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The North East is one of the nine regions of England that are classified at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and the Tees Valley. The region is home to three large conurbations: Teesside, Wearside, and Tyneside, the latter of which is the largest of the three and the eighth most populous conurbation in the United Kingdom.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Live and Work North East England )〕 There are only three cities in the region; Newcastle upon Tyne is the largest city in the region with a population of just under 280,000 followed by Sunderland, both of which are located in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear. The city of Durham is the county town of County Durham. Other large settlements in the region include Darlington; Gateshead; Hartlepool; Middlesbrough; Redcar; South Shields and Stockton-on-Tees. ==Geography and early history== The region is generally hilly and sparsely populated in the North and West, and urban and arable in the East and South. The highest point in the region is The Cheviot, in the Cheviot Hills, at . The region contains the urban centres of Tyneside, Wearside and Teesside, and is noted for the rich natural beauty of its coastline, Northumberland National Park, and the section of the Pennines that includes Teesdale and Weardale. Its historic importance is very visible by Northumberland's ancient castles, the two World Heritage Sites of Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle, and Hadrian's Wall. In fact Roman archaeology can be found widely across the region and a special exhibitions based around the Roman Fort of Segedunum at Wallsend〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Segedunum,Where Roman Life Begins )〕 and the other forts along Hadrian's Wall are supplemented by the numerous artifacts that are displayed in the Great North Museum Hancock〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Great North Museum Hancock, Roman Empire )〕 in Newcastle.St. Peter's Church in Monkwearmouth, Sunderland and St. Pauls in Jarrow also hold significant historical value and have a joint bid to become a World Heritage Site. The area has a strong religious past, as can be seen in works such as the Lindisfarne Gospels and the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Lindisfarne Gospels )〕 The work of the 7th-century Cuthbert (634–687 AD), Bede (673–735 AD) and Hilda of Whitby (614–680 AD) being hugely influential in the early church and are still venerated today.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=St Cuthbert Reburied in Durham Cathedral )〕 These saints are usually associated with the monasteries on the island of Lindisfarne, Wearmouth – Jarrow, and the Abbey at Whitby but they are also associated to many other religious sites in the region. Bede is regarded as the greatest Anglo-Saxon scholar. Working his whole life at the monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow where he translated some forty books on all areas of knowledge, including nature, history, astronomy, poetry and theological matters such as the lives of the saints. His best known work is "The Ecclesiastical History of the English People".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Venerable Bede )〕 One of the most famous pieces of both art and literature created in the region are "The Lindisfarne Gospels" thought to be the work of a monk named Eadfrith, who became Bishop of Lindisfarne in 698 and died in 721 AD. This body of work is thought to have been done in honour of Cuthbert and created around 710–720 AD.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Lindisfarne Gospels )〕 The arrival of the Vikings on 6 June 793 AD on the shores of Northeast England, was an unprecedented attack that shocked the whole of Europe, a raiding party from Norway attacked the monastic settlement on Lindisfarne. The monks fled or were slaughtered while Bishop Higbald sought refuge on the mainland and a chronicler recorded- "On the 8th June, the harrying of the heathen miserably destroyed God's church by rapine and slaughter." British history changed forever that day and three hundred years of Viking raids, battles and settlement were to persist until William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at Hastings in 1066. The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' notes the change from raiding to settlement when it records that in 876 the Vikings "Shared out the land of the Northumbrians and they proceeded to plough and support themselves" The Viking kingdom of "Northumbria" was an area spreading from the Scottish borders (then Pictish borders) at the Firth of Forth to the north, and to the south of York, its capital, down to the Humber. The last independent Northumbrian king from 947–8 was Eric Bloodaxe who died in battle at the Battle of Stainmore, Cumbria, in 954. After Eric Bloodaxe's death, all England was ruled by Eadred the grandson of Alfred the Great and so began the machinery of national government. Today the Viking legacy can still be found in the language and place names of Northeast England and in the DNA of its people. The name Newcastle comes from the new castle built shortly after their conquest in 1080 by Robert Curthose, William the Conqueror's eldest son. 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「North East England」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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