Editing Worcester, England (section)

====Early medieval====
Worcester's growth and position as a market town for goods and produce rested on its river crossing and bridge and its position on the road network. The nearest Severn bridges in the 14th century were at [[Gloucester]] and [[Bridgnorth]]. The main road from London to mid-Wales ran through Worcester, then north-west to [[Kidderminster]], Bridgnorth and [[Shrewsbury]], and via [[Bromsgrove]] to [[Coventry]] and on to [[Derby]]. Southward it connected with [[Tewkesbury]] and Gloucester.<ref name="bhoworcester"/>

[[File:Worcester Cathedral Cloister, Worcestershire, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|left|The medieval cloisters]]
Worcester was a centre of religious life. The several monasteries up to the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|dissolution]] included [[Worcester Greyfriars|Greyfriars]], [[Worcester Blackfriars|Blackfriars]], the Penitent Sisters, and the Benedictine Priory, now Worcester Cathedral.<ref>{{harvnb |Willis-Bund |Page |1971b |pp=167–173}}</ref> Monastic houses provided hospital and educational services, including [[Royal Grammar School Worcester|Worcester School]].

The 12th-century town (then better defended) was attacked in 1139, 1150 and 1151 during the civil war between [[Stephen of England|King Stephen]] and [[Empress Matilda]], daughter of [[Henry I of England|Henry I]]. The 1139 attack again resulted in a fire that destroyed part of the city, with citizens being held for ransom. Another fire in 1189 destroyed much of the city for the fourth time that century.<ref name="bhoworcester"/>

Worcester received its first [[royal charter]] in 1189. In 1227 under a new charter allowed a guild of merchants was created, with a trading monopoly for those admitted.<ref name="bhoworcester"/> Worcester's institutions grew more slowly than those of most county towns.<ref name="bhoworcester"/>