Yorkshire Almanac The wooden bridge over the Ouse collapses under the crowd welcoming Archbishop William of York back from Rome

8 May 1154: The wooden bridge over the Ouse collapses under the crowd welcoming Archbishop William of York back from Rome

John Morris. 1877. John Mush’s Life of Margaret Clitherow. The Troubles of Our Catholic Forefathers Related by Themselves. London: Burns and Oates. Get it:

Unedited excerpt

If an excerpt is used in the book, it will be shorter, edited and, where applicable, translated.

The river Ouse divides the city of York into two parts, and until lately there was but one bridge over it, which taking its name from the river was called Ousebridge. While England was Catholic this bridge had an interest for the faithful from a grace that was attributed to the prayers of St. William. The whole city had gone out to meet the Archbishop on his return from Rome on the feast of the Ascension, May 8, 1154. The Saint preceding the crowd had crossed over the old wooden bridge, and as the people were following in multitudes, the bridge gave way under the pressure, and the mass of the people, including many women and children, fell into the stream. St. William made the sign of the Cross over them and prayed, and not a single life was lost. A chapel in honour of the Saint was built upon the bridge, and the building was not taken down till very recent times. It had a beautiful Norman doorway and an early English window of three lancets, but its beauty and associations did not save it from desecration at the Reformation, at which time it became an Exchange for merchants. It was utterly destroyed when the bridge was pulled down in 1809.

Ascension Day is on 14 May 2026.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Comment

Morris’ appears to improve on Drake, who he quotes:

Stone bridges coming soon after into use, ours seems to take its date from about the year 1235, for I find that Walter Gray, then Archbishop, granted a brief for the rebuilding of Ousebridge, most probably of stone, by charitable contributions. Anno 1268 I read an account of the origin of a chapel on Ousebridge in the Collectanea, when there was a peace and agreement made with John Comyn, a Scotch nobleman, and the citizens of York (mediantibus regibus Angliae et Scotiae) for a fray which had happened upon the bridge and wherein several of John Comyn’s servants had been slain. The said lord was to receive three hundred pound, and the citizens were obliged to build a chapel on the place where the slaughter was made, and to find two priests to celebrate for the souls of the slain for ever. How long they continued to pray for the souls of these Scots, or whether this is not the chapel which was dedicated to St. William, I know not (Drake 1736).

Physician, heal thyself – William died exactly a month later, allegedly poisoned.

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Comment

Morris’ appears to improve on Drake, who he quotes:

Stone bridges coming soon after into use, ours seems to take its date from about the year 1235, for I find that Walter Gray, then Archbishop, granted a brief for the rebuilding of Ousebridge, most probably of stone, by charitable contributions. Anno 1268 I read an account of the origin of a chapel on Ousebridge in the Collectanea, when there was a peace and agreement made with John Comyn, a Scotch nobleman, and the citizens of York (mediantibus regibus Angliae et Scotiae) for a fray which had happened upon the bridge and wherein several of John Comyn’s servants had been slain. The said lord was to receive three hundred pound, and the citizens were obliged to build a chapel on the place where the slaughter was made, and to find two priests to celebrate for the souls of the slain for ever. How long they continued to pray for the souls of these Scots, or whether this is not the chapel which was dedicated to St. William, I know not (Drake 1736).

Physician, heal thyself – William died exactly a month later, allegedly poisoned.

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Similar

15 March 1586: Offered a jury acquittal, Margaret Clitherow of York, concealer of priests, chooses martyrdom and is crushed under her own front door

6 January 1565: The bridge over the Ouse at York collapses

20 September 1319: During the Anglo-Scottish wars, seasoned raiders encounter an improvised Yorkshire home guard of clergy, peasants and officials at Myton-on-Swale

29 May 1405: On Shipton Moor, the Earl of Westmorland, acting for Henry IV, tricks the Archbishop of York and the Duke of Norfolk, rebellious defenders of York’s rights and purses

29 August 1570: On arriving in Yorkshire, Archbishop Grindal declares war on bloody-minded folk-Catholicism

26 December 1570: Edmund Grindal, Puritan archbishop of York, orders the removal of rood-lofts (and their superstitious images), and the erection of pulpits

8 May 1849: Amid revelations of fraud at the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, Richard Nicholson, business partner and brother-in-law of the Railway King, George Hudson, drowns himself in the Ouse at York

12 June 1635: A prominent Puritan finds poor buildings but good beer for Archbishop Richard Neile at Bishopthorpe Palace (York)

7 March 1615: A great thaw begins in York – heavy flooding along the Ouse and Foss, followed by four months drought

25 October 1536: God stands between Henry VIII’s army at Doncaster and a superior force of Catholic rebels from the Pilgrimage of Grace, according to a Tudor chronicler

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Comment

The letter from the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl of Shrewsbury, the Marquess of Exeter etc. to the King from Doncaster (Hoyle 1985) is better and will be used if Taylor & Francis waive their suggested fee of £80.

A good chronology is to be found in Appendix II of Michael Bush’s Pilgrimage of Grace. Some relevant items:

25th October:

Middleward of the pilgrim host moves to Hampole; the van moves to Pickburn, overlooking Doncaster.

Skirmish occurs that morning outside Doncaster, in which government troops are routed, inspiring the Bowes host to consider taking Doncaster immediately. The same day the herald returns with a letter rejecting the pilgrims’ terms and challenging battle unless they disperse. The letter also proposes that, if they disperse, the commanders of the royal army will be suitors for them to the king.

That evening the pilgrims convene a council at Hampole: the wisdom of war or peace is debated. A policy of negotiation prevails. The rebels accept Norfolk’s original proposal for a meeting in Doncaster. That night heavy rain causes the Don to rise, making it unfordable.

26th October: Norfolk reaches Doncaster in the early hours, without his army.
26th and 27th October: Pilgrim host is arrayed before Doncaster at Scawsby Leys.
27th October: First Appointment at Doncaster is made, A truce is agreed whilst the rebels’ five articles are taken to the king by Norfolk accompanied by the pilgrim leaders, Bowes and Ellerker. It is also proposed that there should be a parliament to consider the pilgrims’ grievances and that a general pardon should be granted.
(Bush 1996)

Swainson quotes Brand who, to fit his superstitious narrative, redates the event to the eve of 28 October, the notoriously rainy feast of the Saints Simon and Jude (Swainson 1873). The addition of resonance to events by their post hoc redating to important feasts may have been common, but I haven’t found any analysis of the practice.

I enjoyed Roy Hattersley’s take on this and other stuff in The Catholics (Hattersley 2017).

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