page_title: Lancaster, Lancashire
section_title: Medieval
hierarchical_section_title: Lancaster, Lancashire / History / Medieval
caption_attribution_description: English: Lancaster from Lune Bank, Skerton by Gideon Yates See: http://collections.lancsmuseums.gov.uk/narratives/narrative.php?irn=135 for details
context_page_description: Lancaster is a cathedral city and the county town of Lancashire, England. It stands on the River Lune and has a population of 52,234. The wider City of Lancaster local government district has a population of 138,375. The House of Lancaster was a branch of the English royal family, whilst the Duchy of Lancaster holds large estates on behalf of Elizabeth II, who is also the Duke of Lancaster. As an ancient settlement, it is marked by Lancaster Castle, Lancaster Priory Church, Lancaster Cathedral and the Ashton Memorial. It is home to Lancaster University and has a campus of the University of Cumbria.
context_section_description: Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Lancaster fell under the control of William I, as stated in the Domesday Book of 1086, which is the earliest known mention of Lancaster in any document. The founding charter of the Priory, dated 1094, is the first known document which is specific to Lancaster. By this time William had given Lancaster and its surrounding region to Roger de Poitou. This document also suggests that the monastery had been refounded as a parish church at some point before 1066.
  Lancaster became a borough in 1193 under King Richard I. Its first charter, dated 12 June 1193, was from John, Count of Mortain, who later became King of England.
  Lancaster Castle, partly built in the 13th century and enlarged by Elizabeth I, stands on the site of a Roman garrison. Lancaster Castle is well known as the site of the Pendle witch trials in 1612. It was said that the court based in the castle (the Lancaster Assizes) sentenced more people to be hanged than any other in the country outside London, earning Lancaster the nickname, "the Hanging Town". Lancaster also figured prominently in the suppression of Catholicism during the reformation with the execution of at least eleven Catholic priests. A memorial to the Lancaster Martyrs is located close to the city centre.
  The traditional emblem for the House of Lancaster is a red rose, the Red Rose of Lancaster, similar to that of the House of York, which is a white rose. These names derive from the emblems of the Royal Duchies of Lancaster and York in the 15th century. This erupted into a civil war over rival claims to the throne during the Wars of the Roses.
  In more recent times, the term "Wars of the Roses" has been applied to rivalry in sports between teams representing Lancashire and Yorkshire, not just the cities of Lancaster and York. It is also applied to the Roses Tournament in which Lancaster and York universities compete every year.
  Lancaster gained its first charter in 1193 as a market town and borough, but was not given city status until 1937. Many buildings in the city centre and along St. George's Quay date from the 19th century, built as the port became one of the busiest in the UK and the fourth most important in the UK's slave trade. One prominent Lancaster slave-trader was Dodshon Foster. However, Lancaster's role as a major port was short-lived, as the river began to silt up. Morecambe, Glasson Dock and Sunderland Point served as Lancaster's port for brief periods. Heysham now serves as the district's main port.
caption: Lancaster in the 19th century
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