From medieval markets to global powerhouse: Tracing London’s transformation between 1450 and 1750 through livery company records

In 1450, London was a bustling medieval city. Life revolved around the River Thames, a vital artery for trade and transportation. Busy, crowded markets sold goods from across Europe. Sanitation was poor, and life was precarious. Many Londoners were craftsmen, merchants, or labourers. Livery companies and guilds controlled the main trades, offering security and structure to those who worked within them.

Over the next 300 years, London underwent a transformation. By 1750, it had grown into one of the world’s largest cities and a hub of global commerce. The Renaissance and Reformation shaped its intellectual and spiritual landscape, bringing new ideas and opportunities. The migration of great numbers of people from the countryside and Europe, fleeing religious persecution or simply seeking a better life, swelled the city’s community of workers. By the eve of the Industrial Revolution, London had changed beyond all recognition.

The livery companies of London have diligently recorded their day-to-day business throughout these centuries of change. They operated at the heart of the city’s economic scene, wielding power and spending money in ways that affected all who lived there. Using the court minutes and wardens’ accounts in AM’s collection Trade in Early Modern London: Livery Company Records, 1450-1750, it is possible to trace how life in the city developed in real-time. Court minutes record, often in extraordinary detail, the discussions and rulings made by the companies’ governing bodies, while the wardens’ accounts reveal the financial implications of those decisions. The earliest example of these records in the resource is a volume of combined court minutes and wardens’ accounts from The Goldsmiths’ Company, dating from 1332-1442. A court minute book from the Fishmongers’ Company dating from 1752-1764 is one of the latest.

Delving into these documents reveals fascinating information about how attitudes, experiences and priorities evolved within the companies and the city at large. From how outbreaks of medieval plague were handled, to the creation of hospitals and sanitation improvements across London. From the construction of the company halls to investment in city-wide building projects, such as water systems and infrastructure modernisation after the 1666 fire. Some of the most pivotal events of the early modern period are captured in the records, such as the English Civil War, the Commonwealth, and the reigns of 17 different monarchs from Henry VI to George I. 

The digitisation of this exceptional range of documents offers researchers the ability to uncover not only the intricate workings of London's livery companies themselves, but also their monumental impact on the city's response to a rapidly changing world. 

Trade in Early Modern London: Livery Company Records, 1450-1750 is available now, featuring material from the Drapers’, Goldsmiths’, Fishmongers’, Skinners’, Merchant Taylors’ and Vintners’ Companies. 

The material featured in this blog is open-access for 30 days and can be found here:

Warden's Accounts and Court Minutes A, part I
Court minute book, 1752-1764