In 1519 Winchester was chosen as the capital of the kingdom of Wessex; and in 827, Egbert the first king of all England was crowned here. It then remained the capital and the most important city in England until the eleventh century and the arrival of William the Conqueror. He had himself crowned in both London and Winchester, and declared both cities to be capitals. However, by the fourteenth century the city had lost its place as the second most important city and began to evolve into what it is today - a small, sleepy, provincial city.