I’m quite impressed at Charles II hands on approach. The London Mayor was useless and panicking. Charles II put the former mayor in charge. Then he assigned his brother the Duke of York to take charge of fighting the fire. At one point Charles II was helping with the firefighting pumps. This was summer of 1666. His coronation was April 1661. Still a relatively young king.
I assume it helped assigning the Duke of York to fight the fire? He had authority to tear down private buildings and create firebreaks.
A fascinating piece of history.
It’s quite a contrast to politicians today. State Governors meet with their diaster response teams. They usually don’t get hands on.
One of the unfortunate results of the fire is that very few buildings survive in the City from before 1666. The two main exceptions are the Tower of London and Staple Inn.
On the other hand, there are all the beautiful churches in the City designed by Sir Christopher Wren, including of course St Paul’s Cathedral, which would not have been built except for the fire.
