page_title: History of Norfolk
section_title: Mediaeval Norwich
hierarchical_section_title: History of Norfolk / Mediaeval Norfolk / Mediaeval Norwich
caption_attribution_description: English: A mediaeval merchant's house at 41 Elm Hill, Norwich. This is a photo of listed building number 1372805.
context_page_description: Norfolk is a rural county in the East of England. Knowledge of prehistoric Norfolk is limited by a lack of evidence — although the earliest finds are from the end of the Lower Paleolithic period. Communities have existed in Norfolk since the last Ice Age and tools, coins and hoards such as those found at Snettisham indicate the presence of an extensive and industrious population.
  The Iceni tribe inhabited the region prior to the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD, after which they built roads, forts, villas and towns. Boudica's rebellion in 60 AD, caused by the imposition of direct rule by the Romans, was followed by order and peace, which lasted until the Roman armies left Britain in 410 AD. The subsequent arrival of the Anglo-Saxons caused the loss of much Roman and British culture in Norfolk. It is known from external evidence from excavations and place-names that by c. 800 AD all Norfolk had been settled and the first towns had emerged. Norfolk was the northern half of the Kingdom of East Anglia and was ruled by the Anglo-Saxon Wuffing dynasty. Our knowledge of several Wuffings is scant, as few historical documents of the period have survived.
context_section_description: The arrival of the Normans in 1066 led to the destruction of much of Anglo-Saxon Norwich. After Ralph de Gael rebelled against the king, a large part of the town was burned by the Normans in retribution. They then started to develop Norwich into a prosperous international port and a centre of Norman power. Norwich Castle was built by 1075. It was of a motte and bailey type and was rebuilt in stone before 1200. Work on the cathedral precinct started in 1096. Within it was built a cathedral church, a fortified bishop's palace and other monastic buildings. The formation of the precinct turned a large part of the town into an unpopulated area of quarry pits and building yards.
  Early mediaeval Norwich grew into a cosmopolitan city and expanded around the waterfront and westwards along St. Benedict's Street. During the 12th century there was a thriving Jewish community, but it was unpopular with the Christian population. In 1144 the Jews were accused of the ritual murder of a young boy named William, who was subsequently canonized. Their synagogue was destroyed in 1286 and four years later all the Jews in England were expelled from the country (see Edict of Expulsion).
  Tensions between the cathedral priory and the citizens of Norwich (in part over the jurisdiction of land in the city) culminated in the Riot of 1272, in which thirteen members of the priory were murdered and the precinct gates and St. Ethelbert's Church were destroyed. As punishment, the main anarchists were put to death and the city lost its liberties and was forced to pay for the building of a new gate for the priory.
  Between 1297 and 1344 a new defensive wall was constructed on the huge banks that surrounded the city, replacing the earlier palisade and gates. The area enclosed was the largest for any city in England, although inside was a considerable amount of pasture land, which was slowly absorbed as new monastic settlements, houses, markets and industrial sites appeared. By 1400 Norwich had grown to become a major city of perhaps 10,000 inhabitants.
  The Black Death may have killed two fifths of the population of the city. It led to efforts to improve the unsanitary conditions, but these had little impact. Immigration from the surrounding countryside soon restored pre-plague numbers, partly as a result of the growing textiles industry. Growing civic wealth and pride was reflected in new large buildings such as the Guildhall, built from 1407 to 1453. During the later mediaeval period, Norwich's fortunes declined. Both the fires of 1412 and 1413 (which destroyed many of the city's buildings) and the Wars of the Roses, contributed to its decline. The period is characterised by a growing gap between the wealthy and the poor of Norwich.
caption: A mediaeval merchant's house on Elm Hill, Norwich
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