This article deals with the history of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. See also Timeline of Glasgow history.
Founding of the city
The present site of Glasgow has been settled since prehistoric times, being the furthest downstream fording point of the River Clyde, at its confluence with the Molendinar Burn. The Romans built outposts in the area and constructed the Antonine Wall to keep Roman Britannia separate from Celtic and Pictish Caledonia. Items from the wall, such as altars from Roman forts, including Balmuildy, can be seen in the Hunterian Museum. After the Romans withdrew from Caledonia, the village was part of the large Kingdom of Strathclyde, whose capital was at Dumbarton downstream. It merged in the 9th century with other regions to create the united Kingdom of Scotland. The origins of Glasgow as an established city derive from its medieval position as Scotland's second largest bishopric. Glasgow increased in importance during the 10th and 11th centuries when this bishopric was reorganised by King David I of Scotland and John, Bishop of Glasgow.
Glasgow Cathedral
By the 12th century Glasgow had been granted the status of what can now be called a city and the cathedral was the seat of the Bishops and (after 1472) the Archbishops of Glasgow. While there may have been wooden buildings on the site, the first stone cathedral was consecrated in about 1136 and replaced by a bigger one which was consecrated in 1197. In the 15th century a private chapel was made to St Machan in the north nave to devolve to the congregation at the death of the founder. Extensions and alterations to the cathedral buildings have continued ever since. The most recent addition was the Millennium Window unveiled on 3 June 1999.
After the Scottish Reformation in 1560, the Catholic rituals ended and the Catholic statues and symbols were removed or painted over. The large Cathedral served three different Presbyterian parishes simultaneously. The choir was used by the Inner High parish. The nave was used by the Outer High parish (later named St. Paul's). The crypt was used by Laigh parish.
University of Glasgow
In 1451, the University of Glasgow was founded by papal bull and established in religious buildings in the precincts of Glasgow Cathedral. By the start of the 16th century, Glasgow had become an important religious and academic city and by the 17th century the university had moved from the cathedral precincts to its own building in the High Street. After 1870 the university attained international stature. The university's teaching quality was assessed in 2009 to be among the top 10 in Britain, along with its reputation as a "research powerhouse."
Trade and the Industrial Revolution
Atlantic trade
By the 16th century, the city's tradesmen and craftsmen had begun to wield significant influence, particularly the Incorporation of Tailors, which in 1604 was the largest guild in Glasgow; members of merchant and craft guilds accounted for about 10% of the population by the 17th century. With the discovery of the Americas and the trade routes it opened up, Glasgow was ideally placed to become an important trading centre with the River Clyde providing access to the city and the rest of Scotland for merchant shipping. However, Scottish trade opportunities were hampered when the Parliament of England passed the Navigation Acts in 1651, proscribing non-English shipping from trading with the English overseas possessions and transporting goods from non-European nations to England or its colonies. Scotland's loss of the colony of Nova Scotia as a result of the Anglo-French War of 1627–1629 also hampered Scottish trade. A second attempt at a Scottish colony, the Darien scheme, ended in disaster, bankrupting the country in 1700. However, Scottish merchants were undeterred by the Navigation Acts, continuing small-scale smuggling with English colonies until the Act of Union in 1707.
Access to the Atlantic Ocean allowed the import of slave-produced cash crops such as American tobacco and cotton along with Caribbean sugar into Glasgow, which were then further exported throughout Europe. These imports flourished after 1707, when union with England made the trade legal. By 1760, Glasgow had outstripped London as the main port for tobacco in the Kingdom of Great Britain. The American War of Independence put an end to most American trade, leading to financial ruin for some; trade turned to sugar, which largely came from slave plantations in the Caribbean.