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Middleham is a small market town and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in Wensleydale, in the Yorkshire Dales, on the north-facing side of the valley just above the junction of the River Ure and River Cover. There has been a settlement there since Roman times. It was recorded in the ''Domesday Book'' as "Medelai". The name means "middle ''ham'' or village". ==History== The first known settlement at Middleham was during the Roman Era. The IXth Legion of the Roman Army conquered York in 69 AD and moved north. A branch road from the Great North Road passed through Middleham to the Roman fort at Bainbridge. Near Middleham, the Romans built a guard station to control traffic on the River Ure.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=A Pilgrimage to Middleham and Richard's North Country )〕 Before the Norman Conquest the lands in this area were controlled by Gilpatrick. In 1069, William the Conqueror granted the land around Middleham to his Breton double-second cousin Alan Rufus who built a wooden motte-and-bailey castle above the town. By the time of the Domesday Inquest in 1086, Alan had given this castle to his brother Ribald. Its earthworks are still visible at "William's Hill". Alan also built the castle at Richmond. The castle that currently dominates the town, Middleham Castle, was started in 1190. The Nevilles, Earls of Westmoreland, acquired it through marriage with a female descendant of Ribald in the 13th century. It was called the "Windsor of the North". The castle was in the possession of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick when his cousin Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future Richard III ) came there to learn the skills of knighthood in 1462. During the Wars of the Roses, both Edward IV and Henry VI were held prisoner here. Richard, Duke of Gloucester became master of the castle in 1471 after Warwick's death at the Battle of Barnet. Richard used the castle as his political base as he administered the North for his brother Edward IV. Richard married Warwick's daughter, Anne Neville, in 1472. Middleham Castle is where their son Edward was born (c. 1473) and where he died in April 1484. Richard III died in August 1485 in the Battle of Bosworth. He was the last reigning King of England to die in battle.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Middleham Castle )〕 At the time of Richard III, Middleham was a bustling market town and important political centre . As early as 1389 the lord of Middleham Manor received a grant from the crown to hold a weekly market in the town and a yearly fair on the feast of St Alkelda the Virgin.〔Chart. R. 11–13 Ric. II, m. 21; cf. Cal. Pat. 1436–41〕 The town is built around two marketplaces, the larger, lower market is dominated by a mediaeval cross which is topped by a modern iron cross in the Celtic style. The upper, or swine market, centres around the remains of a 15th-century market cross and a line of steps. At one end of the market cross is a worn effigy of an animal reclining and at the other there may have been a moulded capital. Most buildings in the old part of Middleham were built after 1600, though the old rectory has some mediaeval elements incorporated into it.〔''A History of the County of York North Riding'': Volume 1, William Page (ed.) 1914〕 In 1607 it is documented that Middleham was important enough to have a Royal Court, and all residents of the forest of Wensleydale fell under its jurisdiction.〔Exch. Dep. Mich. 5 Jas. I, no. 8. The earliest lords claimed the forest of Wensleydale by inheritance (Pipe R. 4 John (); Abbrev. Plac. (Com. ), 74; Coram Rege R. Mich. 12 Hen. III)〕 From the accession of Richard III until Charles I sold the manor to the City of London in about 1628, Middleham and surrounding lands were part of the Crown estates.〔Pat. 4 Chas. I, pt. xxxiii, Roll B.; Cal. Com. for Comp. 2444; Exch. Dep. East. 13 Chas. II, no. 15.〕 In 1661 the City of London sold Middleham Manor to Thomas Wood of Littleton, and it has remained in private hands until today.〔N. and Q. September 1884; Whitaker, ''Richmondshire''〕 In 1915 the yearly livestock market was one of the most important in the North, though the weekly market had fallen into disuse. Today the livestock market has moved to Leyburn. On 5 July 2014, the Tour de France Stage 1 from Leeds to Harrogate passed through the town.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Tour de France Stage 1 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Middleham」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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