A HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE 



In the spring of 1633 King Charles visited Scotland, and on his way came to York, where on 

 24 May he was loyally received.^* Two years later, in 1635, his endeavours to raise money for 

 the navy without having recourse to a Parliament led to the levying of the unpopular ship-money. 

 Yorkshire was assessed to provide ^^ 12,000 ; of this the West Riding was assessed at ;^4,3'3 4'-. 

 the North at ^^3,594 6j. 8i., and the East at £2,^1$ 9- 4'^-. the city of York at ^^520, Leeds at 

 ;^2oo, Hull at ^140, Doncasterat;^ioo, and Pontefract, Beverley, Richmond, Ripon, Scarborough, 

 and Hedon at from £(>o to ;^20." It is worth noting that Leeds and Doncaster sent no represen- 

 tatives to Parliament, while Aldborough, Boroughbridge, and Thirsk, none of which were large 

 enough to be assessed separately, each had its two members. The unpopularity which Charles in- 

 curred by unconstitutional taxation was increased by his endeavours to force episcopacy upon his 

 Scottish subjects. It was, however, with every demonstration of loyalty that the king was received 

 when he entered York on 30 March 1639, and even the flattery of York was outdone by the 

 adulation of Hull when he visited that great port and arsenal." For about a month Charles 

 remained at York, endeavouring to reduce Scotland to obedience by means of proclamations, and 

 then he joined the forces on the northern border. This expedition fizzled out and came to nothing, 

 but the treaty of Berwick did not put an end to the differences between the king and the Covenanters, 

 and next year it became clear that a renewal of the war was inevitable. The king's chief adviser 

 now was Lord Wentworth, who was created Earl of Strafford on 12 January 1640, but his advice 

 for an active, aggressive war was more easily given than carried out. Selby was the centre where 

 the troops were supposed to concentrate in July 1640, but money was lacking and the soldiers 

 mutinous, and such regiments as did arrive there were found by Sir Jacob Astley to be undisciplined 

 wastrels." On 28 July the gentry of York protested against the billeting of soldiers in their 

 houses as a breach of the Petition of Right." To this the king returned a sharp answer on 

 17 August, and two days later he ordered the trained bands of the northern and midland counties to 

 be called out, and summoned all tenants by knight service to attend him at York, to which city he 

 set out on 20 August." On that same day the Scottish army crossed the Tweed. The invasion 

 by the Scots, coupled with the presence of King Charles, induced the Yorkshire gentry to agree to 

 take up arms,^ but meanwhile the Scots had occupied Newcastle and Durham, the northern division 

 of the English army had fallen back to Northallerton, and the Bishop of Durham had fled to Helmsley 

 Castle.^* Moreover, by maintaining discipline and preventing all plundering Leslie had made the 

 inhabitants of those districts where the Scots lay compare them more than favourably with the 

 English troops.'^ During September the Scottish army lay on the northern borders of Yorkshire, 

 supporting itself by a levy on Durham and Northumberland, while Charles struggled to find some 

 way out of his difficulties. On 12 September the Yorkshire gentlemen had presented a petition for 

 the summoning of a Parliament ; Strafford, however, managed to get them to withdraw this petition 

 and to promise to pay their trained bands vmtil the meeting of the Great Council on 24 September.^' 

 Charles was in a hopeless position ; Lord Bristol put the facts very plainly to him ; ' You see, sir, 

 how your kingdom's hearts you have lost by your taxes and impositions, and that till you be 

 united to them by giving them their just satisfaction in all their grievances, you are no great king ; 

 for without the love and hearts of his people what can a king do ? ' ^ There was no alternative 

 but to make terms with the Scots, and negotiations were accordingly begun at Ripon on 2 October. 

 A proposal to remove the seat of negotiations to York was refused, and the commission 

 continued to sit at Ripon until 26 October, when a cessation of arms was granted, the English 

 undertaking to pay ;^850 a day for the support of the Scottish army, who remained in possession 

 of the northern counties. These terms were confirmed by the Great Council on 28 October, and 

 two days later Charles left York for London,*' where the Parliament, afterwards to be famous as 

 the Long Parliament, had been summoned for 3 November. 



King Charles had no doubt been impressed with the wealth, strength, and loyalty of York 

 during his residence in the city in 1639 and 1640, and it was accordingly to York that he with- 

 drew in the spring of 1642, when his relations with the Parliament had become strained to breaking 

 point. On 18 March the court were welcomed at Tadcaster by the Sheriff of Yorkshire, Sir 

 Thomas Gore, and a large party of the county gentry, and on the same day they reached York," 

 where they were received in state by the corporation, headed by the mayor, Edmund Cowper, upon 

 whom the king bestowed the honour of knighthood. The establishment of the court at York 

 marked the definite break between king and Parliament, and the next few months were occupied 

 by both sides in preparing for the armed struggle which was now inevitable, each party endeavouring 



" Whellan, Hist, of York, i, 216. " Cal. S.P. Dom. 1635, p. 479. 



" Whellan, Hiit. of York, i, 219. " Gardiner, Hist, of Engl, ix, 164. 



" Ibid. 177. " Ibid. 188. " Ibid. 190. 



" Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xii, App. iv, 523. " Ibid. 



° Gardiner, op. cit. ii, 204. " Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xii, App. iv, 523. 



" Gardiner, op. cit. ix, 214-15. ^ Cal. S.P. Dom. 1641-3, p. 342. 



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