London not England's capital

Nottingham is also a possibility - Henry II, Richard, John all loved to stay at Nottingham Castle, John extensively. The lace industry was one of England's biggest exports at the time and it made the city very lucrative.
 
Surprised that only one person has mentioned York. It was seen as the second city in the medieval period, (It was much more substantial relatively in population then than now) and I think Richard II mused about moving the capital there. Assuming only moderate butterflies (the south coast comes under the sway of France/the HRE during early medieval times etc) then it would be the obvious choice.

If we're talking about medieval times then the only other contender as a permanent capital really is Bristol, but that has nowhere near the ecclesiastical or political prestige of York.

York did actually have its own high court and Council, so it sort of was a capital for the North.
 
I love how so many people can't see past London as a capital. While it is undoubtedly the best located, there are surely other similar locations that might have worked. What about Rochester? Portsmouth/Southampton? Or even Ipswich....
 
If Canute or some other Viking conquered England, maybe he would move the capital to York, so it would be in the most Norsified (is that a word?) area of England?
 
Top