History of York
York is renowned for its history, which is preserved in
its architecture. The city was founded during the reign
of Roman Emperor Vespasian in AD 71, and for much of the
intervening period has been the principal city of
Northern England. Every year, thousands of tourists
flock to see the surviving mediaeval buildings,
interspersed with Roman and Viking remains. The City
Council has 34 Conservation Areas, 2,084 Listed
buildings and 22 Scheduled Ancient Monuments in its
care. |
|
Roman York
For the Romans, York, or Eboracum, was a major
military base; Emperor Septimius Severus died there in AD 211,
and Constantius Chlorus, the father of Constantine I, died
there in 306. York is also the city in which Constantine's
troops proclaimed him emperor. Substantial Roman remains were
discovered under the Minster and a re-erected Roman column now
stands on nearby Deangate. Other sites of excavated remains
include a Roman bath, located under a pub in St Sampson's
Square, a Roman temple, near the foot of Lendal Bridge, and
the site of a Roman bridge over the River Ouse. Outside the
city walls are the remains of substantial Roman cemeteries. A
large number of Roman finds are now housed in the Yorkshire
Museum.
Saxon and Viking York
Anglican York was firstly capital of Deira, before shifting
to control of a united kingdom and later earldom of
Northumbria. Paulinus of York brought Christianity to the
region in the early 7th century with the conversion of King
Edwin of Northumbria and the first Minster is believed to have
been built in 627, although the location of the early Minster
is a matter of dispute. York became a centre of learning, its
most famous scholar being Alcuin.
A "great Viking army" captured York in AD 866,
and in 876 the Vikings settled permanently in parts of the
Yorkshire countryside. Viking kings ruled this area, known to
historians as "The Viking Kingdom of Jorvik", for
almost a century. In 954 the last Viking king, Eric Bloodaxe,
was expelled and his kingdom was incorporated in the newly
consolidated Anglo-Saxon state. Another renowned scholar of
this era was Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York.
Mediaeval York
Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, York was
substantially damaged by the punitive harrying of the north
(1069) launched by William the Conqueror in response to
regional revolt. Two castles were erected in the city on
either side of the River Ouse. In time York became an
important urban centre as the administrative centre of the
county of Yorkshire, as the seat of an archbishop, and at
times in the later 13th and 14th century as an alternative
seat of royal government. It was an important trading centre.
Several religious houses were founded following the Conquest,
including St Mary's Abbey and Holy Trinity Priory. The city as
a possession of the crown also came to house a substantial
Jewish community under the protection of the sheriff.
On March 16, 1190 a mob of townsfolk forced the Jews in
York to flee into Clifford's Tower, which was under the
control of the sheriff. The castle was set on fire and the
Jews were massacred. It is likely that various local magnates
who were indebted to the Jews helped instigate this massacre
or, at least, did nothing to prevent it. It came during a time
of widespread attacks against Jews in Britain. Commemoration
of the York massacre passed into the Jewish liturgy and until
1990 Orthodox Judaism forbade Jews from living within the
city.
York prospered during much of the later mediaeval era and
this is reflected in the built environment. York Minster is
the largest mediaeval cathedral in England and one of the
largest gothic churches in Europe. The city still boasts
nineteen mediaeval parish churches, eight of which are
regularly used for worship. The mediaeval city walls, with
their entrance gates, known as bars, encompassed
virtually the entire city and survive to this day. The city
was also designated as a county corporate, giving it effective
county status.
The later years of the 14th and the earlier years of the
15th centuries were characterised by particular prosperity. It
is in this period that the regular cycle of religious pageants
(or plays) associated with the Corpus Christi cycle and
performed by the various craft guilds grew up. Among the more
important personages associated with this period was Nicholas
Blackburn senior, Lord Mayor in 1412 and a leading merchant.
He is depicted in glass in the (now) east window of All
Saints' Church in North Street. The period from the later 15th
century seems to have witnessed economic contraction and a
dwindling in York's regional importance. The construction of
the city's new Guildhall around the middle of the century can
be seen as an attempt to project civic confidence in the face
of growing uncertainty.
Dating from the later mediaeval era, and now a popular
tourist attraction, is the Shambles, an old street of
timber-framed shops originally occupied by butchers. Some
retain the outdoor shelves and the hooks on which meat was
displayed. They have overhanging upper floors and are now
largely souvenir shops.
Early modern York
Few buildings of significance were put up in the century
after the completion of the Minster in 1472, the exceptions
being the completion of the King's Manor (which from 1537 to
1641 housed the Council of the North) and the rebuilding of
the church of St Michael-le-Belfry, where Guy Fawkes was
baptised in 1570. In 1547, fifteen parish churches were
closed, reducing their number from forty to twenty-five - a
reflection of the decline in the city's population.
17th-century York
Following his break with Parliament, King Charles I
established his Court in York in 1642 for six months.
Subsequently, during the English Civil War, the city was
regarded as a Royalist stronghold and was besieged and
eventually captured by Parliamentary forces under Lord Fairfax
in 1644. After the war, York slowly regained its former
pre-eminence in the North, and by 1660 was the third-largest
city in England after London and Norwich.
18th-century York
York elected two members to the Unreformed House of
Commons.
On 22 March 1739 the infamous highwayman Dick Turpin was
convicted at York assizes of horse-stealing, and was hanged at
the Knavesmire on 7 April 1739. Turpin is buried in St
George's churchyard, York, where his tombstone also shows his
alias, John Palmer.
York is best-known as a tourist destination and, as well,
is home to numerous Ghost Walks and a favourite venue for hen
parties. But modern York is also a centre of communications,
education and manufacturing. It is a major railway junction,
situated on the East Coast giving access to Scarborough,
Filey
and Bridlington
on the East Coast of Yorkshire, Cross Country and
Trans-Pennine mainlines.
York is also a major venue for horse racing at York
Racecourse in the Knavesmire area.
York is the headquarters of the confectionery manufacturer
Nestlé Rowntree, and home to the KitKat, Smarties
and eponymous Yorkie bar chocolate brands. Terry's
chocolate factory, makers of the Chocolate Orange, was
also located in the city; but it closed on 30 September 2005,
when production was moved by its owners, Kraft Foods, to
Poland. However, the historic factory building can still be
seen, situated next to the Knavesmire race course. |
