Can you tell me what are the importance of the palace of westminster from the past to the present??

Question

Just list it down... I don't need the website or something.. Just its simple importance to the world...Thanks......

Answer 1

The Site and its Royal Associations

Within the walls of the Royal Palace of Westminster is the Parliament of the United

Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The building is situated on north bank

of the River Thames in the City of Westminster. Originally this place we now call

Westminster was known as Thorney Island. It gained its name from the overgrown

briars and thorns that grew on the island. The Thames was much wider and shallower

than at present and two branches of the River Tyburn, which discharged into the

Thames from the north bank, created this tiny island.

It is possible that the Romans built a temple to Apollo on Thorney Island but this was

destroyed by an earthquake and on these ruins a new Saxon church, St Peter’s, was

built by the Christian King Sebert in the seventh century. The church managed to

survive the Danish invasions of the ninth century and area was made safe by King

Edgar (959-975) who restored the buildings and re-established an order of

Benedictine monks. Over the next century, there were further Danish invasions and it

was a Danish King, Canute (1016-1035), who set up a Royal palace during his reign

on this site as the area was sufficiently far away from the busy settlement to the east

known as London. It is believed that, on this site, Canute tried to command the tide

of the river to prove to his courtiers that they were fools to think that he could

command the waves.

It would be seven years after the death of Canute that an Anglo-Saxon King would

once more rule England. King Edward, who later became St Edward the Confessor

and Patron saint of England, was proclaimed King in 1042. Almost immediately after

his coronation, Edward began building his great Abbey. The Abbey became known

as the West Minster, St Paul’s, lying to the east in the heart of London, was known as

the East Minster. Edward resided here so he could oversee the construction of his

new Abbey. Westminster Abbey was consecrated in the Christmas of 1065 and

Edward died just days after; leaving his kingdom without an heir. He was buried in his

beloved Abbey.

The power struggle that followed Edward’s death resulted in the Battle of Hastings in

1066. William, Duke of Normandy, who had defeated King Harold at Hastings, was

crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066 at Westminster Abbey and ended

the reign of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs. William the Conqueror established his tight

grip on his newly acquired Kingdom by building a new fortress built of stone, the

Tower of London. The capital city of England under the Anglo-Saxon Kings had been

Winchester in the Kingdom of Wessex. The new Norman King saw Westminster and

London, with its increasing population and importance as a trading port and

business centre, the place to locate many of the administrative functions of the

Kingdom. However, the seat of government was not permanently based at

Westminster; it was wherever the King happened to be with his seal. Although

William tried in vain to rebuild the Palace, it was his son, William II (William Rufus)(1087-

1100) who began work on a new palace in 1087. In 1097 the foundations of the

Great Hall (Westminster Hall) were laid and the Hall was ready for use by 1099. It was

the largest of its kind in England, and probably Europe, at the time (and still is today).

The Hall was used for ceremonial occasions such as Royal Feasts which made

Westminster the ceremonial centre of the Kingdom.

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