<P> In the 12th century, the institutions of central government, which had hitherto accompanied the royal English court as it moved around the country, grew in size and sophistication and became increasingly fixed in one place . For most purposes this was Westminster, although the royal treasury, having been moved from Winchester, came to rest in the Tower . While the City of Westminster developed into a true capital in governmental terms, its distinct neighbour, the City of London, remained England's largest city and principal commercial centre, and it flourished under its own unique administration, the Corporation of London . In 1100, its population was around 18,000; by 1300 it had grown to nearly 100,000 . Disaster struck in the form of the Black Death in the mid-14th century, when London lost nearly a third of its population . London was the focus of the Peasants' Revolt in 1381 . </P> <P> London was also a centre of England's Jewish population before their expulsion by Edward I in 1290 . Violence against Jews took place in 1190, after it was rumoured that the new King had ordered their massacre after they had presented themselves at his coronation . In 1264 during the Second Barons' War, Simon de Montfort's rebels killed 500 Jews while attempting to seize records of debts . </P> <P> During the Tudor period the Reformation produced a gradual shift to Protestantism, and much of London property passed from church to private ownership, which accelerated trade and business in the city . In 1475, the Hanseatic League set up its main trading base (kontor) of England in London, called the Stalhof or Steelyard . It existed until 1853, when the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck, Bremen and Hamburg sold the property to South Eastern Railway . Woollen cloth was shipped undyed and undressed from 14th / 15th century London to the nearby shores of the Low Countries, where it was considered indispensable . </P> <P> But the reach of English maritime enterprise hardly extended beyond the seas of north - west Europe . The commercial route to Italy and the Mediterranean Sea normally lay through Antwerp and over the Alps; any ships passing through the Strait of Gibraltar to or from England were likely to be Italian or Ragusan . Upon the re-opening of the Netherlands to English shipping in January 1565, there ensued a strong outburst of commercial activity . The Royal Exchange was founded . Mercantilism grew, and monopoly trading companies such as the East India Company were established, with trade expanding to the New World . London became the principal North Sea port, with migrants arriving from England and abroad . The population rose from an estimated 50,000 in 1530 to about 225,000 in 1605 . </P>

Is london the largest city in the uk