This week we welcome back Danny Friar, one of our most popular guest authors, who offers a sequel to his important previous work looking at hidden, underwritten and marginalised histories in Georgian Yorkshire…

It has been around a year since I last contributed as a guest author on the Secret Library Leeds blog so I thought I would return with another instalment of the ‘I Was Here’ series. Last time I discussed diversity in Yorkshire during the Georgian period (1714 – 1837). This time I thought I’d go back even further and look at diversity in Medieval Yorkshire. 

The Medieval period, or the Middle Ages, is usually considered to be the period between 500 CE and 1500 CE. This is a large chunk of time spanning a thousand years so for this blog post I wanted to mainly concentrate on the second half of the period, which still gives us 500 years of history to look at. We often think of the Medieval period in England as being very White, very male, very straight, and very Christian but that isn’t always the case. Recent movies like Last Knights (2015) and Robin Hood (2018) and TV shows such as Vikings (2013) and The Last Kingdom (2015) are beginning to shift the narrative. For those of us who like are Medieval drama with a touch of fantasy; Game of Thrones (2011) and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022) are doing the same.

Sex and gender in Medieval Yorkshire were just as complex as they are today. For example, there were plenty of sexual relationships that took place before marriage. In Wakefield in 1316, every young woman in the manor was fined for either having premarital sex or for being married without a licence. There was also sex outside of marriage. In 1316 the Wakefield Manor Court summoned John Kenward of Hepworth to account for living adulterously with Alice, daughter of Simon de Hepworth, and driving his wife from his house. There were also those who decided to give up sex for religious reasons. William de Sibbilton and his wife Isolde made such a vow in York in 1321. Maintaining chastity proved difficult for some monks and nuns. Immersion in cold water was a popular practice used to suppress sexual urges. During the 12^th Century, Aelred of Rievaulx Abbey had a special underground chamber constructed for this purpose. In 1346 the Archbishop of York permanently expelled a nun named Margaret, of Nunappleton, who left the convent pregnant and was a repeat offender.

Some religious men and women had the additional challenge of suppressing their homosexuality. Alcuin of York was a deacon in the church and a teacher in York in the 750s and was considered among the most important intellectuals of his time. His writings suggest same sex desires. While we can’t say for certain that Alcuin of York was homosexual, we do find documented evidence of homosexual men living in Medieval Yorkshire. The earliest known example comes from church court records and is dated to 1321; making it one of the earliest documented cases of homosexuality in England. Thomas, the rector of Lowthorpe, was brought up on the charge of sodomy with Roger Pell of Hedon. We don’t know the outcome of the case but a later example gives us an idea of what may have happened. In 1407 Richard Benet, a chaplain of Langtoft, was brought before the church court of York. He was accused of sodomy with several men. Russeton Schyphyrd, George Salvayn and Andrea Raper of Kilham were all mentioned in the case. John Britby’s punishment was deposition and the loss of benefice as well as humiliating public penance.

The laws that forbid homosexual acts and the courts that punished homosexual men were Catholic. During the Medieval period Christianity was the dominate religion across England but it wasn’t the only religion practised. York had a reasonably large Jewish community in the 12^th Century. A leading member of the community was Benedict of York, a wealthy moneylender. He was considered the second-greatest moneylender in York after Josce of York. Both men attended the coronation of King Richard I in 1189. Aaron of York, the son of Josce, became the chief rabbi of England in 1237. A series of anti-Semitic attacks across the country in 1189 and 1190 resulted in the death of many of the Jews in England. The worst of these attacks took place in York where around 150 Jewish people, approximately York’s entire Jewish community, were killed at Clifford’s Tower in March 1190. The Jewish community in York managed to recover from the 1190 massacre and by 1218 more Jewish migrants had arrived to reform the community in York. One Jewish man in York, Leo Episcopus, was considered to be among the richest Jews in England. The Jewish community in York prospered and in 1255 they were paying more tax than any other Jewish community in England. During this period, a synagogue stood on Coney Street, making it one of the first in England. Coney Street was at the heart of the Jewish community in York and around 40 Jewish households lived in the area in the mid-13^th Century.  As attitudes towards Jewish people changed, attempts were made to reduce England’s Jewish population. After a failed attempt to convert England’s entire Jewish population, Edward I expelled 3,000 Jews to Northern France in 1290. By 1290 only six Jewish households remained in York.

We also find the earliest evidence for Muslims living in England during this period, including at least one in Yorkshire. A man named Mohmet was recorded as living in Newton-on-Ouse near York in 1327. He appears in records when Edward III issued him and six other men with a pardon for “offenses in Ireland”. Mohmet’s background isn’t stated; he may have come to England from the Middle East or North Africa or even southern Europe which still had a large Muslim population in the 14^th Century. Therefore, Mohmet may have been Middle Eastern or African. He may have even come from as far as the Mali Empire in West Africa where Mansa Musa, the wealthiest person in history, ruled.

There is also evidence to suggest that other Africans came to settle in Medieval Yorkshire, going back to the 10^th Century. One African, or mixed-race man, was living in York during the 10^th Century when the city was occupied by Danish Vikings. His burial provides us with some details of his life. His remains show that, although he was of African heritage, he was probably born in northern Europe and had perhaps grown-up in York. He was in general good health and his cause of death is unknown. He was over 46 years old when he died and was buried in the grounds of St Benet’s Church. The oak coffin he was buried in suggests he was a man of some status.

Immigrants from across the world were arriving in Yorkshire throughout the Medieval period. However, a majority came from Europe. It is believed that by the 10^th Century, Yorkshire had a more diverse population than other parts of England.  10th Century rulers of Northumbria included the Norwegians Olaf Sihtricson and Eric Bloodaxe. In the 11^th Century, Yorkshire was home to Ulf or Ulphus, the son of Thorald. Ulf was a wealthy nobleman and landowner who donated land to St Peter’s Church in York before 1086. A deeply religious man, Ulf had gone on pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the 1060s. It was perhaps during his travels the Ulf acquired a carved African elephant tusk, ‘The Horn of Ulf’, which still remains in York Minster.

Later records provide the names of 247 immigrants living in West Yorkshire in the 15^th Century. A large number of them were French. For example, Peter Francheman was employed as a servant to Walter Calverley of Calverley in the 1440s. Another French servant was William Frauchen who was employed by John Tymbyll of Leeds around the same time. Other French immigrants included Joie Standisch who lived in Chapel Allerton in 1440 and Massy Manet who was living in Adel in 1470.  There were also a number of Scottish immigrants living in West Yorkshire including John Horner, William Broune and William Theker who all lived in the village of Harewood in 1440. Gilbert Shadwell was an Irish immigrant living in Shadwell in the 1440s and in Ossett around the same time was an Icelandic woman named Elgan.  

All these people deserve to be remembered and they deserve to take their rightful place in history. They remind us that Yorkshire has always been diverse, even a thousand years ago, and it is that diversity that has shaped our region. They were here, and while they may have been forgotten or ignored in the past, we can honour them and celebrate them now.

Has Danny’s article inspired you to start similar research into the lives of people in your community’s history? Pop into or contact us at the Local and Family History department of the Central Library and we can help get you started!

Or check out our library catalogue from the comfort of your own home to discover our rich collection of books on Yorkshire’s past.

Previous content on the Secret Library Leeds, including Danny’s other articles, might also help you find some new avenues of enquiry.