Alfred Reoccupied Abandoned Roman London

Roman London remained largely abandoned for more than 400 years after the Roman Empire withdrew from Britain in the early 400s. Rather than occupy the crumbling walled city, early medieval Londoners built Lundenwic around present-day Covent Garden, where it flourished as an international trading town for around 250 years. Viking raids drove residents from Lundenwic by the 880s, and Saxon King Alfred reestablished Roman London as a fortified town in 886 to help defend against further attacks.

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