History and tourism

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.

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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 remains of the headquarters building of the Roman legionary fortress were discovered under the Minster, and they are open to the public. A re-erected Roman column now stands on nearby Deangate, where there is also a recent statue of Constantine. Other sites of excavated remains include a Roman bath, located under the Roman Bath 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. Some remains of the Roman city walls can be seen between Monk Bar and the Merchant Taylors' Hall, and a more substantial section can be seen between Museum Gardens and the Central Library, together with the late Roman Multangular Tower. Outside the city walls are the remains of substantial Roman cemeteries. A large number of Roman finds are now housed in the Yorkshire Museum.

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Saxon and Viking York

For Viking York, see Jórvík.

Anglian 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.

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Medieval York

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/wiki/Image:York_Minster_close.jpg/wiki/Image:York_Minster_close.jpgYork Minster

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.

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/wiki/Image:York_Shambles.jpg/wiki/Image:York_Shambles.jpg"The Shambles," a street in York.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Modern York

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/wiki/Image:York_city.jpg/wiki/Image:York_city.jpgLooking towards the Minster from the city walls

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, Cross Country and Transpennine 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.

The city hosts a university (the University of York), a higher education college (York St John College) and a branch of the College of Law. The City's football team (York City) was relegated from the Football League to the Nationwide Conference at the end of the 2003/4 season. York also has a rugby league side, York City Knights and an open rowing club (York city rowing club) located underneath Lendal Bridge. The York area is served by a local newspaper, the Yorkshire Evening Press.

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/wiki/Image:Kingsarams_flood.JPG/wiki/Image:Kingsarams_flood.JPGThe Kings Arms pub during floods

York is also noted for its wealth of pubs. The York area is said to contain one pub for every day of the year, although this is a little exaggerated. Similarly it has been said that there is no point within the city walls where one can stand and not be able to see at least one pub and at least one church.

The city is prone to severe flooding from the River Ouse, and has an extensive (but not always effective) network of flood defences. These include walls along the Ouse, and a barrier across the River Foss where it joins the Ouse. The floods of late October and early November 2000, which were the highest for over 350 years, caused much damage, but the water did not breach the flood walls. Much land within the city has always been too flood-prone for development. Partly as a result of this, there is an unusual amount of green space. The ings are flood meadows along the River Ouse, while the strays are scattered around the city in marshy, low-lying places; the Knavesmire is part of Micklegate Stray. In summer, when they are drier, these areas are used for recreation, and some are grazed by cattle.

Joseph Mallord William Turner British, 1775 - 1851 Mortlake Terrace, 1827 oil on canvas, 92.1 x 122.2 cm (36 1/4 x 48 1/8 in.) Andrew W. Mellon Collection 1937.1.109

The companion piece, now in New York City’s Frick Collection, depicts the house at sunrise. Reversing the view, this picture looks west over the garden at sunset after the children have abandoned their toys. A black dog barks at the Lord Mayor’s flag-decked barge. This dark accent, which enhances the summer evening’s hazy paleness, was a last-minute addition. Just before the Royal Academy show opened in 1827, Turner cut the dog out of paper, stuck it onto the wet varnish, and touched it up with highlights and a collar.

Joseph Mallord William Turner British, 1775 - 1851 Venice: The Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore, 1834 oil on canvas, 91.5 x 122 cm (36 x 48 in.) Widener Collection 1942.9.85

These theatrical exaggerations and the precise, linear drafting of the architecture owe much to Canaletto, an eighteenth-century Venetian painter whose art glorified his city. At the 1834 Royal Academy show, critics gave enraptured praise to the scene’s radiant, sparkling waters. The next year, another commission from the same patron resulted in its moonlit companion piece, Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight.

Joseph Mallord William Turner British, 1775 - 1851 Rotterdam Ferry-Boat, 1833 oil on canvas, 92.3 x 122.5 cm (36 3/8 x 48 1/4 in.) Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection 1970.17.135

This seascape was exhibited in 1833 at the Royal Academy, where Turner taught as the professor of perspective. Conquering the problem of creating a believable sense of space across a featureless expanse of water, Turner anchored the carefully aligned design upon a small passenger ferry. From this foreground focus, a row of larger ships moves backward over the choppy waves on a diagonal line, generating a remarkable illusion of depth. The warship’s Dutch flags and the skyline of Rotterdam pay tribute to Turner’s predecessors, the marine painters of seventeenth-century Holland. In particular, the low horizon and cloud-swept vista derive from harbor scenes by Jan van Goyen and Aelbert Cuyp.