Early history . The top half is medieval. Archaeological evidence suggests that
Mesolithic people settled in the region of York between 8000 and 7000 BC, although it is not known whether their settlements were permanent or temporary. By the time of the
Roman conquest of Britain, the area was occupied by a
tribe known to the Romans as the
Brigantes. The Brigantian tribal area initially became a Roman client state, but later its leaders became more hostile and the Roman
Ninth Legion was sent north of the
Humber into Brigantian territory. The city was founded in AD 71, when the Ninth Legion conquered the Brigantes and constructed a wooden military
fortress on flat ground above the
River Ouse close to its
confluence with the
River Foss. The fortress, whose walls were rebuilt in stone by the VI legion based there subsequent to the IX legion, covered an area of and was inhabited by 6,000
legionary soldiers. The site of the
principia (headquarters) of the fortress lies under the foundations of
York Minster, and excavations in the undercroft have revealed part of the Roman structure and columns. In AD 314 a bishop from York attended the
Council at Arles to represent Christians from the
province. While the Roman
colonia and
fortress were on high ground, by AD 400 the town was victim to occasional flooding from the rivers Ouse and Foss, and the population reduced. York declined in the
post-Roman era, and was taken and settled by the
Angles in the 5th century. Reclamation of parts of the town was initiated in the 7th century under
King Edwin of
Northumbria, and York became his chief city. The first wooden
minster church was built in York for the baptism of Edwin in 627, according to the Venerable Bede. Edwin ordered the small wooden church be rebuilt in stone; however, he was killed in 633, and the task of completing the stone minster fell to his successor
Oswald. In 866 Northumbria was in the midst of internecine struggles when the
Vikings raided and captured York. As a prosperous economic centre, York was a target for the Vikings. Led by
Ivar the Boneless and
Halfdan, Scandinavian forces (referred to by the Anglo-Saxons as the "
Great Heathen Army") attacked the town on All Saints' Day. Launching the assault on a holy day proved an effective tactical move – most of York's leaders were in the cathedral, leaving the town vulnerable to attack and unprepared for battle. After it was conquered, the city was renamed from the Old English Eoforwic to
Jorvik. It became the capital of Viking territory in Britain, and at its peak had more than 10,000 inhabitants. This was a population second only to London within Great Britain. Jorvik proved an important economic and trade centre for the Vikings. Norse coinage was created at the Jorvik mint, while archaeologists have found evidence of a variety of craft workshops around the town's central
Coppergate area. These demonstrate that textile production, metalwork, carving, glasswork and jewellery-making were all practised in Jorvik. Materials from as far afield as the
Persian Gulf have also been discovered, suggesting that the town was part of an international trading network. Under Viking rule the city became a major river port, part of the extensive Viking trading routes throughout northern Europe. The last ruler of an independent Jórvík,
Eric Bloodaxe, was driven from the city in AD 954 by King
Eadred in his successful attempt to complete the unification of England.
After the conquest ; York Castle is on the right hand side of the river, opposite the abandoned motte of
Baile Hill. In 1068, two years after the
Norman invasion of England, the people of York rebelled. Initially they succeeded, but upon the arrival of
William the Conqueror the rebellion was suppressed. William at once built a wooden fortress on a motte. In 1069, after another rebellion, the king built another timbered castle across the River Ouse. These were destroyed in 1069 and rebuilt by William about the time of his ravaging Northumbria in what is called the "
Harrying of the North" where he destroyed everything from York to Durham. The remains of the rebuilt castles, now in stone, are visible on either side of the River Ouse. The first stone minster church was badly damaged by fire in the uprising, and the
Normans built a minster on a new site. Around the year 1080,
Archbishop Thomas started building the cathedral that in time became the current Minster. , part of York Castle As York began to recover and rebuild following the Norman invasion, it slowly reemerged as an administrative and religious hub in the region. In 1190
York Castle was the site of an infamous
massacre of its Jewish inhabitants, in which at least 150 people were murdered, although some authorities put the figure as high as 500. The city, through its location on the River Ouse and its proximity to the
Great North Road, became a major trading centre.
King John granted the city's first
charter in 1212, confirming trading rights in England and Europe. In 1541 Henry VIII and Catherine Howard visited the city of York on their royal tour. The royal party would have been met outside the walls by civic dignitaries before formally entering the city. The civic dignitary would have been the Lord Mayor of York, who at the time of their arrival on 15 September 1541 He owned the residential property at 74 Low Petergate. Following a special service held in their honour at York minster, Henry and Catherine rode from the minster down to Petergate, one of the five gateways, and over to the closed Benedictine abbey of St. Mary which had been converted into a palace for the King to stay in while he visited York on his Royal Tour.
Anne of Denmark came to York with her children
Prince Henry and
Princess Elizabeth on 11 June 1603. The Mayor gave her a tour and offered her
spiced wine, but she preferred beer.
Guy Fawkes, who was born and educated in York, was a member of a group of
Roman Catholic restorationists that planned the
Gunpowder Plot. Its aim was to displace
Protestant rule by blowing up the
Houses of Parliament while King
James I, the entire Protestant, and even most of the Catholic
aristocracy and
nobility were inside. In 1644, during the
English Civil War, the
Parliamentarians besieged York, and many medieval houses outside the city walls were lost. The
barbican at Walmgate Bar was undermined and explosives laid, but the plot was discovered. On the arrival of
Prince Rupert, with an army of 15,000 men, the siege was lifted. The Parliamentarians retreated some from York with Rupert in pursuit, before turning on his army and soundly defeating it at the
Battle of Marston Moor. Of Rupert's 15,000 troops, 4,000 were killed and 1,500 captured. The siege was renewed and the city surrendered to
Sir Thomas Fairfax Modern history The railway promoter
George Hudson was responsible for bringing the railway to York in 1839. Although Hudson's career as a railway entrepreneur ended in disgrace and bankruptcy, his promotion of York over Leeds, and of his own railway company (the
York and North Midland Railway), helped establish York as a major railway centre by the late-19th century. The introduction of the railways established engineering in the city. At the turn of the 20th century, the railway accommodated the headquarters and works of the
North Eastern Railway, which employed more than 5,500 people. The railway was instrumental in the expansion of
Rowntree's Cocoa Works. It was founded in 1862 by Henry Isaac Rowntree, who was joined in 1869 by his brother the philanthropist
Joseph Rowntree. Another chocolate manufacturer,
Terry's of York, was a major employer. In 1942 the city was bombed during the
Second World War (part of the
Baedeker Blitz) by the
Luftwaffe of
Nazi Germany. 92 people were killed and hundreds were injured. Buildings damaged in the raid included the
Railway Station,
Rowntree's Factory, Poppleton Road Primary School, St Martin-le-Grand Church, the
Bar Convent and the
Guildhall which was left in total disrepair until 1960. advertising in York (where the bar was created by the confectionery company
Rowntree's) to mark National Chocolate Week in 2018 With the emergence of tourism, the historic core of York became one of the city's major assets, and in 1968 it was designated a
conservation area. The existing tourist attractions were supplemented by the establishment of the
National Railway Museum in York in 1975, the
Jorvik Viking Centre in 1984 and the
York Dungeon in 1986. The opening of the
University of York in 1963 added to the prosperity of the city. In March 2012
York's Chocolate Story opened. York was voted European Tourism City of the Year by European Cities Marketing in June 2007, beating 130 other European cities to gain first place, surpassing
Gothenburg in Sweden (second) and
Valencia in Spain (third). York was also voted safest place to visit in the 2010
Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Choice Awards. In 2018
The Sunday Times deemed York to be its overall 'Best Place to Live' in Britain, highlighting the city's "perfect mix of heritage and hi-tech" and as a "mini-metropolis with cool cafes, destination restaurants, innovative companies – plus the fastest internet in Britain". The result was confirmed in a
YouGov survey, reported in August 2018, with 92 per cent of respondents saying that they liked the city, more than any of 56 other British cities. ==Governance==