of Westminster Abbey. This triumph of renaissance architecture was planned as a shrine-chapel for the body of his half-uncle, the pious King Henry VI but, when the Pope refused to canonize him, the place became Henry VII's own mausoleum.

Henry VII's main residence was Baynard's Castle which he rebuilt in a more palatial style than its predecessor. He was the last monarch to have a permanent residence within the old city of London walls. He also rebuilt the Palace of Sheen, when it burnt to the ground in 1498, and had it renamed as Richmond Palace. In addition, he sought to improve England's poor finances by re-establishing an efficient administrative structure. He died there in 1509.

Next to the throne came the most famous king, his son, Henry VIII. The significance his reign is overshadowed by his six marriages and there various resolutions. He married Catherine of Aragon (widow of his brother, Arthur) in 1509, divorcing her in 1533; the union produced one daughter, Mary. Henry married the pregnant Anne Boleyn in 1533; she gave him another daughter, Elizabeth, but was executed for infidelity (a treasonous charge in the king's consort) in May 1536. He married Jane Seymour by the end of the same month, who died giving birth to Henry's lone male heir, Edward, in October 1536.

Early in 1540, Henry arranged a marriage with Anne of Cleves, after viewing Hans Holbein's beautiful portrait of the German princess. In person, alas, Henry found her homely and the marriage was never consummated. In July 1540, he married the adulterous Catherine Howard - she was executed for infidelity in March 1542. Catherine Parr became his wife in 1543, providing for the needs of both Henry and his children until his death in 1547.

There is a little rhyme that will help you remember what happened to each wife: Divorced, beheaded, died; Divorced, beheaded, survived.

Henry thoroughly enjoyed all the trappings that went with being a monarch and spent lavishly on his Court. Amongst other things, he was another great builder of palaces. He expanded York House, the London residence of the Archbishop of York, to become the Palace of Whitehall and later his main residence in London. He also built St. James' Palace and the now lost Palace of Nonsuch.

After Cardinal Wolsey 'gave' him Hampton Court he added much of what we see there today and this became a countryside retreat for the court. However, Henry's favourite residence was Greenwich Palace, where he had been born, and this became the scene of many important historical episodes during his reign.

Like the Archbishops of York at Whitehall, the Archbishop of 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.

The reformation and breaking of the link to Rome had a significant effect on London. At the start of Henry VIII's reign, the city was filled with splendid religious buildings, the treasures of previous centuries. During Henry's dissolution of the monasteries, the 13 religious houses in London were either converted for private use or pulled down for building materials. All that now remains are the names they gave to areas of the city, such as Whitefriars and Blackfriars.

More benevolent foundations were established by King Henry VIII himself. He claimed to be the (re-)founder of the medical hospital of St. Bartholomew, which still survives today; as do large parts of the adjoining priory and church of the same name. Similarly, he claimed to have refounded St. Thomas's Hospital, also still in existance, though it was moved, in the 19th century, from the Southwark side of London Bridge to Lambeth. The refoundation of the Bethlehem Hospital for the mentally ill (Bedlam), outside Bishopgate, was also laid at Henry's door.

Many well-known public schools, founded through the generosity of city merchants, also date from this time, including: Charterhouse, St. Paul's, the City of London School, the Merchant Taylors' and Mercers' Schools. Though the Inns of Chancery were in decline, the Inns of Court continued their educational role in the city and their great halls are a magnificent survival from the Tudor age. The Old Hall at Lincoln's Inn dates from 1490, Gray's Inn from 1556 and Middle Temple from 1573. Shakespeare performed several of his plays in them.

During Henry VIII's reign the role of parliament increased and, in 1543, an act of parliament for the government of Wales was passed. This brought Wales under full English rule and was the first step in the creation of the 'United Kingdom'.

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. There were also more base entertainments available such as bear baiting or cock-fighting. Then, of course, there were the brothels. Southwark was famous for its ladies of the night who worked from the stews on the Bishop of Winchester lands. The Bishop regulated the industry and made himself a tidy profit.

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. The core of the city was built around the lands seized from the church and the richer citizens began to move out to country estates to the west of the city along the thames where many of the old bishops' palaces were claimed and rebuilt for use by the nobility.

Unfortunately, London's Tudor buildings were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, so it is difficult to get a real sense of what the city was like at that time.

After Tudor London came Stuart london