Chapter Three: Middle Ages

Even after English rule began over the Yorkshire region, Jorvik still received royal aid from the Scandinavians -- Saint Olave's Church, still standing in the city of York, is evidence to the continuing influence of Norway in the region. But, a century later, around 1050 AD, the city of Jorvik came to an end, and, in its place, the city of York came into existence, ruled by the English Kingdom of Wessex. Yorkshire was now fully under English rule, although the inland area, called Northumbria, still retained some autonomy as an earldom (but not as a separate kingdom). The English Wessex Kings were said to respect Norse customs in Northumbria/Yorkshire enough to rule from afar and leave law-making to the local English/Danish aristocracy.

The death of King Edward the Confessor in January 1066 set the stage for two epic battles in Yorkshire that led to the next phase in English history. the English declared Harold Godwinson to be King Harold II; the King of Norway, Harold Hardrada, and William Duke of Normandy disagreed. In August 1066, Scandinavian armies successfully invaded Yorkshire. King Harold II brought his army north, and defeated the invaders at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in September 1066, killing the King of Norway. But William Duke of Normandy invaded across the English Channel, and King Harold II had to hurry south to meet William's army. In October 1066 AD, King Harold II of England was defeated and killed in the climactic Battle of Hastings -- the Norman conquest of England had begun.

Enlisting the aid of Sweyn II of Denmark, the people of Yorkshire unsuccessfully rebelled against Norman rule in September 1069 AD. This attempt to take the city of York back from the Normans failed when Normans burnt the city. In response to the rebellion in Yorkshire, William began the "Harrying of the North": from Durham to York, farms and villages were burnt; crops, tools and domesticated animals were destroyed; entire families died of starvation; thousands of people died from exposure. Total deaths have been estimated at over 100,000. The Harrying was deemed completed by William in 1071 AD.

Normans then came to own most of Yorkshire, fortifying their estates with ring-work castles -- an example can be found at Kippax, near Castleton on the moors of North York. During the next century, religious orders, which had never been part of Yorkshire life, came to Yorkshire and built many priories and abbeys in Yorkshire: Selby Abbey, followed by abbeys of St. Mary’s, Whitby, Rievaulx, Byland, Fountains, Jervaulx, Kirkstall, Meaux, and Roche.

Yorkshire was still considered a frontier of Britain -- major invasions from Scotland into Yorkshire continued on through the 12th century; the last large battle was at Northallerton, where English soldiers decisively defeated the Scots.

In the 13th and 14th century, mining, smelting, and textiles became major industries. Yorkshire's population, though, was stunted somewhat by the Great Famine (1315 to 1322), poor harvests, diseases among the livestock, and Scottish plunderers. Then, in the spring of 1349, the Black Death reached Yorkshire. Yorkshire population plummeted, land became more available for survivors, and fewer people came to own more of the land.