Yorkshire

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Yorkshire is a  of. It is the largest historic county of. Although Yorkshire is a historic county, with no current official standing (except as part of the name of the English region of ), the name is completely familiar and well-understood across the and is in common use.

Yorkshire is widely considered to be the area in England, due to both the vast rural countryside of the,  and some of the major cities,  this has led to Yorkshire being nicknamed God's Own County.

Throughout its history Yorkshire has played a prominent role. The s held the (which the county derives its name from) as one of the two capitals of all. Under the s the area was proclaimed as the for around century, while most of the modern day large cities were founded during the.

Yorkshire covers just under 6,000 (15,000 km²), under the  it has a population of around five million. The emblem of Yorkshire is the of the, most commonly the flag representative is the White Rose on a dark blue background. is held on.

Celtic tribes
The original inhabitants of Yorkshire were the, coming from two separate tribes. The, who probably came over from the or , controlled territory which included all of the  and the , the tribe controlled most of  and more territory than any other Celtic tribe in.

The Brigantes made the area of Yorkshire their, this is evident in that ' (now known as ) was made the capital town of their entire territory; in fact six of the nine Brigantian ' described by in the  fall within the historic county. The second tribe were the who controlled the exact area of the, they were thought to have been related to the  of ,  (known today as , ).

The began in 43 AD, however the Brigantes continued control of their kingdom as a  of  for an extended period, accepted under the reign of Brigantian monarchs  and. The situation suited both the Romans and the Brigantes initially, who themselves were known as the most tribe in Britain.

Roman Yorkshire
Queen Cartimandua left her husband for, setting off a chain of events which would change the ownership of the Yorkshire area. Cartimandua, due to her good relationship with the Romans was able to keep control of the kingdom, however her former husband staged s against her and her Roman allies. At the second attempt Venutius took back his kingdom, but the Romans under general conquered the Brigantes in 71 AD.

Under Roman rule, the high profile of the area continued; the city of  (now known as ) was named as capital of  and joint-capital of all. For the two years before the death of Emperor, the enitre was run from Eboracum by him. A second Emperor died in Yorkshire during a visit in 306 AD, this saw his son  proclaimed Emperor in the city; he would become renowned due to his contributions to.

In the early 400s the with the withdrawal of the last active Roman troops, by this stage the Empire was in heavy decline. However, during the three and a half centuries of Roman rule in Yorkshire they had introduced much to help forward there, such as;, , , s, , , , , , , , , , the , , , , , various fruits and vegetables  and more.

Second Celtic period and Angles
After the Romans left, small Celtic kingdoms built up in Yorkshire; the around  and more notably the  around. The Elmet in particular managed to hold out with their Celtic kingdom against the invading for a century and a half, ensuring that the Anglian kingdoms of  and  on either side developed separately. Eventually the Elmet succumbed and became part of the Anglian kingdom of.

It should be noted that, although this period is called the period, it was the Angles (from ) who conquered the North, while the  (from ) conquered the South. Under Deira merged with another Anglian kingdom of  in the early 600s, to form the. At its greatest extent, Northumbria stretched from the to the  and from  down to  in South Yorkshire.

Kingdom of Jorvik
An army of  invaved Northumbrian territory in 886 AD, with what was named by their enemies as the "". The Danes took what is modern day York and renamed it as, making it their new capital city of a kingdom under the same name; the area which they took as their kingdom was Southern Northumbria (Yorkshire).

The Danes went on to conquer a large area of England which afterwards became known as the, but whereas most of the Danelaw was still English land, albeit in submission to Viking overlords, it was in the founded by , that the only truly Viking territory on mainland Britain was established. Although it was founded by Danes, the kingdom was passed onto kings. Through the Vikings evolving trade, Jorvik was able to trade with the, , the and the.

, who was the last independent Viking king of Jorvik is a particularly noted figure in history. After around 100 years of a Norse-Yorkshire kingdom, the gained control of Yorkshire and the North in general, placing Yorkshire within   again - which was now an almost-independent, rather than a separate kingdom. The Wessex were reputed to have respected the Norse customs in Yorkshire and left law-making in the hands of the local aristocracy.

Norman conquest
In the weeks immediately leading up the in 1066 AD,  was distracted by events in Yorkshire; his brother  and   were attempting a take over bid in the North, they had already won the. The King of England marched North and the two armies met at the, Tostig and Hardrada were both killed and their army was defeated decisively. However, Harold Godwinson was forced to immediately march his army back down to the South where was landing. The King was defeated at Hastings and this led to the.

The people of the North rebelled again in September 1069 AD, this time against the Normans, enlisting ; they tried to take back York but the Normans burnt it before they could. What followed was the ordered by William, from York to  all crops, domestic animals and farming tools were. Many villages between the towns were burnt and many local Northerners were indiscriminantly murdered. During the winter that followed, whole families starved to death, thousands of peasants died of cold and hunger; put the estimation at "more than 100,000" people from the North dead from hunger. In the centuries following, many s and were built in Yorkshire. The Norman landowners were keen to increase their revenues and established new towns such as, , , , , and others. Of the towns founded before the conquest only, and  carried on at a prominent level.

The population of Yorkshire was booming, until it like the rest of Britain was hit by the in the years between 1315 and 1322. In the early 1300s the people of Yorkshire also had to contest with the at  with the, representing the  led by  soldiers from Yorkshire defeated the more numerous Scots. The reached Yorkshire by 1349, killing around a third of the entire population.

Wars of the Roses

 * For more information:, 

When King was overthrown, antagonism between the  and the, both branches of the , began to emerge. Eventually the two houses fought in a series of s (including ones at and ) for the throne of England, the wars are commonly known as the. After a long violent struggle, King of the House of Lancaster was deposed and imprisoned on   by his  cousin and new King of England,. Eight years later hostilities resumed, Edward was forced into exile to by  and turncoat  as Lancaster's Henry VI was reinstated. Edward would return though, landing in he eventually went onto defeat the House of Lancaster, as Henry VI had no heirs, he was killed to strengthen Yorkist grip on the throne as Edward was restored as. This was generally considered an end to the most significant hostilities, the rest of Edward's reign was peaceful. After Edward IV suddenly died and his 12 year old son was proclaimed as heir, a political storm erupted; a family named the Woodvilles had found themselves high up the political hierarchy and were in a position to influence the young Yorkist king.

Frictions had developed between Edward IV and the Woodvilles (the family of his wife ) before his death and so Edward IV's brother, put the young king in the along with his younger brother, they became known as the. Richard III argued that Elizabeth Woodville's marriage to Edward IV was illegal and thus the two boys were illegitimate, agreed and Richard was crowned King of England; he would prove to be the last Yorkist king. of the House of Lancaster, then defeated and killed Richard at the, he then became King and married  daughter of Yorkist Edward IV, ending the wars. The two roses were combined to form the.

Saints, Civil War and textile industry
The being centred in  helped a  revival in the 16th century. The in general helped  and  grow. Changes were afoot outside of employment after closed some monasteries and so 1536 saw the  rebellion. Due to the wider England became a Protestant country, however some of the  contingent in Yorkshire continued to practice their religion and those caught were executed during the reign of, such as York woman  who was later. Yorkshire was on divided sides during the, which started in 1642 between king and parliament; famously shut the gates of the city on the king when he came to enter the city a few months before fighting began. York was the base for supporters, from there the royals captured  and  only to have them recaptured a few months later. The royalists won the meaning they controlled Yorkshire (with the exception of Hull). From their base in Hull the fought back, town by town re-taking Yorkshire until they had won the  and with it control of all.

Leeds and other wool industry centred towns continued to grow, along with Sheffield, Huddersfield and Hull, while first came into prominence in the. Canals and roads were introduced in the late 1700s. In the following century the of  and Scarborough also flourished, due to people believing  had curing properties.

Modern Yorkshire
The 19th century saw Yorkshire's continued growth, with the population growing and the continuing with prominent industries in,  and  (especially in ). However, despite the booming industry, living conditions declined in the industrial towns due to overcrowding, this saw bouts of in both 1832 and 1848. Fortunately for the county, advances were made by the end of the century with the introduction of modern and. Several networks were introduced as s spread across the country to reach remote areas.

During the, Yorkshire became an important base for and brought the county into the cutting edge of the war. Elvington Airfield and Museum is the largest remaining. It is also an Allied Forces Memorial, visited by people from around the world.

Physical geography

 * Main articles:  and 

Historically, the northern boundary of Yorkshire was the, the eastern boundary was the coast and the southern boundary was the  and  and. The western boundary meandered along the western slopes of the to again meet the River Tees. It is bordered by several other historic counties in the form of, , , and.

In Yorkshire there is a very close relationship between the major areas and the geological period in which they were formed. The Pennine chain of Hills in the west is of origin. The central vale is. The in the north-east of the county are  in age while the  to the south east are  chalk uplands.

The era of Yorkshire is by several rivers. In Western and central Yorkshire the many rivers empty their waters into the which in turn reaches the North Sea via the. The most northerly of the rivers in the Ouse system is the Swale, which drains before passing through  and meandering across the. Next, draining, is the , which joins the Swale east of Boroughbridge. The rises on the edge of the  and flows along  before reaching the.

The Ouse is the name given to the river after its confluence with the Ure at Ouse Gill Beck. The, which drains , joins the Ouse upstream of Cawood. The Rivers Aire and Calder are more southerly contributors to the River Ouse and the most southerly Yorkshire tributary is the, which flows northwards to join the main river at. In the far north of the county the flows easteards through  and empties its waters into the North Sea downstream of Middlesbrough. The smaller flows from west to east at the northern foot of the North York Moors to reach the sea at Whitby.

The rises on the North York Moors, flows south then westwards through the  then turns south again to drain the eastern part of the Vale of York. It empties into the River Ouse at Barmby on the Marsh. To the east of the Yorkshire Wolds the flows southwards to join the Humber Estuary at Kingston upon Hull. The western Pennines are served by the which drains westwards into the Irish Sea close to Lytham St Anne's.

Nature

 * Main article: 

The of Yorkshire is so renowned that it has earned the common nickname of God's Own County. In recent times, has displaced  to take the title Garden of England.

Yorkshire has three, in the form of the , and the. The coastal areas of Yorkshire are also renowned for their beauty, there are several ran by the  on the coast, offering a chance to see the likes of the  and.

a narrow, three mile (5 km) long sand featuring an abandoned  is also considered highly interesting from geomorphological perspective due to the cyclical nature of the feature. in North Yorkshire has been voted as the 's best beach, due to its "postcard-perfect harbour".

Transport
The most prominent road in Yorkshire, historically known as the, is in contemporary times known as the. The motorway passes through the centre of the county and is the prime route from to Edinburgh. Other important roads include the east serving which is also prominent for travelling up and down England. The crosses the county from east to west linking from Hull all towards  and. The rail link between Scotland and London runs roughly parallel with the A1(M) through Yorkshire and the Trans Pennine rail link runs east to west joining Hull and Liverpool via Leeds.

Before the advent of rail transport, seaports of Hull and Whitby played an important role in transporting goods. Historically canals were used, including the, which is the longest canal in England. In the modern day mainland ( and ) can be reached from Hull via regular  services from. Yorkshire also has services in the form of the. The airport has experienced significant and rapid growth in both terminal size and passenger facilities since 1996 when improvements began until the present day. South Yorkshire is served by the, based in.

Culture
Journalist and broadcaster recently wrote a book Yorkshire Greats: The County's Fifty Finest, in which he proposed a list of the greatest ever Yorkshiremen and women. The list included the likes of, and.