York
York names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
York the capital of Yorkshire
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the capital of Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the fork of two small rivers, half way from London to Edinburgh. York was an ancient stronghold of the Romans. It was reached from London by a branch of Watling Street . Antiquarians have unearthed many Roman remains, including tombs bearing Latin inscriptions, statues, altars, fireplaces, tiles, vases, urns, bronze instruments, and ornaments of gold, silver, bronze, and jet. The emperor Severus is said to have died here in 210. Constantine the Great was commander of York at one time. York was an early seat of English learning. It was the home of Alcuin, whom Charlemagne persuaded to come to Aix-la-Chapelle to teach his two children. The York library, that is to say, collection of manuscripts, was one of the most considerable in western Europe. It was destroyed by the Danes. York was the early center of Christianity in the north of England, as was Canterbury in the south. In fact, the two archbishops of England are still known as archbishops of Canterbury and York. At the end of the Norman conquest York held out stubbornly until it is said 100,000 people had been put to the sword. York is now a city of about 85,000 people. It is still surrounded by massive stone walls three miles in circuit. The top of the wall is a favorite promenade. It commands a beautiful view of the surrounding country. The city has outgrown its walls. Communication is maintained by imposing gateways. They are somewhat in the way of traffic, but the citizens would not think for a moment of tearing them down. When Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, fell at the battle of Wakefield, the haughty Margaret of Anjou is said to have insolently given the order, "Off with his head, and set it on York gate, so York may overlook the town of York." The streets within are narrow and irregular in direction. A large portion of the city still consists of medieval houses with overhanging walls of antique appearance. There are extensive manufactures of machinery, glass, beer, combs, gloves, leather, wall paper, and confectionery, but the interest of the traveler centers in the great York Minster, considered by many the greatest Gothic cathedral in existence. The first building on this site was erected by Edwin, king of Northumbria, in 627. The present building was begun in 1227. It was completed in 1470. The cathedral has the form of a Latin cross 524 feet in length and 250 feet in extreme width. It exceeds in size both St. Paul's cathedral and Westminster Abbey . A description of the great west front, with its rich moldings, sculptures, and massive towers, the nave and the transept, the choir, the chapter house, and the lantern tower would require a volume. When one enters the west door there opens before him a grand vista 500 feet in length and 100 feet in height. The marble pillars and the pointed, vaulted roof give the impression of a great forest aisle, bordered by magnificent trees, whose branches arch overhead to form the ceiling. At the farther end is the great east window, pronounced the finest specimen of stained glass in the world. It is seventy-five feet high and thirty-two feet wide. It consists of about 200 compartments or panes, each about a yard square and containing figures about two feet in height. The subjects are taken from the whole range of the Bible. There is also a circular window thirty feet in diameter, and many others, all of stained glass, beautiful beyond description. Even a brief visit to the cathedral and a view of the city and its walls render it easy to understand that York was at one time a center of wealth and authority, and all this at a time when London was a squalid village.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a cathedral city and archbishop's see, a municipal and parliamentary borough, and capital of Yorkshire, England, 188 miles N. of London, at the confluence of the Foss and the Ouse. The city proper, embracing a circuit of nearly 3 miles, was inclosed by walls, restored by Edward I., the portions of which still remaining have been converted into promenades, commanding a prospect of the surrounding country. There are many quaint old-fashioned houses in the narrow streets of its older portion. The great object of attraction, however, is the minster or cathedral, the finest in England, which dates from the 7th century, but did not begin to assume its present form till the 12th century, and was not complete till 1472. It is built in the form of a Latin cross with choir, aisles, transepts, a central tower and two W. towers; extreme length, 524 feet; extreme breadth, 250; height of central tower, 213 feet. York was the capital of Roman Britain. It was made an archiepiscopal see by Edwin of Northumbria in 624. It still ranks second among English cities, its archbishop having the title of Primate of England, and its chief magistrate takes the title of lord-mayor. It was incorporated by Henry I., and the city boundaries were extended in 1884. The trade is local and the industries unimportant. Pop. about 80,000.
York HOUSE OF, an English royal family
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
HOUSE OF, an English royal family, rival to that of Lancaster, and possessor of an elder right to the crown. The first duke of York was EDMUND PLANTAGENET, called also de Langley, fifth son of Edward III. His second son, Richard, Earl of Cambridge, married Anne Mortimer, daughter of Roger, Earl of March, and granddaughter of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the third son of Edward III. On the line of this king's eldest son becoming extinct in 1399, by the death of Richard II., the issue of Anne Mortimer inherited the true representation of Edward III. The rival house of Lancaster was descended from JOHN OF GAUNT, Duke of Lancaster, and fourth son of Edward III. The house of York furnished three kings to the throne of England: Edward IV., Edward V., and Richard III. The house of Tudor, which supplanted it, was allied to it by the marriage of He marriage of Henry Tudor, afterward Henry VII., with Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. In the struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster, the partisans of the former were distinguished by a white and those of the latter by a red rose. Hence the title "War of the Roses."
York a city and county-seat of York co.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city and county-seat of York co., Pa.; on Codorus creek, and on the Pennsylvania, the Western Ma Maryland and the Maryland and Pennsylvania railroads; 28 miles S. S. E. of Harrisburg. Here are a Young Ladies' Seminary, Collegiate Institute, County Academy, business colleges, court house, numerous churches, several libraries, hospital and dispensary, street railroads, electric lights, a number of public parks, several National and other banks, and daily, weekly, and monthly periodicals. It has foundries, car shops, manufactories of agricultural implements, shoes, condensed milk, wall paper, iron and steel, organs and pianos, nos, cig cigars, soap, hosiery, wire cloth, carriages, and wagons, etc. From Sept. 30, 1777, until June 27, 1778, the Continental Congress met here while Philadelphia was occupied by the British army. Pop. (1910) 44,750; (1920) 47,512.
York a river of Virginia
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a river of Virginia; formed by the union of the Pamunkey and Mattapony, flowing S. E. to Chesapeake bay, nearly opposite Cape Charles; 40 miles long by from 1 to 3 miles wide.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Aiton's put York at "about 85,000 people" in 1910 and Collier's at 80,000 in 1921, both were describing a walled market and cathedral town whose "industries" were, in Collier's words, "unimportant"; the modern city holds roughly 150,000 within its built-up area and lives largely on tourism, higher education (the University of York opened in 1963) and services, while the Rowntree confectionery works of the old accounts passed to Nestlé. The biggest addition to what these entries could say is underground: the Coppergate excavation of 1976-81 uncovered timber buildings, streets and workshops of Viking-age Jorvik, a layer of the city's past neither account discusses, and the finds are displayed on the site at the Jorvik Viking Centre. The Minster the accounts praise so warmly survived a serious fire in the south transept in 1984, after which the rose window was painstakingly repaired and the vault rebuilt with new carved bosses. The walls, gateways and the promenade along the top are still there, and the archbishop still ranks as Primate of England, exactly as Collier's says.
Written for this edition, 2026.