London in the Age of Chaucer

Fourteenth-century London was noisy, dirty, and disorderly, but also prosperous, proud of itself, and full of life not yet dispersed to distant suburbs. It was described in 1326 as a "mirror to all England," and indeed it was. Trade was growing and the guilds were making their influence felt. If justice was not tempered with mercy, at least the law courts were open to the citizens.