The capital of the North and the second city of England: the seat of the archbishop and the Minster, the county court and the king's castle, a river port on the Ouse that ships Yorkshire wool and cloth down the Humber, and the home of a gild merchant and an old weavers' gild.
Ten years ago, on the night of 16-17 March 1190, the Jews of York, besieged in the castle tower by townsmen, crusaders and indebted knights, killed themselves or were massacred, and the rioters burned the bonds in the Minster; the Jewry has since come back under royal protection.
Who holds it
- Name
- King John; Archbishop Geoffrey for the Minster liberty
- Title
- The king (city and castle); the archbishop (his liberty)
- Since
- 1199
- Confidence
- high
Lord in 1200
The king. The city's farm is answered for through the sheriff of Yorkshire (Geoffrey FitzPeter's deputy); the citizens do not yet hold the city at fee farm (John's charter of 1212). Inside the walls the archbishop and the Minster chapter hold St Peter's liberty, St Mary's Abbey holds Bootham and its own fee, and the king holds the castle.
How things stand that morning
Quiet but scarred. The archbishop quarrels with his canons and with the crown; the citizens contend with St Mary's Abbey over Bootham.
Threats
- Archbishop Geoffrey's quarrels with the crown
- Renewed violence against the Jews if crusading fervour returns
Charter
Henry II's charter (1155-62) confirms the citizens' liberties, laws and customs and their gild merchant (hanse) and freedom from tolls. John's later charters (the fee farm in 1212) are not yet. The weavers' gild holds a royal grant from Henry II and pays the king a yearly farm.
Council
No mayor yet (the first is recorded early in the thirteenth century). The city is run by the king's reeves (bailiffs) and the leading men of the gild merchant.
Communities
The Jewry, refounded after 1190 under royal protection (the 1194 Ordinances placed official chests of Jewish bonds in a number of towns; York's chest is not re-checked for 1199); foreign merchants; a large clergy (the Minster chapter, St Mary's Abbey, St Leonard's Hospital, the priories).
Fairs and markets
Weekly markets (Thursday Market); fairs not pinned for 1200.
Militia
The citizens' levy. In 1190 townsmen joined the crusaders and the knights led by Richard Malebisse in the siege of the castle tower.
Walls and castle
Earth ramparts with stone gateways (bars) on the Roman and Viking lines; the king's castle (the motte whose tower burned in 1190, rebuilt in timber) and the Old Baile across the Ouse; the Minster close.
Trade and crafts
Wool collected from the abbeys and shipped down the Ouse and Humber to Flanders; cloth (weavers, fullers and dyers); wine imports; fish; the Ouse wharves at King's Staith; minting.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- March 1200John comes to York to meet William the Lion, who does not appear.Depends on: The Scottish talks Stopped by: War in Normandy
Places of note
- York castle (Clifford's Tower): King's castle; site of the massacre of 1190
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign notes place Archbishop Geoffrey in quarrels with his canons and the crown 'over Yorkshire': he held the shrievalty in 1194-98 and lost it, which is one root of the quarrel.
Evidence: Charter and massacre well recorded; the civic offices in 1200 are inferred from later practice.
Primary sources for England
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond, Jocelin of Brakelond (about 1198 to 1203). An inside account of Bury St Edmunds under Abbot Samson, written while the events were fresh. Read online
- Chronicle of Melrose, Anonymous (monks of Melrose abbey) (about 1173 to 1270, in many hands; the 1200 entries are near contemporary). The main Scottish annal for the year, kept at a Cistercian house on the Tweed. Read online
- Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
- Chronicle of the Princes, Anonymous (Welsh translation of a lost Latin chronicle kept at Strata Florida) (Latin original to about 1282, compiled from contemporary annals; Welsh versions about 1300 and later). The native Welsh record of the year. Read online
- Chronicle; Deeds of the Kings, Gervase of Canterbury (Chronica about 1188 to 1199; Gesta Regum about 1199 to 1210). The Chronica stops in 1199, so for 1200 the witness is the briefer Gesta Regum, which notes John's peace with Philip, the coronation of Isabella at Westminster on 8 October 1200, and matters touching Canterbury: the archbishop Hubert Walter as chancellor, the cathedral priory's quarrel with him, and the Lambeth college dispute lately settled by the pope. Read online
- English Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshall, Ralph of Coggeshall (about 1200 to 1224, in stages). Short but independent entries for 1200 from a Cistercian house in Essex: John's levy on the Cistercians and the carucage, the peace with Philip, the king's new marriage and the queen's coronation, and the death of Hugh of Lincoln. Read online
- Flowers of History, Roger of Wendover (about 1220 to 1235 at St Albans). For 1200 Wendover is mostly Howden rewritten, so he is a second witness only where he adds St Albans material: a long account of Hugh of Lincoln's last months, death and funeral, and anecdotes about John's conduct toward the Cistercians and his new queen. Read online
- Images of History, Ralph de Diceto (about 1188 to 1202). A London view of the year from the dean of St Paul's, who knew the justiciar and the bishops personally. Read online
22 more in the sources library for The British Isles.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.