A royal and ecclesiastical center in London where Edward, the Black Prince died in 1376.
Westminster was the primary seat of English royal governance, law, and ceremony throughout the medieval period. Westminster Abbey — the site of coronations and royal burials since 1066 — and the adjacent Palace of Westminster — center of royal administration and from the thirteenth century of parliamentary business — made it the functional capital of English political life.
William the Conqueror's coronation at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066 set the pattern for English royal coronation that continued unbroken through the medieval period. The Abbey became the burial place of English monarchs, and its association with Edward the Confessor gave it additional religious prestige.
The Palace of Westminster became the site of royal courts, the Exchequer, and Parliament. Simon de Montfort's Parliament of 1265 and the Model Parliament of 1295 were both held at Westminster, establishing it as the institutional location of English representative governance.