History

Recent History

In recent times, York has become increasingly popular as a tourist destination, although its permanent population hovers dourly around the 130,000 mark.

In 2005, while Ascot was being refurbished, York hosted the Royal Ascot racing meet - and did so with great aplomb.

Modern Day History

During WWII the city was targetted in the Great York air raid of 1942, part of Germany's so-called 'Baedeker' campaign to destroy Britain's key historic landmarks. By this time, York had receded from its former heady heights and was primarily a service centre and tourist destination. The University of York, built in 1963, helped inject a shot of youthful vigour to the town.

Pre 20th Century History

York's multi-tiered history kicks off with the Celtic Brigante tribe, whose presence led to the arrival of the ninth Roman Legion in 71 AD. The Romans erected a walled garrison called Eboracum at the strategically important confluence of the Ouse and Foss Rivers. The fort steadily increased in importance, becoming the Romans' British campaign headquarters and attracting visits by big-name emperors such as Hadrian, Septimius, Severus (who died there) and Constantine. It's thought that Constantine was proclaimed emperor on the future site of York Minster - spooky, because he went on to become the first Christian emperor.

Squabbles and disorder ensued when the Romans pulled out of Britain in 410, but ultimately the Saxons prevailed. A city called Eoforwic was built atop the Roman ruins, eventually becoming the capital of the independent kingdom of Northumbria. In 627 the Northumbrian king was baptised in the city's first church by the man who'd brought Christianity to the northeast in 625, bishop Paulinus. The wooden church became the first minster, and Paulinus the first Archbishop of York.

The city changed hands once again in 867, when it was destroyed by rampaging Vikings and rebuilt as Jorvik, the capital of the Danelaw - everything north and east of a line drawn between Chester and London. It flourished under the usurpers, becoming an important trading port thanks to the formerly tidal River Ouse. A fresh wave of invading Norsemen was vanquished in 1066 at Stamford Bridge, east of York, but only days later the tables were emphatically turned at the Battle of Hastings. William the Conqueror dealt with Northumbria's rebellious spirit in no uncertain terms, setting fire to York and destroying the countryside in a campaign of terror dubbed 'the harrying of the North'. The city rose from the ashes once again, strengthened with new city walls, castles and a cathedral, and prospering as a centre of the new trade in wool.

Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries hit York particularly hard, as it was a notable centre of monastic wealth. The city was consequently besieged by Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War, resulting in the Battle of Marston Moor, the war's bloodiest battle. The Protestant Roundheads won the day, and the city finally fell in 1642 - perhaps as punishment for being the birthplace of Guy Fawkes, foiled hatcher of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament.

York regained some of its former regional glory with the coming of the railways in 1839, which placed the city firmly at the hub of the northeast. Hardworking Quaker chocolate makers such as Rowntree and Terry's put there sweet stamp on the area and made York synonymous (at least in England) with confectionery.