YORK, a county and parliamentary borough, archiepiscopal city, county town of Yorkshire and county in itself, on the L.N.E.R. and Derwent Valley light railway, 188 m. N.W. of Lon don. Pop. (1931) 84,81o. It is situated in the low lying vale of York at the junction of the Ouse with the Foss. It lies at the cross ing of the two most important natural routes of the region, the north-south waterway formed by the Ouse and the east-west land way on the York moraine ridge through which the river has cut a gap. The town is thus well above flood level, and at the head of the tidal part of the Ouse before the regulation of the river in the 18th century. The tides are now felt 7 m. down-stream from York.
York may have been a British settlement. As Eboracum or Eburacum it was the military capital of Roman Britain, the fort ress of Legio IX. and later of Legio VI. Victrix being situated near the site of the cathedral on the defensive land between the Ouse and the Foss; a municipality (colonia) grew up on the oppo site side of the Ouse. The emperor Hadrian visited York in 120 and, according to tradition, the body of the emperor Severus who died there in 211 was burnt on Severus hill near the city. After the death of Constantinus Chlorus, which also took place in York, his son, Constantine the Great, was inaugurated emperor there. In 314, a bishop of York is mentioned together with, and with precedence of, a bishop of London, as present at the council of Arles. Nothing is known of the history of the city from the time the Romans withdrew from Britain in 410 until 627 when King Edwin was baptized there; shortly afterwards, Paulinus, the first archbishop, was consecrated. York became the capital of the Angle kingdom of Northumbria and when in the 7th century, Britain was divided into two archiepiscopal provinces, York was made the capital of the northerly one, and still remains the eccle siastical capital of the northern province which now does not include Scotland. In the years 732 to 766, York became one of the most celebrated places of education in Europe. The Danish kingdom of York was formed from that part of Angle Northum brig to the south of the Tees and later, when the country was organized into shires by the West Saxon kings, the remoteness of this region hindered organization which was possible in the south and it became first a vassal state and later one shire. The city was taken by Harold Hardrada in io66. The fortress built there by William the Conqueror in io68 was stormed by the men of the north of England who put to death the whole of the Nor man garrison. In revenge, the Conqueror burnt the town and laid waste the country between the Humber and the Tees. York was an important calling place on the route to Scotland and several parliaments were held there by the English kings, the first being that of 1175, when Malcolm, king of Scotland, did homage to Henry II. The Council of the North was established in York in
1537 after the suppression of the Pilgrimage of Grace. During the Civil War, York was garrisoned by Royalists. It was besieged by parliament in 1642 and surrendered after Marston Moor. York is not mentioned in Domesday survey. The first charter, which is undated, was given by Henry II. granting the citizens a merchant guild and all the free customs which they had in the time of Henry I. In 1194 Richard I. granted exemption from toll throughout the kingdom and in 1200 King John confirmed the preceding charters and in 1212 granted the city to the citizens at a fee-farm of .116o a year. Richard II. conferred the title of lord mayor and in 1396 the city was made a county of itself and the burgesses were given power to elect two sheriffs. The town was incorporated in 1464, and in 1473 the citizens were directed to choose a mayor from among the aldermen. As this led to constant disputes, Henry VII. arranged that a common council, consisting of two men from each of the more important gilds and one from each of the less important ones, should elect the mayor. The city is now governed under a charter of Charles II. confirming that of 1464. It has been represented in parliament since Numerous remains of Roman occupation have been found, in cluding the Multangular tower whose base is of mingled stone and brick work. It was at the western corner of the fortress and formed part of the reconstruction of Constantine in about 300. In 1925 a systematic excavation was undertaken at the eastern corner of the fortress, which had been covered by a mound since Norman times. It proved to be of older date, the earliest finds dating back probably to 71. This corner formed probably the earliest building of the fortress and around it was placed a ram part of clay, surrounded by a wooden palisade. Remains of the clay rampart and some of the post holes of the palisade have been found and in the basement chamber of the corner tower part of the rampart is still visible. The fortress was first girded with a stone wall in about 105-108 and a fragment of this may be seen. There was possibly some reconstruction in 120. In 18o a great rising against the Romans took place in the north and amongst other forts York suffered. Great damage was done at the east corner and the old wall had to be rebuilt. Excavations also show that towers were built along the wall, probably at intervals of 45 yards. Remains of a Roman gateway have been found in the north-east rampart.