History of medieval York

The pre-Conquest borough and effects of the Conquest

York of the tenth and early eleventh centuries appears to have been the second city of the kingdom – after London, which far outstripped all other English cities – in terms of its prosperity and population size, which has been estimated at between 8,000-9,000.

For administrative purposes the city was divided into seven "shires", best understood as wards, of which six were under the king and the seventh under the archbishop. This administration may have been associated with the "lawmen" (boroughs of the Danelaw typically having 12) who are mentioned and are thought to have been a hereditary "class" responsible for administering justice and collecting associated revenues. The opinion of such men would likely have been sought and borne weight in the communal assembly that met periodically to address issues of common concern. The archbishop's ward was essentially the area covered by the cathedral and monastic precinct, along with 189 properties occupied by laymen in that area. The archbishop also had a one-third right in a second ward, which included Layerthorpe and part of the old Anglo-Saxon settlement around the Foss. Another of the wards was called "Marketshire" and encompassed the streets known as the Shambles and the Pavement, both the sites of markets.

The Conquest had a dramatic effect on the city – perhaps no other suffered so badly from the consequences. William I's initial goal after defeating Harold was to consolidate his hold on the south. This gave the north a breathing-space in which to organize resistance; from 1068 to 1070 William faced repeated rebellions there. In response to an uprising in York in 1068, William pursued his general policy of building a castle there, garrisoned with 500 of his supporters. Despite this there was a second uprising in the city, in the following year; the castle was besieged and one of its commanders was among members of the garrison to be killed. William hurried north to relieve his forces, defeated the rebels, and punished the city by tearing down the homes of rebels; he built a second castle.

After William's departure the remaining rebel forces again attacked the castles, unsuccessfully. An alliance of Danes and English resulted in a further assault on the city later in the year, in response to which the Norman garrisons fired houses near the castles (to prevent their use by the rebels); the fire spread throughout the city, destroyed houses as well as the Minster and the large library associated with its school. The rebels nonetheless were able to capture city and castles, tearing down the latter. William again hastened north, re-entered York without opposition, began rebuilding the castles, and proceeded to break the spirit of northern resistance by a scorched earth policy.

These devastating events left York with a much reduced population: of the 1,600 residences recorded by Domesday as having existed before the Conquest, 540 had been abandoned or destroyed by 1086 and 400 others were impoverished. Only four of the lawmen were still in evidence. The damming of the Foss to create a water barrier defending the east side of one of the castles may well have had a damaging effect on the fortunes of the Fishergate community. When the first Norman archbishop of York came to the city in 1072, he found the Minster little more than a charred shell and only three of its monks had stayed in the city. Despite all this the king was demanding a higher payment of the traditional dues than his predecessor had.

It took time for the city to recover. A revival of trade and population was likely assisted by William Rufus and other Norman lords whose patronage enabled the foundation or growth of St. Mary's Abbey, Holy Trinity Priory and St. Leonard's Hospital, all of which provided clients for local or imported goods. Rebuilding of the Minster began in the last decade of the eleventh century, and the religious community was reorganized as a secular (rather than monastic) canonical chapter; this work continued throughout the twelfth century in the Norman style, together with the building of an episcopal palace. Then in the thirteenth century, through to the end of the Middle Ages, the cathedral was extensively rebuilt on a larger scale, at first in Gothic style and later Perpendicular. This almost continuous effort created employment within the city.

A further reflection of the gradual recovery is seen in a charter of liberties granted by Henry II to the city (itself referring back to earlier grants, of similar character, by Henry I), giving or confirming commercial and urban privileges along with exemptions from tolls elsewhere in England; a charter of Henry I granting liberties to Beverley models those liberties after York's and reveals that a merchant gild had been created to direct some of York's affairs. Richard I expanded the exemption to everywhere within his empire.

Other stimuli to the restoration of prosperity included the establishment of a Jewish community in York by 1130s; this provided moneylending services, in which Christians were forbidden to be active. It, however, came to much the same bad end as in other English towns. Crusade-fever and resentment on the part of debtors led to persecution of Jews after the accession of Richard I, when rioting prompted the Jewish community to take refuge in the castle and to refuse to allow entry even to the sheriff. He in turn ordered crusaders, assembled in York to prepare for departure to the Holy Land, to assault the castle. Most of the Jews died as a result. Although a new Jewish community grew up, it was not one of great size and there was no Jewish quarter in the city. Renewed anti-semitism in mid-century, followed by heavy taxation by the king, contributed to the community's impoverishment before the expulsion of all Jews from England in 1290.

previous

main menu

next

---

Created: December 28, 1999. Last update: March 7, 2004

© Stephen Alsford, 1999-2004