In 1137, during the reign of Stephen, a terrible fire broke out which
destroyed, it is said, the Cathedral, the monastery, and some forty
parish churches. On the accession of Henry I. the city received its
first charter of incorporation, whilst in 1175 Henry II. held here one
of the first meetings which came to be afterwards called Parliament. It
also served as an occasion for William of Scotland to pay his homage to
the King in the Cathedral. In the reign of Richard I. the fury of the
populace was excited against the Jews for having mingled with the crowd
at the Coronation in London. In spite of a royal proclamation in their
favour, they were terribly persecuted throughout the country, especially
in the big towns. York was by no means behind the times in 1190. Many of
the Jews, having defended the castle in which they had taken refuge, put
their own wives and children to death, and then committed suicide. Those
who did not were cruelly tortured to death by the Christians. In the
meantime it is pleasing to note that certain portions of Yorkshire had
been reclaimed from its wild state wherever the Cistercians and other
orders of monks had settled. They introduced sheep-farming, besides
tilling the reclaimed wilderness. The subsequent history of York is
taken up with the many visits of royalty and benefits conferred, till
we get to the year 1569, when the Council of the North was established,
after the suppression of the rebellion known as the "Pilgrimage of
Grace." This was consequent on the dissolution of the monasteries, the
demolition of ten parish churches, and the wholesale appropriation of
revenues and materials by Henry VIII. The principal leader was Robert
Aske, who, with 40,000 men attended by priests with sacred banners,
seized this city and Hull. They were soon dispersed, Aske being brought
to York and hanged upon Clifford's Tower. Though suppressed for a time,
public feeling broke out into an insurrection during Elizabeth's reign
to restore Roman Catholicism. It ended in their discomfiture, Thomas
Percy, Earl of Northumberland, being beheaded at York as the chief
ringleader, and his head stuck on the Micklegate Bar as a warning to
others. History records a Parliament held here by Charles I. in 1642,
when he promised to govern legally. In fact, he seems to have removed
his entire court here, or rather those willing to follow him. However,
as all attempts at negotiation had failed, he advanced to Nottingham and
there erected his standard. After the battle of Marston Moor, which is
about six miles out, York was taken for the Parliament by Sir Thomas
Fairfax in 1644.
[Illustration: YORK