1 Understanding Clifford's Tower An English Heritage & Historyworks Learning Event Supported by York City Council for Holocaust Memorial Day 2015 Report published by Historyworks giving summary of talks on Sunday 25th January The learning events that marked Holocaust Memorial Day and brought together the communities in York to "Understand Clifford's Tower" and "Understand the 1190 Massacre" were organized with support from English Heritage by Helen Weinstein, Director of Historyworks and involved over 150 participants for tours and talks on both afternoons on Sunday 25th and Tuesday 27th January 2015. To find the history summaries and illustrative materials for the York Castle Project which Helen Weinstein and the team at Historyworks have provided to share knowledge to support those wanting more information about the York Castle Area, please find many pages of chronological summaries about the site and descriptions of the interpretations offered by the stakeholders here: http://historyworks.tv/projects/ Professor Helen Weinstein, Organizer of Learning Events about the York Castle Area to mark HMD The afternoon of presentations was opened by Helen Weinstein, public historian and Director of Historyworks. Helen began by welcoming the large number of people that had returned from a walking tour of the castle area with an introduction to what the proceeding talks would offer. The event had been created as a result of a growing interest from the citizens of York and the wider Jewish communities outside of the city in Clifford’s Tower and its cultural and historical significance.Helen then spoke about some of the misconceptions about Jewish life in York, in 1 2 particular the belief that a Cherem had been placed on York following the 1190 massacre, forbidding people of Jewish faith to live within the city, particularly not to overnight or eat within the precincts of the City Walls. There is no evidence of any rabbinical ruling of this kind. Indeed, despite the horror of the 1190 massacre, the reality of the aftermath of the York tragedy, Helen noted, was that Jews were living and thriving in York within 50 years of the massacre, with support from the King who fined the main perpetrators of the York siege of Clifford's Tower in 1190 and invited the Jewish community to return, to support his administration. The longer history of the experience of Jewish people in York has been researched and developed into a walking trail and a series of podcasts and web-app led by Helen Weinstein, as founding Director of The Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past: http://www.york.ac.uk/ipup/ The York Jewish History Walking Trail script and web app map and audio files have all been subsequently rewritten and recorded and can all be downloaded for free via Historyworks here: http://historyworks.tv/products/apps/york_jewish_history_trail/ Helen outlined the structure of the afternoon, informing people that the first part of the programme would include John Oxley, City Archaeologist, and Jeremy Ashbee, Head Historic Properties Curator at English Heritage. They would focus on York Castle and its changing role both locally and nationally. The second part of the event would be led by Helen Graham, Research Fellow at the University of Leeds, and would include a range of speakers discussing the York Castle area and the issues around current developments, notably the car park, as well as the prospects for future development. Helen then introduced the first of the speakers, John Oxley. John Oxley, City Archaeologist, City of York Council, “York Castle & York in the late Eleventh Century – Setting the Scene for Royal Power, the Development of Church & State in York, & the Settlement of the Jewish Community in this Context” John, fresh from leading a tour of the Castle area, began a talk that aimed to provide a foundation for the rest of the afternoon's speakers, giving context by outlining and defining of the history of York Castle and York in the late eleventh century. He started by stating that when castles are constructed, they are built to have a significant role and meaning, both locally and nationally. This was definitely the case in York, a settlement which has its origin in 71AD with the arrival of the 9th Legion. York went through a series of key transitional periods over the next thousand years that John identified as stimulating the rapid expansion of the city and its significance as a global trading centre with increasing connections to royalty across Europe. The first of these periods was the Roman-era settlement, Eboracum, which saw the settlement transform from a largely agricultural community and agrarian landscape into a trading centre. The next transformational episode occurred when the Vikings arrived in the 9th century. John drew our attention to the @AlcuinsLibrary Twitter account that is tweeting a day-by-day review of the 2 3 impact that the Vikings had on the city, then known as Eoforwic. The Vikings' trade routes resulted in a further expansion of the city. The next transformation came with the Norman occupation following on the invasion at Hastings in 1066 when the Normans reached York in 1068. John illustrated the global trading routes that the city was involved in during the Viking and Norman periods through the use of images of archaeological finds from as far afield as China. Between the 9th and 11th centuries, York had developed into a large timber city with expansive and well-planned streets that spanned from Micklegate to Hungate and beyond. As well as being well connected commercially, the city was also part of an increasing inter-connection of royal families throughout Europe. After providing historical context, John contextualised the construction of the castles in the city. When the Normans reached York in 1068 they were fighting to contain a revolt in the north of the country. This prompted the construction of a double motte and bailey castle which John felt was most probably the castle complex that modern day visitors and residents of York would be familiar with – the site on which Clifford’s Tower is built. Two huge ditches were cut out of the land to define the baileys around the motte, a design that aimed to optimise the defensive structure. Following that, a dam was built across the mouth of the Foss which flooded the area around the castle thus creating the immense water defences. A revolt took place in late 1068 and after a successful victory in January 1069, William of Normandy ordered the construction of a second castle. As John had previously mentioned, the detailed chronology isn't known and the two castles may well have been built in the opposite order. The construction of two castles signifies York’s importance, as there is only one other city in the country that has two royal castles, and that is London. These denote that York and London were the two most important cities in the country. This is also representative of the consolidation of Norman power in the north, which included the extension and granting of lands to various ecclesiastical institutions. This includes the emergence of St Marys Abbey, the reconstruction of the Saxon Minster, a Domus Regis or King's House, and the two castles. The best preserved of the two structures is the old bailey at Baille Hill and John urged those in attendance to go and walk around the Bishop Hill area and the city walls if they wanted to see an 11th century castle. This is because the ramparts that come from the motte at Baille Hill are an 11th century rampart, built in either 1068 or 1069. John then returned his focus to York Castle, reminding us that it is the site of Clifford's Tower that is the focus for Holocaust Memorial Day and that he would end his talk by discussing the structure. The Castle, he said, has the distinct double baille - an inner bailey, a central motte, and an outer bailey. The Castle has gone through a range of modifications from its construction to the present day although it has never been 3 4 expanded. It reached its largest size in the late 11th century. In the subsequent centuries the outer bailey was given to Franciscan Friars who incorporated it into their friary on the north side of the castle. The timber structure of the Castle was then consolidated in stone in the beginning of the 13th century. The context for the events of the 1190 massacre of the Jewish community in York are not signified by the stone features that we see today. They are closer to the earth rampart that rises towards the tower. Everything in the landscape that was present in March 1190 has disappeared except for the rampart. John then stated that if there are any remains of that castle then it is below the ground, and severely truncated by later activities. These activities include the construction of the prison in the 1820s and the construction of the proposed offices of the City Council in 1939 (delayed and abandoned due to the Second World War). Due to these developments, any remains of that event are most likely to be in the ditches that were cut for the motte as they are linked to the Foss. Submerged and enclosed in deposits, any surviving evidence would be in these ten-metre deep ditches below ground. John reminded those attending that this assumption is based on a belief that the events took place at this castle and not at the second castle on the opposite side of the river. He stated that recent scholarship has shown that the dominant belief is not as definite as it had previously seemed.