of
commerce, and it had a large population. It had as many as 30,000
inhabitants in the tenth century. There are traces of the Danish
supremacy in the language and faces of the people; in York itself Danish
beads, glass, jet and amber, and carved horns have been found.

At the time of the Conquest, Aeldred was archbishop of York. After
Hastings he swore allegiance to William. For this act he was bitterly
reproached. It is said that he exacted a promise from William that he
would treat his English and his Norman subjects alike. He crowned
William at Westminster. In 1068 Edwin and Morcar, Earls of Mercia and
Yorkshire, broke into rebellion. They soon submitted, but the people of
York had been roused, and remained in rebellion. On the approach of the
Conqueror, however, they also submitted. William built a castle in York,
at the junction of the Ouse and the Foss, and garrisoned it with
Normans. He then returned southwards. So soon as his back was turned,
the city revolted again and besieged the castle. But William was soon
upon them. He took and plundered the city, and erected another fortress
on Beacon Hill. In 1069 occurred the final rebellion. A Danish fleet
sailed up the Humber under Edgar, Gospatric, and Waltheof. This last
calamity is said to have killed Ealdred, the archbishop. He had
endeavoured to make peace between conquerors and conquered, and he saw
that now a desperate struggle was inevitable. The whole of Northumbria
rose as the Danes made their way up the Ouse. The Norman garrisons in
York set fire to the houses near them, and the whole city was burnt
down. The minster was either wholly or partially destroyed. On the site
of William's fort at Beacon Hill there have lately been discovered
several deposits of silver pennies of the earliest coinage of William.
These were probably hidden there by the Norman garrison. After a
desperate sortie, these forts were taken. Thereupon the Danes sailed
away with their plunder, and the revolt suddenly came to an end. But
William swore an oath of vengeance. He caught and destroyed a number of
the Danes in Lincolnshire. When he reached York he found it deserted. He
repaired his castles, and then proceeded to make an example of the
country round. His vengeance was so thorough that for nine years
afterwards the land between York and Durham was untilled. He returned to
York to keep Christmas. It is not too much to say that the north of
England took centuries to recover from hi