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Bible Encyclopedias
Lancaster
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or See Lancaster (disambiguation) for articles sharing the titleconfirmation and extension (1362) is issued to the mayor, bailiffs and commonalty. Edward III.'s charter was confirmed by Richard II. (1389), Henry IV. (1400), Henry V. (1421), Henry VII. (1488) and Elizabeth (1563). James I. (1604) and Charles II. (1665 and 1685) ratified, with certain additions, all previous charters, and again in 1819 a similar confirmation was issued. John of Gaunt in 1362 obtained a charter for the exclusive right of holding the sessions of pleas for the county in Lancaster itself, and up to 1873 the duchy appointed a chief justice and a puisne justice for the court of common pleas at Lancaster. In 1322 the Scots burnt the town, the castle alone escaping; the town was rebuilt but removed from its original position on the hill to the slope and foot. Again in 1389, after the battle of Otterburn, it was destroyed by the same enemy. At the outbreak of the Great Rebellion the burgesses sided with the king, and the town and castle were captured in February 1643 by the Parliamentarians. In March 1643 Lord Derby assaulted and took the town with great slaughter, but the castle remained in the hands of the Parliamentarians. In May and June of the same year the castle was again besieged in vain, and in 1648 the Royalists under Sir Thomas Tyldesley once more fruitlessly besieged it. During the rebellion of 1715 the northern rebels occupied Lancaster for two days and several of them were later executed here. During the 1745 rebellion Prince Charles Edward's army passed through the town in its southward march and again in its retreat, but the inhabitants stood firm for the Hanoverians.
Two chartered markets are held weekly on Wednesday and Saturday and three annual fairs in April, July and October. A merchant gild existed here, which was ratified by Edward III.'s charter (5362), and in 1688 six trade companies were incorporated. The chief manufactures used to be sailcloth, cabinet furniture, candles and cordage. The borough returned two members to parliament from 1295 to 1331 and again from some time in Henry VIII.'s reign before 1529 till 1867, when it was merged in the Lancaster division of north Lancashire. A church existed here, probably on the site of the parish church of St Mary's, in Anglo-Saxon times, but the present church dates from the early 15th century. An act of parliament was passed in 1792 to make the canal from Kendal through Lancaster and Preston, which is carried over the Lune about a mile above Lancaster by a splendid aqueduct.
See Fleury, Time-Honoured Lancaster (1891); E. Baines, History of Lancashire (1888).
These files are public domain.
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Lancaster'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/bri/l/lancaster.html. 1910.
