We had forgotten just how significant the City of York was in the development of human history, particularly for the Romans, the Vikings and the spread of Christianity.

AD 71 — Roman armies arrive and battle with the British Brigantes tribes.

Christianity — The Turning Point: When soldiers hailed a new emperor in York 1700 years ago, they dramatically altered the fate of Christianity and the course of world history.  Constantine the Great was the emperor who ended the persecution of Christians and encouraged the growth of Christianity across the Roman Empire.  He was first proclaimed emperor by his dead father’s troops in York on July 30th, AD 306 — probably in the Roman fortress headquarters that now sits below the York Minster Cathedral in York.  

AD 306 — Constantine the Great A.D. 274-337  is proclaimed Roman Emperor in York

 

AD 325 — Constantine calls a meeting of bishops from across the Empire, the Council of Nicaea.

 It agrees on principles of Christian Worship and orthodox belief still used today.

AD 330 — Constantine establishes a new Christian imperial capital at Byzantium, which becomes known as Constantinople (Istanbul)

AD 337 — Shortly before his death, Constantine is baptized — the ceremony making clear his Christian Faith.

AD 380 — Christianity becomes the official state religion of the Roman Empire.  Other religions are suppressed.

AD 410 — The Romans go home, but the Angles and the Saxons from what would become Germany capture York.

AD 600s — Saxson Warlord Edwin brings Christianity to York.

AD 866 — The vicious Vikings, led by Ivar the the Boneless arrive.  They call the place Jorvik… where the name York comes from.

1472 — The new cathedral, the York Minster, is finished after 250 years of construction.

 

     The York Minister is the largest medieval Gothic Cathedral in Northern Europe. More than half of England’s surviving medieval stained glass is held in York Minister’s 128 windows making the cathedral custodian of some of the most important and irreplaceable art from this time.

     The current York Minister is over 800 years old.  Underneath this site are the remains of Roman barracks that can be seen in the cathedral’s Undercroft attraction.

     In the Undercroft, Viking history comes alive. Viking Lord Ulf gifted land to the Chapter of York Minister using an elaborately carved elephant tusk as a deed of transfer.

     Known as the Horn of Ulf, the 1000 year old tusk has been preserved in superb condition and is one of the few artifacts surviving from the beginning of the 11th century.  The tusk is decorated with elaborate figures carved in Salerno in Italy and features silver mounts, replacing gold originals which were stripped during the 1500s.

     We also got to to see the York Gospels which were brought to York around 1020 by Archbishop Wulfstan.   The 1,000 year old text of the four gospels is still used in special services today.  The Anglo-Saxon book is one of the most valuable in York Minster’s collection and is filled with elaborate illustrations as well as a letter from King Canute dated around 1019.  It’s believed its original pages were written in Canterbury in around 990AD with additional pages added to the manuscript by the Dean and Chapter after they arrived in York.

 

     If you turned York Minster into a fish tank 5 fully grown blue whales would fit inside nose to tail.

The Leaning tower of Pisa would just fit inside the central tower which stands at 56m high.

The central tower weighs 16000 metric tons which equates to 40 jumbo jets.

     Speaking of the weight of the central tower… It almost collapsed because the original footings, built on Roman ruins were crumbling under the weight.  Large concrete footings with steel support rods had to be installed to save it.

     The best part of the York Minster is that it is still a vibrant worshipping community in the heart of England.  Many churches have either fallen into disrepair or simply turned into museums.  Not only are the stones of York being preserved by stone masons, but the “living stones,” the people of this faith community are actively reaching out to their community and conducting services of worship.  One way they involve lay people on Sundays is during the ringing of the bells.  Large ropes extend down into a round room and volunteers pull the ropes down again and again in sequence, activating 300 year old bell mechanisms.  Now that would be a fun way to serve in the church!

     We also visited the Chapter House which sits in the back of the Cathedral, and was the official meeting place of all the Canons (leaders) of the Cathedral.

     While they now have a regular office building to conduct business, this Chapter house was where the official business, including the installation of a new Canon, was conducted in the Cathedral.  Here is a picture of the beautiful ceiling in the Chapter House:

     Notice that every ceiling joint in the York Minster is joined together a beautifully gilded wooden balls called “Ceiling Bosses”  Being made of wood, these Bosses rot over time and must be changed out.  Each boss holds several ribs of the roof vaulting in place — and you can see the joint slots around the sides:

 

     Being built in the round (I’m guessing) so that all the Canon leaders felt like they had equal say in the business of the day.  Above the seats of the Canons, the stone masons and artisans had a bit of fun, sculpting heads like modern-day cartoonists.

 

The day of our arrival to York we attending the 5:15pm Evensong worship service and got to hear a guest all male choir sing the psalms and liturgy.  It was a privilege to sit in the Quire area of the Cathedral to hear the organ and the choir from up close.

1533 — King Henry VIII forms the Church of England, with himself as the head, and closes down the monasteries.  Monks and nuns cared for many poor people, especially in hospitals.  They suffer as a result of the Kings reforms and many church buildings fall into disrepair.  Including the ruins of St. Mary’s Abby:

     We walked the Medieval walls around the city of York:

     We marveled at both ancient and modern sites, from old Roman walls to the home and gardens of the Dean of the York Minister, the Very Reverend Vivienne Faull:

 Apparently its good to be Dean!

1. They had Tanneries across the river.  People would have to step into large vats of urine which would break down the animal skins and hair as the Tanners stomped the animal skins.  At the end of the day the vats of urine would be dumped into the river!
2. They had a dry moat around the city wall which was used as a city garbage dump and sewer.
3. The city tower, or Micklegate Bar was the south gate of the city.  It was also the place where traitors’ heads were stuck on spikes.  Not only were the rotting heads disgusting, but they could fall down on people as they passed underneath!  The heads were a warning to the people of York, and it was believed if you were not buried with your head you would not go to heaven — an even greater punishment. Thankfully, for the right price, your family could buy your head back.