York

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England -x- Yorkshire -x- Leeds

Motto

"Let the Banner of York Fly High."

Appearance

York panarama.jpg

City Device

York City Coat of Arms.png

Climate

York has a temperate climate with four distinct seasons. As with the rest of the Vale of York the city's climate is drier and warmer than the rest of the Yorkshire and Humberside region. Because of its lowland location York is prone to frosts, fog, and cold winds during winter, spring and very early summer. In summer the average maximum temperature is 22 °C (72 °F) although some days can see highs of up to 30 °C (86 °F) rarely exceeding 32 °C (90 °F). Nights are significantly colder averaging minimum of 15 °C (59 °F), although these can consistently dip below 10 °C (50 °F). The average daytime temperature in winter is 8 °C (46 °F) and 2 °C (36 °F) at night. Snow can fall in winter from December onwards to as late as April but quickly melts. The wettest months are November, December and January with an average of 17 days per month with rainfall more than 0.25 millimetres (0.01 in). From May to July, York experiences the most sunshine, an average of six hours per day. Extremes recorded at the University of York campus between 1998 and 2010 include a highest temperature of 34.5 °C (94.1 °F) (Monday 17 July 2006) and a lowest temperature of −16.3 °C (2.7 °F) (Monday 6 December 2010). The most rainfall in one day was 88.4 millimetres (3.5 in).

Demonym

Economy

York's economy is based on the service industry, which in 2000 was responsible for 88.7% of employment in the city. The service industries include public sector employment, health, education, finance, information technology (IT) and tourism that accounts for 10.7% of employment. Tourism has become an important element of the economy, with the city offering a wealth of historic attractions, of which York Minster is the most prominent, and a variety of cultural activities. In 2009, York was the 7th most visited city by UK residents and the 13th most visited by overseas visitors.

Unemployment in York was low at 4.2% in 2008 compared to the United Kingdom national average of 5.3%. The biggest employer in York is the City of York Council, with over 7,500 employees. Employers with more than 2,000 staff include Aviva (formerly Norwich Union Life), Network Rail, Northern Rail, York Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of York. Other major employers include British Telecom, CPP Group, Nestlé, NFU Mutual and a number of railway companies.

Today's economic position is very different from the 1950s, when its prosperity was based on chocolate manufacturing and the railways. This position continued until the early 1980s when 30% of the workforce were employed by just five employers and 75% of manufacturing jobs were in four companies. Most industry around the railway has gone, including the carriage works (known as Asea Brown Boveri or ABB at the time of closure) which at its height in 1880s employed 5,500 people but closed in the mid-1990s. York is the headquarters of the confectionery manufacturer Nestlé York (formerly Nestlé Rowntrees) and home to the KitKat and eponymous Yorkie bar chocolate brands. Terry's chocolate factory, makers of the Chocolate Orange, was located in the city; but it closed on 30 September 2005, when production was moved by its owners, Kraft Foods, to Poland. The historic factory building is situated next to the Knavesmire racecourse.

It was announced on 20 September 2006 that Nestlé would cut 645 jobs at the Rowntree's chocolate factory in York. This came after a number of other job losses in the city at Aviva, British Sugar and Terry's chocolate factory. Despite this, the employment situation in York remained fairly buoyant until the effects of the late 2000s recession began to be felt.

Since the closure of the carriage-works, the site has been developed into offices. York's economy has been developing in the areas of science, technology and the creative industries. The city has become a founding National Science City with the creation of a science park near the University of York. Between 1998 and 2008 York gained 80 new technology companies and 2,800 new jobs in the sector.

Geography

Vale of York sunset.jpg

York lies in the Vale of York, a flat area of fertile arable land bordered by the Pennines, the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Wolds The city was built at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss on a terminal moraine left by the last Ice Age. During Roman times, the land surrounding the rivers Ouse and Foss was marshy, making the site easy to defend. The city is prone to flooding from the River Ouse, and has an extensive (and mostly effective) network of flood defences with walls along the river, and a liftable barrier across the River Foss where it joins the Ouse at the 'Blue Bridge'. In October and November 2000 York experienced the worst flooding in 375 years with more than 300 homes flooded. Much land in and around the city is on flood plains too flood-prone for development other than agriculture. The "ings" are flood meadows along the Ouse, while the "strays" are open common grassland in various locations around the city.

Nextmap British geological survey York.jpg

The city is 21 miles (34 km) from Leeds.

Districts

York City map.jpg

Outlying Areas of York

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areas_of_the_City_of_York

History

Introduction

The history of York as a city dates to the beginning of the first millennium AD but archaeological evidence for the presence of people in the region of York dates back much further to between 8000 and 7000 BC. As York was a town in Roman times, its Celtic name is recorded in Roman sources (as Eboracum and Eburacum); after 400, Anglo-Saxons took over the area and adapted the name by folk etymology to Old English Eoforwīc or Eoforīc, which means "wild-boar town" or "rich in wild-boar". The Vikings, who took over the area later, in turn adapted the name by folk etymology to Norse Jórvík meaning "horse bay." The modern Welsh name is Efrog.

After the Saxon settlement of the North of England, Anglian York was first capital of Deira and later Northumbria, and by the early 7th century, York was an important royal centre for the Northumbrian kings. Following the Norman Conquest of 1066 York was substantially damaged, but in time became an important urban centre as the administrative centre of the county of Yorkshire. York prospered during much of the later medieval era; the later years of the 14th and the earlier years of the 15th centuries were characterised by particular prosperity. During the English Civil War, the city was regarded as a Royalist stronghold and was besieged and eventually captured by Parliamentary forces under Lord Fairfax in 1644. After the war, York slowly regained its former pre-eminence in the North, and, by 1660, was the third-largest city in England after London and Norwich.

Modern York has 34 Conservation Areas, 2,084 Listed buildings and 22 Scheduled Ancient Monuments in its care. Every year, thousands of tourists come to see the surviving medieval buildings, interspersed with Roman and Viking remains and Georgian architecture.

Prehistoric Times

Archaeological evidence suggests that Mesolithic people settled in the region of York between 8000 and 7000 BC, although it is not known if these were permanent or temporary settlements. During the neolithic period polished stone axes indicate the presence of people in the area where the City of York is now, especially on the south-west bank of the River Ouse, just outside the city center near the area where Scarborough bridge is now. Evidence for people continues into the Bronze Age with a hoard of flint tools and weapons found near Holgate Beck between the railway and the River Ouse, burials and bronzes found on both sides of the River Ouse and a beaker vessel found in Bootham. Iron Age burials have been found near the area on the south-west bank of the Ouse where the concentration of Neolithic axes was found. Few other finds from this period have been found in York itself, but evidence of a late Iron Age farmstead has been uncovered at Lingcroft Farm 3 miles (4.8 km) away at Naburn.

The Roman Age

The Romans called the tribes in the region around York the Brigantes and the Parisii and York may have been on the border between these two tribes. During the Roman conquest of Britain the Brigantes became a Roman client state, but, when their leadership changed becoming more hostile to Rome, Roman General Quintus Petillius Cerialis led the Ninth Legion north of the Humber.

York was founded in 71 AD when Cerialis and the Ninth Legion constructed a military fortress (castra) on flat ground above the River Ouse near its junction with the River Foss. The fortress was later rebuilt in stone, covered an area of 50 acres, and was inhabited by 6,000 soldiers. The earliest known mention of Eburacum by name is from a wooden stylus tablet from the Roman fortress of Vindolanda along Hadrian's Wall, dated to c. 95–104 AD, where it is called Eburaci. Much of the Roman fortress lies under the foundations of York Minster, and excavations in the Minster's undercroft have revealed some of the original walls.

At some time between 109 AD and 122 AD the garrison of the Ninth Legion was replaced by the Sixth Legion. There is no documented trace of the Ninth Legion after 117 AD, and various theories have been proposed as to what happened to it. The Sixth Legion remained in York until the end of Roman occupation about 400 AD. The Emperors Hadrian, Septimius Severus and Constantius I all held court in York during their various campaigns. During his stay, the Emperor Severus proclaimed York capital of the province of Britannia Inferior, and it is likely that it was he who granted York the privileges of a colonia or city. Constantius I died during his stay in York, and his son Constantine the Great was proclaimed Emperor by the troops based in the fortress.

Economically the military presence was important with workshops growing up to supply the needs of the 5,000 troops garrisoned there and in its early stages York operated a command economy. Production included military pottery until the mid-third century; military tile kilns have been found in the Aldwark-Peasholme Green area, glass-working at Coppergate, metal-works and leather-works producing military equipment in Tanner Row. New trading opportunities led local people to create a permanent civilian settlement on the south-west bank of the River Ouse opposite the fortress. By 237 it had been made a colonia one of only four in Britain and the others were founded for retired soldiers. York was self-governing, with a council made up of rich locals, including merchants, and veteran soldiers.

Evidence of Roman religious beliefs in York have been found including altars to Mars, Hercules, Jupiter and Fortune, while phallic amulets are the most commonly found type of good luck charm. In terms of number of reference the most popular deities were the spiritual representation (genius) of York and the Mother Goddess; there is also evidence of local or regional deities. There was also a Christian community in York although it is not known when it was first formed and there is virtually no archaeological record of it. The first evidence of this community is a document noting the attendance of Bishop Eborius of Eboracum at the Council of Arles in 314, and bishops also attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the Council of Sardica, and the Council of Ariminum.

By 400 AD York's fortunes had changed for the worse. The town was undergoing periodic winter floods from the rivers Ouse and Foss, its wharf-side facilities were buried under several feet of silt and the primary Roman bridge connecting the town with the fortress may have become derelict. By this time Eboracum was probably no longer a population center, though it likely remained a center of authority. While the colonia remained above flood levels, it was largely abandoned as well, retaining only a small ribbon of population for a time.

Into the Early Middle Ages

Post-Roman Ebrauc

There is little written evidence about York in the centuries following the Roman withdrawal from Britain in 410, a pattern repeated throughout Sub-Roman Britain. There is archaeological evidence for continued settlement at York near the Ouse in the 5th century, and private Roman houses, especially suburban villas, remained occupied after the Roman withdrawal.

Some scholars have suggested that York remained a significant regional centre for the Britons, based largely on literary evidence. Several manuscripts of the Historia Brittonum, written c. 830, contain a list of 28 or 33 "civitates", originally used to describe British tribal centres under Roman rule but here translated as Old Welsh cair (caer) and probably indicating "fortified cities". Among these settlements is Cair Ebrauc. Later, the text states that Ida was the first king of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia and also the ruler over Cair Ebrauc. These are generally taken as references to the old Roman Eburacum.

This mention has led to speculation about Ebrauc in post-Roman times. Christopher Allen Snyder makes note of the evidence for Eboracum continuing to function, perhaps as a military outpost or the seat of a minor kingdom based on the old territory of the Brigantes. Scholar Peter Field suggests that the City of Legions (urbs legionum) mentioned by Gildas in his 6th-century De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae is a reference to York, rather than Carleon; if this were the case it could provide some contemporary information about Ebrauc. Additionally, a Peredur son of Efrawg is the hero of a 12th- or 13th-century Welsh romance; the name "Efrawg" or "Efrog" is derived from the name Ebrauc, suggesting the city had royal associations in later tradition. However, Snyder cites historian and archaeologist Nick Higham in saying that the settlement had declined so much by the end of the Roman period that it was unlikely to have been a significant post-Roman regional center.

Anglo-Saxon Eoforwic

Angles settled in the area in the early 5th century. Cemeteries that are identifiably Anglian date from this period. Cremation cemeteries from the 6th century have been excavated close to York on The Mount and at Heworth; there are, however, few objects from inside the city, and whether York was settled at all at this period remains unclear. The fate of the fortress after 400 AD is not clear, but it is unlikely to have been a base of Romano-British power in opposition to the Anglians. Reclamation of the flooded areas of the town would not be initiated until the 7th century under Edwin of Northumbria. After the later Anglian settlement of the North of England, Anglian York was first capital of Deira and then of the united kingdom of Deira and Bernicia, later known as Northumbria.

By the early 7th century, York was an important royal centre for the Northumbrian kings, for it was here that Paulinus of York (later St Paulinus) came to set up his wooden church, the precursor of York Minster, and it was here that King Edwin of Northumbria was baptised in 627. The first Minster is believed to have been built in 627, although the location of the early Minster is a matter of dispute.

Throughout the succeeding centuries, York remained an important royal and ecclesiastical centre, the seat of a bishop, and later, from 735, of an archbishop. Very little about Anglian York is known and few documents survive. It is known that the building and rebuilding of the Minster was carried out, along with the construction of a thirty-altar church dedicated to Alma Sophia (Holy Wisdom), which may have been on the same site.

York became a centre of learning under Northumbrian rule, with the establishment of the library and of the Minster school. Alcuin, later adviser to Charlemagne, was its most distinguished pupil and then master.

Of this great royal and ecclesiastical centre, little is yet known archaeologically. Excavations on the Roman fortress walls have shown that they may have survived more or less intact for much of their circuit, and the Anglian Tower, a small square tower built to fill a gap in the Roman way, may be a repair of the Anglian period. The survival of the walls and gates shows that the Roman street pattern survived, at least in part, inside the fortress. Certainly excavations beneath York Minster have shown that the great hall of the Roman headquarters building still stood and was used until the 9th century.

By the 8th century York was an active commercial centre with established trading links to other areas of England, northern France, the Low Countries and the Rhineland. Excavations near the junction of the River Foss and River Ouse in Fishergate found buildings dating from the 7th and 9th century. These were located away from the Roman centre of the city may form a trading settlement that served the royal and ecclesiastical century. This and other discoveries indicate an occupation pattern during the 7th to 9th century that followed the line of the rivers, creating a long linear settlement along the River Ouse and extending along some of the River Foss.

Viking Jórvík

In 867 a large army of Danish Vikings, called the "Great Heathen Army", captured York, unopposed due to conflict in the Kingdom of Northumbria. The next year they held the city when the Northumbians tried to retake it; the army left the same year putting a local puppet king in charge of York and the area around York they controlled. The army returned in 875 and its leader Halfdan took control of York. From York Viking kings ruled an area, known to historians as "The Kingdom of Jorvik", with Danes migrating and settling in large numbers in the Kingdom and in York. In York the Old Norse placename Konungsgurtha, Kings Court, recorded in the late 14th century in relation to an area immediately outside the site of the porta principalis sinistra, the west gatehouse of the Roman encampment, perpetuated today as King's Square, perhaps indicates a Viking royal palace site based on the remains of the east gate of the Roman fortress. In 954 the last Viking king, Eric Bloodaxe, was expelled and his kingdom was incorporated in the newly consolidated Anglo-Saxon state.

A renowned scholar of this era was Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York.

Several churches were built in York during the Viking Age including St. Olave's built before 1055 on Marygate which is dedicated to St. Olaf King of Norway and St Mary Bishophill Junior which has a 10th century tower whose height was increased in the early 11th century.

Medieval York

Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, York was substantially damaged by the punitive harrying of the north (1069) launched by William the Conqueror in response to regional revolt. Two castles were erected in the city on either side of the River Ouse. In time York became an important urban center as the administrative center of the county of Yorkshire, as the seat of an archbishop, and at times in the later 13th and 14th centuries as an alternative seat of royal government. It was an important trading center. Several religious houses were founded following the Conquest, including St Mary's Abbey and Holy Trinity Priory. The city as a possession of the crown also came to house a substantial Jewish community under the protection of the sheriff.

On 16 March 1190 a mob of townsfolk forced the Jews in York to flee into Clifford's Tower, which was under the control of the sheriff. The castle was set on fire and the Jews were massacred. It is likely that various local magnates who were debtors of the Jews helped instigate this massacre or, at least, did nothing to prevent it. It came during a time of widespread attacks against Jews in Britain. The Jewish community in York did recover after the massacre and a Jewish presence remained in York until the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290.

York prospered during much of the later medieval era and this is reflected in the built environment. Twenty medieval parish churches survive in whole or in part, though only eight of these are regularly used for worship. The medieval city walls, with their entrance gates, known as "bars", encompassed virtually the entire city and survive to this day. The city was also designated as a county corporate, giving it effective county status.

The later years of the 14th and the earlier years of the 15th centuries were characterized by particular prosperity. It is in this period that the York Mystery Plays, a regular cycle of religious pageants (or plays) associated with the Corpus Christi cycle and performed by the various craft guilds grew up. Among the more important personages associated with this period was Nicholas Blakburn senior, Lord Mayor in 1412 and a leading merchant. He is depicted with his wife Margaret Blakburn in glass in the (now) east window of All Saints' Church in North Street. There seems to have been economic contraction and a dwindling in York's regional importance in the period from the later 15th century. The construction of the city's new Guildhall around the middle of the century can be seen as an attempt to project civic confidence in the face of growing uncertainty. Brandsby-type ware and Humber ware ceramics were popular in the city at this time.

Dating from the later medieval era, and now a popular tourist attraction, is the "Shambles", a street of timber-framed shops originally occupied by butchers. Some retain the outdoor shelves and the hooks on which meat was displayed. They have overhanging upper floors and are now largely souvenir shops.

The Renaissance and the English Reformation

RidsdalePanorma.jpg

Few buildings of significance were put up in the century after the completion of the Minster in 1472, the exceptions being the completion of the King's Manor (which from 1537 to 1641 housed the Council of the North) and the rebuilding of the church of St. Michael le Belfrey, where Guy Fawkes was baptized in 1570.

During the dissolution of the monasteries all the monastic institutions in the City were closed including St. Leonards Hospital and in 1539 St. Mary's Abbey. In 1547, fifteen parish churches were closed, reducing their number from forty to twenty-five, a reflection of the decline in the city's population. Despite the English Reformation making the practice of Roman Catholicism illegal, a Catholic Christian community remained in York although this was mainly in secret. Its members included St. Margaret Clitherow who was executed in 1586 for harboring a priest and Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605.

Following his break with Parliament, King Charles I established his Court in York in 1642 for six months. Subsequently, during the English Civil War, the city was regarded as a Royalist stronghold and was besieged and eventually captured by Parliamentary forces under Lord Fairfax in 1644. After the war, York slowly regained its former preeminence in the North, and, by 1660, was the third-largest city in England after London and Norwich.

In 1686 the Bar Convent was founded, in secret due to anti-catholic Laws, making it the oldest surviving convent in England.

York elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons.

The Judges Lodgings is a Grade I listed townhouse that was built between 1711 and 1726 and later used to house judges when they attended the quarterly sessions of the Assizes at York Castle.

On 22 March 1739 the highwayman Dick Turpin was convicted at the York Grand Jury House of horse-stealing, and was hanged at the Knavesmire on 7 April 1739. Turpin is buried in the churchyard of St George's Church, where his tombstone also shows his alias, John Palmer.

In 1740, the city's first hospital, York County Hospital, opened in Monkgate and it moved into larger premises in 1745. The building was funded by public subscription. The building was expanded on the same site in 1851, and finally closed in 1976 when York District Hospital was opened.

The Last 300 Years in York

In 1796 Quaker William Tuke founded The Retreat, a hospital for the mentally ill, situated in the east of the city outside the city walls, which used moral treatment.

Largely thanks to the efforts of "Railway King" George Hudson, York became a major center for the railways during the 19th century, a status it maintained well into the 20th century.

On 29 April 1942, York was bombed as part of the retaliatory Baedeker Blitz by the German Luftwaffe; 92 people were killed and hundreds injured. Buildings damaged in the raid included the Railway Station, Rowntree's Factory, St Martin-le-Grand Church, the Bar Convent and the Guildhall which was completely gutted and not restored until 1960.

During the Cold War the headquarters of the Number 20 Group, Royal Observer Corps was moved to the newly constructed York Cold War Bunker in the Holgate area of York. It was opened on 16 December 1961, was in operation until 1991, and was then turned into a museum owned by English Heritage. In 1971 York was made an army Saluting Station, firing gun salutes five times a year such as the Queen's Birthday. The date marked 1900 years of army in York. The University of York was launched on sites at Heslington and the King's Manor and took its first students in 1963. In 1975 the National Railway Museum was opened, near the center of York.

In October and November 2000 the river Ouse rose and York experienced very severe flooding; over 300 houses were flooded though no-one was seriously hurt.

Location

The city is 21 miles (34 km) from Leeds.

York lies in the Vale of York, a flat area of fertile arable land bordered by the Pennines, the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Wolds The city was built at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss on a terminal moraine left by the last Ice Age.

During Roman times, the land surrounding the rivers Ouse and Foss was marshy, making the site easy to defend. The city is prone to flooding from the River Ouse, and has an extensive (and mostly effective) network of flood defences with walls along the river, and a liftable barrier across the River Foss where it joins the Ouse at the 'Blue Bridge'. In October and November 2000 York experienced the worst flooding in 375 years with more than 300 homes flooded. Much land in and around the city is on flood plains too flood-prone for development other than agriculture. The ings are flood meadows along the Ouse, while the strays are open common grassland in various locations around the city.

Population

  • -- City (197,800) - 2009 census
  • -- City (140,000) - 2029 census

Arenas

Attractions

Bars and Clubs

  • -- Bettys Café Tea Rooms of York -- Are traditional tea rooms serving traditional meals with influences both from Switzerland and Yorkshire. The St Helen's Square café in York was inspired by the magnificent RMS Queen Mary cruise liner and became particularly popular during World War II when the basement ‘Bettys Bar’ became a favorite with hundreds of American and Canadian ‘Bomber Boys’ who were stationed around York. ‘Bettys Mirror’, on which many of them engraved their signatures with a diamond pen, remains on display at the branch today.

Cemeteries

City Government

Police

North Yorkshire Police is the largest single county force in England, covering an area of 3,200 square miles, policing a population of about 800,000 people, with 6,000 miles of road. {Formerly located in the town of Northallerton}

After the Second War of the English Succession (often simply called the Succession War), the location of Police Headquarters was moved by sovereign order from Northallerton to the older, more historically important city of York. The North Yorkshire Police have three police stations within York in addition to the site of the new Headquarters. The stations are roughly aligned according to the cardinal directions, so there are stations in Acomb - York on Acomb Road, Clifton - York - Athena House on Kettlestring Lane, Fulford - York on Fulford Road, and the new police HQ at the intersection of Heworth Green and Heworth Road in Heworth - York.

Chief Officer Team

Crime

Citizens of the City

The Scottish Women

Current Events

Fortifications

Galleries

  • -- York Art Gallery -- York Art Gallery in York, England is a public art gallery with a collection of paintings from 14th-century to contemporary, prints, watercolours, drawings, and ceramics.

Holy Ground

Hospitals

Hotels & Hostels

Landmarks

Mass Media

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/

Monuments

Museums

  • -- Jorvik Viking Centre
  • -- Yorkshire Museum -- The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It is the home of the Cawood sword, and has four permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archeology and astronomy.

Parks

Private Residences

Restaurants

Ruins

Schools

Shopping

Telecommunications

Theaters

Transportation

Eboracum: Supernatural York

While the ancient title of York is utilized in historical works by mortal scholars and in fictional ones by human writers. The term "Eboracum" has special significance for the supernatural denizens of York, for it serves as a watchword that opens otherwise closed doors and allows the otherworldly species of the city to identify themselves as such without the need for vulgar displays of power. Likewise, there is a local cant made up of ancient terms that allow the local supernaturals to communicate across otherwise unbreachable cultural boundaries that separate the different supernatural species from one another. This local tradition owes its creation to Titus Scaevola the undisputed leader of York's Restless Dead. This social mechanism helps facilitate communications between the various courts of Eboracum and thereby keep the supernatural peace. Unfortunately, it also creates an atmosphere of clandestine intrigue during the internecine struggles of York's supernatural community.

By the time of the Norman Invasion of England, York already possessed the Five Court system as a means of organizing its supernatural denizens. While the origins of this system have been forgotten, the system itself has remained in effect for over a thousand years.

Currently the Court of Shadows which consists of the Restless Dead is the largest and most influential of Eboracum's courts and it is lead de-facto by Titus Scaevola, a former Roman soldier of the lost Ninth Legion. Scaevola's vast age and wisdom has kept the Court of Shadows dominant for the last thousand years, though he admits it was not always so. The exact number of Restless are unknown save to the Wraiths themselves, but it can be estimated reliably that there are nearly a hundred ghosts altogether within York.

The Court of Knives is next is size and prominence, there are an estimated twenty-one mages within Yorkshire. It is largely made of Verbena Mages organized into small Cabals and a handful of Orphaned will-workers. York's arcane community is currently led by Genovefa Burns, an elderly Verbena witch with familial ties to the influential Burns family of York. The second most powerful mage in the city is Eógan Niall, a druid fundamentalist with strong ties to the Fae of the Emerald Court. Enobarbus is the third most influential mage in Eboracum as the titular head of the Orphan faction within York, his importance is almost always self-inflated as his status changes with the vagaries of Eboracum's political winds.

The Fae of the Emerald Court have always been powerful in Yorkshire. Its is commonly stated among them that in ancient times, it was the faerie peoples who held dominance over the north and all of England. But it has been centuries since such a boast has had much meaning and today they make up the third most influential faction of supernaturals in Eboracum. While they are the third faction, they are more numerous, but less powerful than the Court of Knives. Previously they held the fourth position within Eboracum, but at the end of the 1960s the plebiscite Kithain of York were rejoined by a handful of noble Fae thus bolstering their numbers and vastly increasing their social influence. Duke Beli Mawr currently leads the Emerald Court with the aid of his commoner counterpart Gráinne Gregory, the wise-woman of old York. The Emerald Court numbers fifty or more, though only about half are residents of York proper as members of his Grace's court.

The Lunar Court is by far the weakest of factions in Eboracum. This is in part due to their reputation for mindless violence, both in the ancient past and today. The reverse is true within Yorkshire as a whole, but few werewolves reside within York's city limits. The current leader of the Garou in Eboracum is Lane Haroldson, a elderly male member of the Children of Gaia tribe of werewolves. A smaller, but steadily growing faction of the Get of Fenris tribe are lead by an Ahroun named Ingvar Nass. The two leaders rarely see eye-to-eye and skirmishes between their followers have been known to happen, but for the time being they remain isolated incidents. The circumstances surrounding these events began with the destruction of the old Court of Blood by another faction of vampires. The new faction which called itself the Sabbat was considered criminal by the other courts who banded together to destroy the undead interlopers. Chief among those who struck down the leeches were the Get of Fenris who had long had ties in mortal York. The arrival of a new leader of the Blood Court in the person of Baron Brian has caused unrest among the werewolves of the city and the region. But so far, only the Get of Fenris and their cubs seek to interfere in the affairs of the new vampires.

At this time, the Blood Court consists of one master vampire and a single fledgling. While these two vampires are personally powerful, their numbers are too small and their influence insignificant compared to the larger and more organized courts of Eboracum. While Baron Brian and his childe have been accepted as supernatural residents of Eboracum, the court to which they belong exists in little more than name. It may be centuries before the Court of Blood once again holds any kind of prestige in supernatural York. But then, vampires are effectively immortal and unless a more powerful leech arrives to displace the baron, he is likely to remain the titular head of the Court of Blood.

The Court of Shadows: The Northern Dead

York was important and powerful for most of two millennia, and its Hierarchy presence reflects this, rather than York's current status as a sleepy university town. Most buildings within the old city are haunts, laden with centuries of pathos. The city's power blocks are old and well-entrenched, but somehow, there is room between the cracks for a few newcomers.

The Circle of Swords

The Circle of Coins

  • -- Arvid -- The Draugr -- Former Thane of Eric Bloodaxe.

The Circle of Staves

The Circle of Cups

  • -- Selwyn -- The Homeless Friar.
  • -- The Grey Lady -- Legend has it that she was a nun who was bricked up in a cellar by religious authorities after becoming pregnant by a townsman.
  • -- Dean Gale -- Best known as the ghost of York Minster.

The Roman 9th - Legion of Drones

  • -- Septimus Severus - The Emperor -- Lucius Septimius Severus Augustus; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211), also known as Severus, was Roman emperor from 193 to 211.

The Unaligned Dead

The Court of Knives: The Verbena Mages of York

  • -- Genovefa Burns -- Matriarch of the Verbena of York.
  • -- Eógan Niall -- Fundamentalist Druid and leader of the Verbena's loyal opposition.
  • -- Enobarbus -- The self-important High Magister and titular leader of the Orphaned Mages of York.

The Emerald Court: The Faerie Peoples of Yorkshire

  • -- Beli Mawr -- Sidhe lord and Duke of the Kithain of Yorkshire.
  • -- Gráinne Gregory -- Sluagh commoner and wise-woman of Old York.

The Lunar Court: Werewolves of the North

  • -- Lane Haroldson -- Current leader Garou and Children of Gaia in York.
  • -- Mjollnir -- A young, aggressive, Get of Fenris pack led by Ingvar Nass.


The Blood Court: The Vampires of York

Dead or Missing Kindred

  • -- Julian / Julius Cerialis -- The first Ventrue Baron of York. {circa 4th-5th, 9th and 11th centuries}
  • -- Thrand -- Scandinavian progeny of Julian Cerialis, and sire of Katla Thranddottir. The second Ventrue Baron of York. {9th century until 965}
  • -- Katla Thranddottir -- Scandinavian progeny of Thrand and prominent Einherjar before her disappearance.
  • -- John de York -- The Norman progeny of Julian Cerialis and sire to many. He was the third Ventrue Baron of York. {Baron circa 965 to the Victorian Age}
  • -- Evelyn de Rocherre -- Baron John's first and most trusted seneshal.
  • -- Leland of Gloucester -- Tremere advisor to Baron John during the Dark Ages and Renaissance.
  • -- Eyolf Ivarsson -- Gangrel warlord for Julius Cerialis and Baron John after him.
  • -- Eloise Marchand -- Ventrue and adopted childe of Baron John, for a time she served as his seneschal until she became his ambassador to the Tremere of Durham.
  • -- Aimery de Methuin -- Norman Ventrue and for a time, Baron John's competitor.
  • -- Willem Dowd -- Gangrel prince of York from 1505 to 1888. The Scourge of the North was appointed by Lady Ann Bowesley with Mithras nod of approval to act as a bulwark against the Toreador of Edinburgh.
  • -- Namia Vincent - Ventrue Reeve of York, vassal of the Baron of York, based in Leeds since the Siege of London. (deceased?).
  • -- Michael Ogden Davies - Childe of Namia Vincent (deceased -- circa 2031).

"The Magister 12:37, 11 July 2015 (MDT)"

Websites

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York

http://www.york360.co.uk/panoramas-of-york-3.htm

http://phototravelings.blogspot.com/2011/01/walk-on-streets-of-york-uk.html#.VRS5veE7aYh

http://jayzspaze.blogspot.com/2011/01/york-at-night.html

http://www.beyond-london-travel.com/Best-Things-to-Do-in-York.html

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe/v/vale_of_york_hoard.aspx {Viking Treasures}

http://www.historyofyork.org.uk/

http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/

http://www.cntraveller.com/recommended/cities/york-best-bars-pubs *****

https://web.archive.org/web/20120308184834/http://www.yorkbutchersgild.com/pages/history.html

Stories of the Sword and Scepter




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