Timeline of York

1st-4th centuries

• 71 – Quintus Petillius Cerialis and the Roman Legio VIIII Hispana establish a fort above the River Ouse near its junction with the Foss. City walls probably begun; enlarged until 3rd century.
• 95–104 – Period of first recorded reference to the city as Eboracum.
• 107-108 – Last dateable reference to the presence of Legio VIIII Hispana at Eboracum.
• 119 – Legio VI Victrix arrive in Eboracum.
• 122 – Emperor Hadrian may have visited the city during his visit to the province.
• 190–212 – Period during which Claudius Hieronymianus is legatus of Legio VI Victrix based in Eboracum and establishes a temple to Serapis here.
• 208–211 – Septimius Severus and the Imperial family at Eboracum. Severus campaigns in the Roman invasion of Caledonia, but the city is used to overwinter.
• 211 – 4 February: Roman emperor Septimius Severus dies at Eboracum.
• c. 214 – Eboracum becomes the administrative centre of Britannia Inferior.
• 306 – 25 July: Constantine the Great is acclaimed as Roman emperor by the troops in Eboracum on the death here of his father Constantius Chlorus.
• 383 – Last substantial Roman presence in the north of England.

  5th-10th centuries

• 625 – 21 July?: Paulinus is consecrated as first Bishop of York.
• 627 – Paulinus establishes the first York Minster for the baptism of King Edwin of Northumbria; and also St Peter's School.
• 637 – Stone-built predecessor of York Minster dedicated to St Peter completed.
• 735 – Bishop Ecgbert is elevated to become first Archbishop of York. He establishes a library and school.
• 741 – Minster destroyed by fire; subsequently rebuilt on a larger scale.
• 866 – November: The "Great Heathen Army" of Vikings led by Ivar the Boneless capture York.
• 867 – 21 March: Danes defeat a Northumbrian counterattack against York, killing their kings Osberht and Ælla and installing a puppet ruler, Ecgberht.
• 876 – Danes capture southern Northumbria and found the Kingdom of York perhaps under Halfdan Ragnarsson.
• c. 897 – Mint re-established in the city.
• c. 919 – The Norse–Gael leader Ragnall ua Ímair captures York.
• 927 – Æthelstan, King of the Anglo-Saxons, expels Gofraid ua Ímair from York.
• 939 – The Norse-Gael King of Dublin Olaf III Guthfrithsson captures York.
• 944 – King Edmund I of England takes York from the Vikings.
• 947 – Eric Bloodaxe becomes king of Northumbria for the first time at the invitation of Wulfstan I, Archbishop of York.
• 954 – Eric Bloodaxe is deposed and subsequently killed.

  11th–14th centuries

• 1055 - Siward, Earl of Northumbria dies and is buried in St Olave's Church.
• 1065 – 3 October: Northumbrian rebels capture York, outlaw Harold Godwinson's brother Tostig and choose Morcar of Northumbria as their new earl.
• 1066 – 20 September: Battle of Fulford – Northern Anglo-Saxon Earls Edwin and Morcar are defeated by the Viking invader Harald Hardrada just south of York.
• 1068 – Morcar leads a revolt in Northumbria, but William the Conqueror defeats the rebels at York and builds a wooden motte-and-bailey castle probably on the later site of York Castle.
• 1069 – c. 28 January: Northumbrian rebels attack York.
• Winter of 1069–1070 – Harrying of the North: William quells rebellions in the North of England brutally and builds a second motte-and-bailey castle, probably that on Baile Hill.
• 1070 – 23 May: The first Norman Archbishop, Thomas of Bayeux, is appointed and begins rebuilding of York Minster.
• 1088 – January/February: St Mary's Abbey re-established.
• 1126 – Archbishoprics of Canterbury and of York declared equal.
• 1137 – 4 June: York Minster and city are severely damaged by a fire, but the Minster is soon rebuilt; St Peter's Hospital is replaced by St Leonard's.
• 1154 – Ouse Bridge collapses under the weight of a crowd gathered to greet Archbishop William of York on his return from exile. On 8 June William dies, apparently poisoned at Mass.
• 1182 – Charter granted to citizens.
• 1190 – 16 March: A mob besieges 150 Jews in Clifford's Tower of York Castle, allowing to be killed by fire those who do not commit suicide.
• 1212 – 9 July: Royal charter granted allowing citizens to collect their own taxes and appoint a mayor.
• 1220 – Re-building of York Minster in Gothic style begins under Archbishop Walter de Gray, starting with the south transept.
• 1228 – Christmas: During a visit by King Henry III, a gale destroys the wooden keep at York Castle.
• 1237 – 25 September: Treaty of York signed between Henry III of England and his brother-in-law Alexander II of Scotland.
• 1244 – Henry III orders rebuilding of the castle in stone, work which is completed about 1272.
• c. 1260 – In York Minster
• * Construction of the north transept is completed and the Five Sisters window installed.
• * Construction of the octagonal chapter house in the Decorated style begins.
• 1291 – Construction of the nave of York Minster begins.
• 1295 - The city returns two members to parliament.
• 1298–1304 – King Edward houses the national Exchequer and Chancery in York.
• 1316 – Lady Row built in Goodramgate.
• 1319 – 20 September: First War of Scottish Independence: Scottish victory at the Battle of Myton over defenders from York. Many priests and the mayor of York are killed.
• 1322 – Great Raid of 1322 plagues the north of England with a Scottish victory at the Battle of Old Byland nearby. Suburbs of York are raided.
• 1328 – King Edward marries Philippa of Hainault in the Minster. A tournament is held in their honour.
• 1335 – Parliament meets in York; subsequently it will normally meet at Westminster.
• 1337 – c. 8 July: Death of William of Hatfield, second son of Edward III and Queen Philippa, at only a few months old; he is buried in the Minster.
• 1344 – Mint established at the castle.
• 1349 – May: Black Death reaches York. 50% of the population die.
• 1350s – Construction of the nave of York Minster completed. The great west window becomes known as the "Heart of Yorkshire".
• 1357 – Merchant Adventurers' Hall construction begins.
• 1361 – Construction of the lady chapel, presbytery and choir of York Minster in Perpendicular style begun, by Archbishop John of Thoresby.
• 1376 – Corpus Christi : Earliest record of York Mystery Plays, although they probably originate from the 1340s.
• 1381 – Summer: Peasants’ Revolt. Unrest in York lasts for a year.
• 1389 – Office of mayor raised to Lord Mayor of York, second in precedence only to the Lord Mayor of London.
• 1396 – King Richard II grants a charter to the city making it a county corporate.

  15th–16th centuries

• c. 1400 – Lantern tower of All Saints’ Church, Pavement, built.
• 1405 – 8 June: Following the collapse of a revolt in the north begun in April by the House of Percy in which they participated and trial by a special commission, Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York, and others are beheaded at York.
• 1407 – York Minster’s central tower collapses due to poor foundations; it is rebuilt from 1420 in Perpendicular style.
• 1408 – York Minster east window, the world's largest expanse of medieval glass, is completed by glass painter John Thornton of Coventry.
• 1434 – Mulberry Hall built.
• c. 1450 – Choir of York Minster completed.
• 1453 – York Guildhall opens.
• 1460 – St William's College founded.
• 1464 – 1 June: Treaty of York signed between England and Scotland.
• 1471 – 14 March: Wars of the Roses: The deposed Edward IV of England lands with a small force at Ravenspur, moving on speedily to secure York.
• 1472 – York Minster consecrated following completion of its west towers.
• 1476 – 13 March: Richard of Gloucester addresses civic officials within Bootham Bar proclaiming he is present to keep his brother the king's peace.
• 1483 – 8 September: Edward of Middleham is invested as Prince of Wales by his father the new king Richard III of England at the Archbishop's Palace.
• 1486 & 1487 – King Henry VII visits.
• c. 1500 – Rose window installed in York Minster commemorating the end of the Wars of the Roses in 1487.
• 1525–36 – New church of St Michael le Belfrey built.
• 1536 – 10 October: Leadership of the Pilgrimage of Grace is assumed by Robert Aske, a Catholic London barrister of Yorkshire family. 9,000 strong, they march to York.
• 1538 – Dissolution of the Monasteries: York Franciscan Friary dissolved.
• 1539 – Dissolution of the Monasteries: St Mary's Abbey and the adjacent St Leonard's Hospital are dissolved. King's Manor becomes the headquarter of the Council of the North.
• 1541 – King Henry VIII visits.
• 1569 – York Mystery Plays suppressed.
• 1586 – 25 March: Margaret Clitherow martyred by peine forte et dure for refusing to plead to a charge of harbouring Catholic priests.
• 1596 – 29 November: George Errington, William Gibson and William Knight martyred by hanging, drawing and quartering for professing their Catholic faith.

  17th century

• 1616 – June: First waterworks and piped water supply.
• 1617 – King James I visits.
• 1633 – King Charles I visits.
• 1642 – 19 March–3 July: Charles I holds court at York. The Great Seal of the Realm is sent to him here on 17 May.
• 1644
• * 16 July: First English Civil War: Parliamentary forces capture York; Thomas Fairfax prevents damage to the Minster and churches.
• * Ye Olde Starre Inne licensed.
• 1653 – 18 April: London–York stagecoach first recorded.
• 1673 – 18 April: Viscount Fairfax throws a party to mark his remodelling of Fairfax House.
• 1674 – Friargate Quaker Meeting House first built.
• 1676 – Highwayman John Nevison rides from Kent to York in a day to establish an alibi.
• 1677 – York Waterworks re-established.
• 1679 – 7 August: Nicholas Postgate is hanged, drawn and quartered on the Knavesmire for being a Roman Catholic priest.
• 1684 – 23 April: A gunpowder explosion guts Clifford's Tower at York Castle, leading to the city being abandoned as a military garrison.
• 1686 – 5 November: Bar Convent established, making it the oldest surviving active Catholic convent in England.
• 1694 – First corporation fire engine purchased.
• 1695 – Grays, solicitors, established.