Skip to 0 minutes and 1 second York has seen its fair share of upheaval over the centuries. The city has played a pivotal role in a changing nation since its founding almost two thousand years ago. However, the story of York isn’t just about kings, generals and politicians. It’s about ordinary people who lived and worked here, and whose experiences shaped the course of the city’s history. Immigrants, religious non-conformists, rebels and factory workers all had their part to play. This short course will guide you through exciting episodes in York’s rich history. We will examine what a broad range of primary sources can tell us about the lives of ordinary people.
Skip to 0 minutes and 51 seconds We will start in the late middle ages, a time of great wealth and prosperity in York, but also of plague and ruin. We will explore the stories of immigrant communities; of nuns fleeing monastic life; and of the birth of the Mystery Plays, iconic symbols of the city’s identity to this day. We will see how the people of the city became embroiled in the biggest rebellion faced by a Tudor monarch, how religious differences could be a matter of life or death and how we can use documents from the University of York Archives and Special Collections to find out how ordinary citizens sought justice.Finally, we will trace the development of York’s chocolate industry since the Victorian era.
Skip to 1 minute and 36 seconds and explore the colonial connections of the city’s confectionery businesses. This course will allow you to share your own view on York’s past with other historians, just like yourself. Join us as we explore how the hidden histories of everyday people shaped both York and the United Kingdom today.