The Siege of York was a major siege action of the First English Civil War which occurred from 22 April to 16 July 1644 when an allied English Parliamentarian and Scottish Presbyterian army besieged and captured the major Royalist stronghold of York. Gradually tightening the siege, the Parliamentarians pushed the defenders back to the medieval walls. After a failed relief attempt, which resulted in the battle of Marston Moor, the situation became hopeless and the city was surrendered.
Background[]
At the start of 1644, the Presbyterian Scottish Covenanters invaded Northern England in alliance with the English Parliamentarians, besieging the major Royalist stronghold of Newcastle upon Tyne. On hearing of this, the Marquess of Newcastle hurried north through Yorkshire through a succession of blizzards and threw himself into Newcastle upon Tyne with just 12 hours to spare before the arrival of the Scots. Taking advantage of Newcastle's difficulties in the north, the Parliamentarian general Thomas Fairfax stormed Selby in Yorkshire on 11 April 1644. Hearing the news that Fairfax was again in action, Newcastle rushed southwards to sercure York. The Scottish army left behind a token force to contain the local Royalists in Newcaslte upon Tyne, and moved south to join Fairfax against the Marquess of Newcastle. Meanwhile, the Earl of Manchester brought the Eastern Association army up from Lincolnshire to tighten the net. Newcastle was therefore trapped with his forces in York by three allied armies.
While York was besieged, Manchester's army stormed Lincoln in May, removing the last Royalist garrison in the area. On 3 June, Manchester's army joined the siege of York. In June 1644, Prince Rupert of the Rhine led an army from Lancashire to relieve York after receiving a letter from King Charles I with vague instructions which he believed meant bringing the allies to battle and destroying them. On 30 June, the Parliamentarians and Scots temporarily abandoned the siege and moved to Marston Moor to confront Rupert's weary army, and the 2 July 1644 Battle of Marston Moor saw the decisive defeat of Prince Rupert's army. The stragglers and fugitives from Rupert's army made their way into York, and Rupert led his 5,000 horse and a few hundred foot out of the city on 4 July, intent on reinforcing his uncle, King Charles, at Oxford. Newcastle considered the situation hopeless and sailed from Scarborough with his senior officers to go into exile on continental Europe, leaving Thomas Glemham as Governor of York. The siege was resumed on 5 July, and Glemham surrendered on 16 July. His garrison was permitted to march to Richmond and Carlisle with their arms and colors, and most deserted within a few days. Lord Fairfax was made Governor of York by Parliament, and he prevented the religious zealots within the Covenanter and Parliamentarian armies to vandalize York Minster or the city's many other churches.