Religion in York can be traced back to the City's foundation in Roman times with evidence of York's first Christian community dating from this period.
In 1086, the Domesday Book listed eight churches and a Minster (not the current building). The number had declined to 39 by 1428 due to taxation[ citation needed ]; 19 medieval churches are in use today. [1]
A range of evidence about Roman religious beliefs of the people of Eboracum have been found including altars to Mars, Hercules, Jupiter and Fortune, while phallic amulets are the most commonly found type of good luck charm. In terms of number of reference the most popular deities were the spiritual representation ( genius ) of Eboracum and the Mother Goddess, there is also evidence of local or regional deities. Evidence showing the worship of eastern deities has also been found during excavations in York. For example, evidence of the Mithras cult, which was popular among the military, has been found including a sculpture showing Mithras slaying a bull and a dedication to Arimanius, the god of evil in the Mithraic tradition. [2] Another example is the dedication of a temple to Serapis a Hellenistic-Egyptian God by the Commander of the Sixth Legion. [3]
There was also a Christian community in Eboracum although it is unknown when this was first formed and in archeological terms there is virtually no record of it. The first evidence of this community is a document noting the attendance of Bishop Eborius of Eboracum at the Council of Arles in 314. [2] The Episcopal see at Eboracum was called Eboracensis in Latin and Bishops from the See also attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the Council of Sardica, and the Council of Ariminum. [4]
On 16 March 1190, a mob of townsfolk forced the Jews in York to flee into Clifford's Tower, which was under the control of the sheriff. The castle was set on fire and the Jews were massacred. It is likely that various local magnates who were debtors of the Jews helped instigate this massacre or, at least, did nothing to prevent it. It came during a time of widespread attacks against Jews in Britain. The Jewish community in York did recover after the massacre and a Jewish presence remained in York until the expulsion of Jews from England took place in 1290. [5]
In the intervening years, though, the pressure on the Jews of Yorkshire increased, especially by those who were in debt to them. A deed of 1249, for instance, between the Anglo-Norman Hamond de Levet (Levett) and several donors to Yorkshire's Roche Abbey, required the donors to put the "Hebrew letter with their seal," acknowledging that the Abbey had likely borrowed money from Jewish lenders in York. [6]
Religion in York 2001 [7] | |||
---|---|---|---|
UK Census 2001 | York | Yorkshire | England |
Christian | 74.42% | 73.07 | 71.74% |
No religion | 16.57% | 14.09% | 14.59% |
Muslim | 0.58% | 3.81% | 3.1% |
Buddhist | 0.21% | 0.14% | 0.28% |
Hindu | 0.19% | 0.32% | 1.11% |
Jewish | 0.11% | 0.23% | 0.52% |
Sikh | 0.05% | 0.38% | 0.67% |
Other religions | 0.30% | 0.19% | 0.29% |
Religion not stated | 7.57% | 7.77% | 7.69% |
Located in York are the Mother Church, York Minster, and administrative centre of the Church of England's Diocese of York, as well as Bishopthorpe Palace the official residence of the Archbishop of York the second highest ranking cleric the Church. There are 32 Church of England churches within the area of the City of York. [8]
York is part of the Central Deanery of the Diocese of Middlesbrough and has eight Roman Catholic Churches and one separate shrine to St. Margaret Clitherow, where masses are held, located in The Shambles. Masses are also celebrated at the University Catholic Chaplaincy, based at More House. The oldest active Catholic institution in the city is the Bar Convent, which was founded in 1686. The oldest active parish is that of St. Wilfrid which was formed in 1710. The current Oratory church in Duncombe Place was built in 1862-4 to a design by architect George Goldie. [9] The oldest extant Catholic church is that of St George, which was built in 1850 to a design by architect Joseph Hansom.
All Saints RC School (on Nunnery Lane and Mill Mount)is the only Catholic Secondary School in the city and the largest in the county at large, it was the first catholic school to be designed for the education of girls, however is now co-educational but is still an integral part of the Catholic community in the city. [10]
There are three meeting houses of the Religious Society of Friends in York although meetings are held at other venues including The Retreat and University of York. [11]
York has a long association with the Religious Society of Friends, known as the Quakers, and founded two schools in the city Bootham School in 1823 and The Mount in 1831. The Retreat is a large Quaker mental hospital, situated in the east of the city outside the city walls. It was founded in 1796 by William Tuke; over the next century his son Henry Tuke, grandson Samuel Tuke and great-grandson Daniel Hack Tuke also devoted themselves to mental health reform, continuing to reform The Retreat and publishing a number of works on the subject. [12] The York-born Quaker chocolate entrepreneurs and social reformers Joseph Rowntree and Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree left an indelible mark on the city, through both their business interests and their philanthropy. They built the village of New Earswick to provide quality affordable housing for their employees, contributed to the building of York Public Library and the created Rowntree Park. The four Rowntree Trusts, funded from the Rowntree legacies, are based in York. [13]
The York Methodist Circuit is part of the York and Hull District and comprises 36 churches and communities across the city of York and the surrounding area. [14]
Elmfield College (1864–1932) was an important Primitive Methodist college, in Heworth, near York.
In 1932 the York and Whitby District was formed following the unification of the Primitive, Wesleyan and United Methodist churches. This was superseded by the York and Hull District in 1957 as part of a nationwide re-modelling of Methodist Districts. [15]
A Unitarian chapel is located on St Saviorgate near the town centre. Its origins are found in the building of a chapel on that site in 1689.
York had an significant Jewish population during the Middle Ages, but the massacre of 1190 constituted such a calamity that a question remains as to whether Jewish authorities ever issued an official ban precluding Jews from residing in the city. [16] No Jewish community of note existed until the late 19th century when a few European Jews settled in the town and formed a congregation that met regularly in Aldwalk. By 1968, the community had dwindled with only 45 Jews being recorded and the synagogue formally closed in 1975. [17] In 2014, a Liberal community was established. [18]
As of 2007, there was one mosque in York which also contained a UK Islamic Mission Islamic centre. [19] This has since been replaced by a purpose built mosque which opened in 2018. [20]
Various Buddhist traditions are represented in and around York.
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss. It is the county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a minster, castle, and city walls. It is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of the wider City of York district.
Host desecration is a form of sacrilege in Christian denominations that follow the doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It involves the mistreatment or malicious use of a consecrated host—the bread used in the Eucharistic service of the Divine Liturgy or Mass. It is forbidden by the Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox Churches, as well as in certain Protestant traditions. In Catholicism, where the host is held to have been transubstantiated into the body of Jesus Christ, host desecration is one of the gravest sins. Intentional host desecration incurs the penalty of excommunication latae sententiae. Throughout history, a number of groups have been accused of desecrating the Eucharist, often with grave consequences due to the spiritual importance of the consecrated host.
Eboracum was a fort and later a city in the Roman province of Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the Western Roman Empire and ultimately developed into the present-day city of York, in North Yorkshire, England.
William Tuke, an English tradesman, philanthropist and Quaker, earned fame for promoting more humane custody and care for people with mental disorders, using what he called gentler methods that came to be known as moral treatment. He played a big part in founding The Retreat at Lamel Hill, York, for treating mental-health needs. He and his wife Esther Maud backed strict adherence to Quaker principles. He was an abolitionist, a patron of the Bible Society, and an opponent of the East India Company's inhumane practices.
Modern-day Birmingham's cultural diversity is reflected in the wide variety of religious beliefs of its citizens. In the 2021 census, 70% of residents identified themselves as belonging to a particular faith, while 24% stated they had no religion and a further 6% did not answer the question.
The Retreat, commonly known as the York Retreat, is a place in England for the treatment of people with mental health needs. Located in Lamel Hill in York, it operates as a not for profit charitable organisation.
London has centres of worship for many faiths. According to the 2021 Census, the largest religious groupings are Christians (40.66%), followed by those of no religion (27.05%), Muslims (14.99%), no response (7%), Hindus (5.15%), Jews (1.65%), Sikhs (1.64%), Buddhists (1.0%), and others (0.9%).
The history of York, England, as a city dates to the beginning of the first millennium AD but archaeological evidence for the presence of people in the region of York dates back much further to between 8000 and 7000 BC. As York was a town in Roman times, its Celtic name is recorded in Roman sources ; after 400, Angles took over the area and adapted the name by folk etymology to Old English Eoforwīc or Eoforīc, which means "wild-boar town" or "rich in wild-boar". The Vikings, who took over the area later, in turn adapted the name by folk etymology to Norse Jórvík meaning "wild-boar bay", 'jór' being a contraction of the Old Norse word for wild boar, 'jǫfurr'. The modern Welsh name is Efrog.
The Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca or Ibn Shoshan Synagogue is a museum and former synagogue in Toledo, Spain. Erected in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century, it is disputably considered the oldest synagogue building in Europe still standing. The building was converted to a Catholic church in the early 15th century.
Religion in England is characterised by a variety of beliefs and practices that has historically been dominated by Christianity. Christianity remains the largest religion, though as of the 2021 census, there is an increasing variety of beliefs, with irreligious people outnumbering each of the religions. The Church of England is the nation's established state church, whose supreme governor is the monarch. Other Christian traditions in England include Roman Catholicism, Methodism, Presbyterianism, Mormonism, and the Baptists. After Christianity, the religions with the most adherents are Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism, Buddhism, modern paganism, and the Bahá'í Faith. There are also organisations promoting irreligion, including humanism and atheism. According to the 2021 census, Shamanism is the fastest growing religion in England.
The Tuke family of York were a family of Quaker innovators involved in establishing:
Jerusalem in the Middle Ages was a major Byzantine metropolis from the 4th century CE before the advent on the early Islamic period in the 7th century saw it become the regional capital of Jund Filastin under successive caliphates. In the later Islamic period it went on to experience a period of more contested ownership, war and decline. Muslim rule was interrupted for a period of about 200 years by the Crusades and the establishment of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem. At the tail end of the Medieval period, the city was ceded to the Ottomans in 1517, who maintained control of it until the British took it in 1917.
The Borthwick Institute for Archives is the specialist archive service of the University of York, York, England. It is one of the biggest archive repositories outside London. The Borthwick was founded in 1953 as The Borthwick Institute of Historical Research. It was originally based at St Anthony's Hall, a fifteenth-century guild hall on Peasholme Green, in central York. Since 2005 it has been based in a purpose-built building, situated adjacent to the JB Morrell Library on the University of York's Heslington West campus. This new building was made possible due to a grant of £4.4 million by the Heritage Lottery Fund and designed by Leach Rhodes Walker and Buro Happold.
Christianity is the largest religion in Benin, with substantial populations of Muslims and adherents of traditional faiths. According to the most recent 2020 estimate, the population of Benin is 52.2% Christian, 24.6% Muslim, 17.9% traditionalist and 5.3% follows other faiths or has no religion.
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy.
Religion in Kerala is diverse. According to 2011 census of India figures, 54.73% of Kerala's population are Hindus, 26.56% are Muslims, 18.38% are Christians, and the remaining 0.33% follow other religions or have no religion. As of 2020, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and others account for 41.5%, 43.9%, 13.9% and 0.7% of the total child births in the state, respectively.
More than 60 percent of Berlin residents have no registered religious affiliation. As of 2010, at least 30 percent of the population identified with some form of Christianity, approximately 8.1 percent were Muslim, 1 percent were Jewish, and 1 percent belonged to other religions. As of 2022, the number of registered church members has shrunk to 15 percent for EKD Protestants and 9 percent for Catholics.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of York, North Yorkshire in northern England.
The Jewish authorities I have consulted appear to disagree as to whether residence in York has ever been subject to an official ban (herem)