Meanwhile, on another world, where a very different hierarchy of nations exists.

It is worth bearing in mind, when considering the history of the role of banks in the development of the Commonwealth of Yorkshire, the old proverb. “Wherever two Yorkshiremen meet and discuss, they will always go away with three different opinions.” By the time of the formation of the great First Bank of Yorkshire, the nation was already established as a leader amongst the squabbling nations of the British clans. Many of the minor tribes were nominally under the control of the Commonwealth, and it was said that you could ride from Edinburgh to Cardiff without leaving the Aegis of Yorkshire. So long as you went round Birmingham.

The First Bank was formed with the noblest of intentions, and for four hundred years the constitution was the leading light of life across the Commonwealth. Branches were opened across the land, and this has often been described as the Golden Age of banking in Yorkshire. The country prospered, and the great families of Yorkshire grew rich.

With the dawn of the Civil War, however, strife hit the Bank. At first avowedly neutral, elements within the board were drawn into the war on both the Royalist side supporting the High King of Yorkshire, and the Republican forces, bankrolled by the merchant princes of Lancaster. With this, considered by some to be a betrayal of the standards the bank stood for, the seed of division were sown. Soon, two opposing banking powers stood. Operating out of York, with close ties to the royal court, the Royal Bank of Yorkshire, and across the Pennines, the Bank of Yorkshire, which some felt was more than incorrectly named.

Thus began the Great Schism. The royalists seized control of the East coast ports, from Berwick to Hull, forcing all trade with the Republic to go via Scotland or the South. Much of the West Riding fell to the republicans in the early years of the war. The royalists, taking on Scottish mercenaries, proceeded to recapture Leeds, driving a wedge of power into the republican lines.

With the recapture of Leeds, the Royal Bank was again hit by Schism. There were many on the board who were heavily influenced by the suffering in the republican ruled towns, who called for further investment into these areas. This lead to two groups of investors splitting off from the Royal Bank to found both the Yorkshire Rebuilding Society and the Leeds Rebuilding Society. These were divided on ideological lines as to where the majority of the investment should go.

Meanwhile, across the country, in the Merchant Republic of Lancashire, the Bank of Yorkshire was suffering problems of its own. A tendency towards individual liberty and personal gain had lead the Merchant Princes to divide up the bank’s assets between the most important cities. In quick succession, we saw the foundation of Independent Banks in Lancaster, Blackpool, Preston, and to the south, Liverpool and Manchester. These banking children, founded on the spoils of the Bank of Yorkshire, feasted on their mother, until the hollow shell of the Bank of Yorkshire collapsed.

As the tottering banks across the west coast began to fall, the armies of the High King swept in, and in their wake, a host of other Rebuilding Societies arose, each propped up by investment from local families of note. The Royal Bank of Yorkshire reformed into the Second Royal Bank of Yorkshire, in a move much questioned by historians. It seems to have been a mistake caused by an unfriendly takeover bid from the Skipton Rebuilding Society.

The few remaining Merchant banks in the west, in Blackpool and Manchester, also went through stringent reforms in the wake of the Royalist victory. The supporters of the Merchant Banks went underground, and the public faces became the Reformed Royal Bank of Yorkshire, based in Blackpool, and again poorly named, and the United Reformed Western Bank, based in Manchester, and operating as both a bank and a rebuilding society.

I could talk for many more hours on the subject, and in recent years many other banks and rebuilding societies have arisen. It is worth mentioning in passing, the Evangelical and God-Fearing Bank of Bradford and Skipton, which is doing such good missionary work in Africa, and the Mercantile Banks of America, which have their roots in the underground movements of the Merchant Banks in Lancaster and Preston. The great Mercantile Bank of New York and Washington still trades under the red rose of Lancaster.

But time grows short, and I need to return to York tonight. The High King has commissioned me to write a work on the subject, which I shall certainly have published and broadcast across the Commonwealth, and possibly even to the Petty Kingdoms of Wessex. Good morning.