York

Overview
If London may claim to be the de-facto capital of England, then ancient York is undoubtedly its second city. It has a long history, and a proud one; two Roman Emperors set up their court here, and it was on the site of the city's great Minster that the legions of Rome declared Constantine the Great as Emperor. It served for a time as the capital of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, becoming a seat of learning and culture admired from as far afield as the court of Charlemagne. Under the Danes it became the propserous centre of the independent Viking Kingdom of Jorvik. This pedigree of power and wealth has given the Yorkshiremen a fiercely independent bent, for which they paid dearly under William the Conqueror.

While civil war raged about in England, York suffered a succession crisis of it's own. Archbishop William - a popular man locally, and the nephew of the late King Stephen - was defamed and deposed through the intrigues of the local Cistercian monks, led by the Abbot of Fountains, Henry Murdac. Indignant at the harsh treatment of William, the townsfolk were incensed when the ambitious Murdac was named as his replacement, rising up in revolt and sacking Fountains Abbey, with the clergy of York - backed by Stephen - barring their new Archbishop from entering the city. A furious Murdac retreated to the nearby city of Ripon, anathematising his own See and conspiring with the invading King David of Scotland to wrest control of the city.

Murdac has since been permitted to enter York, and now an uneasy truce exists between the disgruntled citizens and their hated Archbishop. But with a new King on the throne and the beloved William languishing in exile on the continent, how long will it endure?