The history of Newcastle dates from about AD120, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or ‘Bridge of Aelius’, Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably wooden on stone supports. Hadrian, himself landed at the site in AD122 and a shrine was set up to Neptune and Oceanus on the completed bridge in AD123. The Romans built a stone-walled fort in AD150 to protect the river crossing and this took the name of the bridge, so the settlement became known as ‘Pons Aelius’. Less than fifty years later the Roman Empire in the west came to an end and the Roman troops stationed on the Wall and in Pons Aelius were recalled.

The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about AD500 but there was no Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The seventh century became known as the ‘Golden Age of Northumbria’, when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based the Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne and Wear valley was dotted with monasteries and the Venerable Bede was based in an estate that is believed now to be Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, and in 875 a Danish army attacked and pillaged Monkchester.

After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, Northumbria offered great resistance to the Normans. Twice in the following years they rebelled and marched on York only to be suppressed by William on both occasions. In 1080, William Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham was brutally murdered in Gateshead. In response the Bishop of Bayeux, William’s half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the ‘Harrying of the North’. The devastation was so complete that there are no entries in the Doomsday Book for the northern counties. However, William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a ‘New Castle’. It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name.

Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress as the border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries. The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These twelve guilds were cartels formed within different trades that restricted trade to guild members. In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a “county of itself” with a right to have a sheriff of its own.

The Scottish border wars continued for much of the sixteenth century, and during the Reformation in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. The plague visited Newcastle four times during the sixteenth century killing a large percentage of the population.

In 1640 the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle and trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1941 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town. In 1642 the English Civil War began and King Charlse garrisoned Newcastle. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade, greatly damaging the cities economy. In 1644 the Scots crossed the border and Newcastle strengthened its defenses in preparation. The Scottish army besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison surrendered. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defense, Charles gave Newcastle the motto ‘Fortiter Defendit Triumphans’ to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months.

In 1985 James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James’ mandate was suspended in 1698 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.

In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793. Newcastle also became the greatest glass producer in the world. In 1715, during the Jacobite rising, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels and this proved enough to delay the attack until reinforcements arrived. In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. The defenses of Newcastle were too great for them so they continued south and were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746. Newcastle’s actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, is the most likely source of the nickname ‘Geordie’.

Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the partnership of Richard Grainger and John Dobson. Dobson was an architect with great drive and vision whilst Grainger was a builder of unparalleled skill. In 1839 they completed their most ambitious project, covering twelve acres in central Newcastle. They built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland.

Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. In the nineteenth century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Along with inventions including railway engines, electric lights, steam turbines and hydraulic cranes Newcastle was home to many major industries. Along with Glassmaking and shipbuilding Newcastle invested heavily in railways, pottery and armaments; particularly the Armstrong company which later became part of Vickers.

In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit. During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed by the Luftwaffe. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the German airforce, they largely escaped unscathed.

In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King’s College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status. It is now known as Northumbria University.

In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.

As the twentieth century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined. A decision was taken by local government to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s following a master plan. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area. In 2001 the latest addition to the Tyne bridges was completed. This was the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, which has a road deck in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotate on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted.

As heavy industries declined in the second half of the twentieth century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area remains to this day and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment. Though conversely, just a short distance from the flourishing city centre, there are impoverished inner-city housing estates.