The place of government in transition: Winchester, westminster and london in the mid-twelfth century

In 1176/7 Richard FitzNigel was asked to compose the Dialogue of the Exchequer while 'sitting by the window of a tower (specule) next to the river Thames’, probably in his house in Westminster.¹ Important figures in royal government like Richard must have settled and spent much time in Westminster around this period, as governmental affairs came to be transacted more often in this place. By this time, Westminster was on the way to becoming the ‘royal capital’. Such development, however, was quite uncertain when William the Conqueror was crowned at Westminster several months after the battle of Hastings. London was then already the largest and most influential town in England, which needed to be subdued by William before his coronation, but Westminster was to develop as a relatively small but distinct urban community in the Middle Ages, and in 1066 it was rather a bleak damp area that stretched around the abbey rebuilt by Edward the Confessor, though there were around it some houses, which were set on fire during William's coronation.² .