340m
371yds

Newarke Houses

Market

Jewry Wall

Newarke Church

Magazine Gateway

Guildhall

Austin Friars

Blackfriars

Blackfriars

Greyfriars

Castle

All Saints

Cathedral

St Mary de Castro

St Nicholas

St Margaret's

   

Key historic sites of Leicester Old Town overlaid onto a modern map of the city. The Roman and medieval walls are marked by the dotted line. The one surviving Roman ruin is marked in purple. The secular sites are in blue. The towns five surviving ancient churches are in red. Thedissolvedmendicant andchantry foundations are in black. The key site ofLeicester Abbey over the river is beyond the borders of the map to the north east.

The following is atimeline of thehistory of the city ofLeicester, thecounty town ofLeicestershire, in England.

Part ofa series on the
History ofEngland
Timeline Prehistoric Britain Roman Britain Medieval period Economy in the Middle Ages Sub-Roman Britain Anglo-Saxon period English unification High Middle Ages Norman Conquest Norman period Late Middle Ages Black Death in England Tudor period English Renaissance English Reformation Elizabethan era Stuart period English Civil War Commonwealth Protectorate Restoration Glorious Revolution Georgian era Regency era Victorian era Edwardian era First World War Interwar period Second World War Postwar Britain Social history Political history of the United Kingdom (1979–present) Social history of the United Kingdom (1979–present)
Topics English overseas possessions English society Government in medieval England History of education in England History of English History of monarchy in the United Kingdom History of the economy of England History of the politics of England Wars Riots
Polities Kingdom of England Kingdom of Great Britain United Kingdom
By county Bedfordshire Berkshire City of Bristol Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Durham East Riding of Yorkshire East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Greater London Greater Manchester Hampshire Herefordshire Hertfordshire Isle of Wight Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire City of London Merseyside Norfolk Northamptonshire Northumberland North Yorkshire Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Rutland Shropshire Somerset South Yorkshire Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Tyne and Wear Warwickshire West Midlands West Sussex West Yorkshire Wiltshire Worcestershire
By city or town Birmingham Bournemouth Brighton Bristol Chester Christchurch Colchester Coventry Dover Folkestone Leeds Liverpool London Luton Maidstone Manchester Margate Milton Keynes Middlesbrough Newcastle Nottingham Oxford Plymouth Poole Portsmouth Reading Rochester Sheffield Shrewsbury Southampton St Albans Sunderland Torquay Wetherby Worcester Worthing York
England portal
v t e

• c. 12,000 BC – Ice sheets retreated helping to form the geography of theSoar Valley.^[1]
• c. 10,000–9,500 BC – First hunter gatherers active in the Leicester area.Flint axe heads from theEarly Stone Age have been found found on Abbey Meadows, inScraptoft, and inEyres Monsell.^[2]

• 9,500–4,500 BC – Late hunter gatherers active in the area. Stone tools found atHumberstone and Mowmacre Hill.^[3]

• 4,500–2,500 BC – Farming begins in the area and forests are cleared. More than 50 axes and other worked flint tools have been discovered scattered across every part of the city and its suburbs.^[4]

• 2,500–2,000 BC - pottery craft was discovered.^[5]

• 2,000-1,000 BC
  • Metal working begins: metal remains found in High Street, Abbey Meadows, Eyres Monsell, and Glenfield. Pottery remains have been found in Glenfield in large quantities, as well as in Western Park and the moderncity centre.
  • Evidence of ritual areas,crop marks andburial mounds, survive in Western Park and New Parks (for pre Roman Leicester religion seeDruidism).
  • Burial area near High Street with a crematorium urn and another crematorium urn from Aylestone Park.^[5]
• 1,000 BC – earliest permanent settlement on Glenfield Ridge overlooking Soar Valley from the west (todayGlenfield).^[6]

• c. 750 BC – Legendary foundation byKing Leir according toGeoffrey of Monmouth's workHistoria Regum Britanniae.^[7] Thisorigin myth dates to the 12th cent and is based on Lier's name. There are no archaeological remains of a settlement on the eastern bank of the Soar to support the legend.
• c. 200 BC —Hill forts present atRatby,Beacon Hill,Burrough Hill, andBreedon on the Hill.^[8]
• c. 100–50 BC – theCorieltauvi Tribe develop anoppidum on the eastern bank of theRiver Soar.^[9][10][11]
  • The settlement had the northernmost Iron Age coin mint yet discovered in Europe.^[12][10]

• 44–46 –Roman Conquest of the area byLegio XIV Gemina underAulus Plautius.^[13]
• c. 48–60 – TheCorieltauvi become allied with Rome (approx. date):
  • Tribespeople were madeCivitas stipendaria of the Roman Empire.^[14]
  • The gradually Romanising settlement ofRatae Corieltauvorum (meaningRamparts of the Corieltauvi) was recognised as the Corieltauvi'sCivitas Capital.^[15] The plural conjugation of the name Ratae might have either referred to the different sided ramparts of a single oppidum or to the ramparts of several oppida surrounding the main one excavated east of the River Soar.^[16]
• c. 48 – TheFosse Way was constructed just to the north of the original Iron Age oppidum, perhaps initially as a defensive ditch. The northern most boundary of the first wave of Romano-British occupied territories, it came to be a major route of transportation connectingLincoln to the north east andCirencester,Bath, andExeter to the south west. It was also came to act as theDecumanus Maximus (principal street running east to west) of the city of Ratae. Outside the city walls the Fosse way is the road northeast to Belgrave, Syston, and Melton (today'sA46), and southwest to Coventry (today's B4455 andA429) until the mid 20th century. In the 18th and 19th the areas around the Fosse Way had been developed while the straight road was preserved as today's:
  • Narborough Road,
  • Belgrave Gate
  • Belgrave Road (theGolden Mile),
  • and Melton Road.^[17][18][19]
• c. 51 —Watling Street constructed about 12 miles south of the city connectingCanterbury, London, andSt Albans in the south east withWroxeter in the north west, later extending toChester. This road followed the route of today'sA5 and marks the border between Leicestershire and Warwickshire.^[17][18]
• c. 70 – TheVia Devana is gradually constructed connecting Ratae to the Roman capitalColchester in the south east and Chester in the north west vier Watling Street. This road eventually constituted the southern section of Ratae's dividedCardo Maximus (principal street running north to south) connecting what is still Southgates with the old Forum (roughly today's Jubilee Square) vier Vaughan Way before joining the Fosse way in the western half of theDecumanus Maximus, exiting vier the former West Gates, and continuing towardsMancetter where it met Watling Street. To the south east it passed throughMedbourne to Godmanchester. The route survives today as
  • Gartree Road (the B582 passing through theStrettons),
  • Evington Footway,
  • New Walk,
  • and Glenfield Road (possibly).^[17][18][20]
• c. 75–99 – A drainage ditch, most likely with a defensive rampart of some kind, was dug around an area enclosing the original Iron Age oppidum.^[16] The north to south ditches measured about 805 metres and from east to west 670 metres enclosing 53 hectares (130 acres).^[21] These boundaries will mark the site of the 3rd century stone walls and the boroughs boundaries with very few changes until the 19th century. Within the boundaries of the outer ditch a gridded network of streets (cardines,decumani, andinsulae) were laid out, including the splitCardo Maximus and the continuousDecumanus Maximius.
  • The route theCardo Maximus followed is now:
    • South Gates;
    • The short footpath continuous with Wyggeston's House as far as Applegate (the route of theDecumanus, i.e. the Fosse Way);
    • The route of the present Highcross Street over Vaughn Way as far as Sanvey Gate and Soar Lane.
  • TheDecumanus Maximius, following the route of the 48 AD Fosse Way, is now:
    • East Gates opposite the Haymarket and Belgrave Gate;
    • Silver Street;
    • Guildhall lane past Wyggeston's House and Jubilee Square;
    • beneath St Nicolas Circle to the lost west gate around St Augustine's Road.
  • TheRaw Dykes were likely constructed during this stage of development.^[20]

• 120 – theEmperor Hadrian visited Ratae.^[22]
  • TheThurmaston Milestone was erected, inscribed with Hadrians name.
• c. 130–200 – Ratae developed into well establishedMunicipium:
  • TheForum andBasilica complex were constructed on the north side of the Fosse Way between what is presently Highcross Street and Vaughan Way.^[16] The site is now Jubilee Square.^[19]
  • Thermae (public bath house) constructed. Ruins preserved in the courtyard ofJewry Wall Museum.^[23]
  • Jewry Wall constructed, the wall of a communalPalaestra orGymnasium constructed on the eastern side of the bath complex, the archways are likely the surviving entry between the exercise hall and the baths.^[24][25]
  • TheMithraeum, a temple to the deityMithra, was constructed on what is now St Nicholas Circle.^[26]
  • The "Cyparissus Pavement" laid (approx. date).^[27][28]
  • The four "Blackfriars Pavements" laid (approx. date).^[27][28]
  • The "Peacock Pavement" laid (approx. date).^[27]

• c. 208 – EmperorSeptimius Severus likely visited Ratae during his journey to Hadrians Wall for theCaledonian Campaign.
• c. 220 – Civic buildings expand:
  • LargeMacellum (indoor market hall) constructed immediately to the north of the Forum, around the site of the Medieval Blue Boar Inn in between today's Highcross Street, Vaughan Way, and Jubilee Square.^[16][29]
  • Semi circularTheatrum constructed adjacent to the north wall of theMacellum (today under Vaughan Way).^[16][30]
  • ASeptisolium shrine was probably constructed around this time according surviving written testimony and some possible archaeological evidence. Inspired by theRoman Septisolium, although on a far smaller scale, it was devoted to the seven planetary deities (Saturn,Sol,Luna,Mars,Mercury,Jupiter, andVenus).^[26]
• c. 270 —City walls constructed in stone along the route of the earlier ditches (see entry for c. 80–99 AD above). Stone defensive structures remain until the 16th century and surviving stones can be seen reused in the wall between St Mary de Castro churchyard and the gardens of theNewarke Houses Museum.^[31]
  • The entrance roads and tracks along the walls extern have almost all survived as thoroughfares in the modern city. Working round the boundary, to and from the focal point of the VictorianHaymarket Memorial Clock Tower, and starting from East Gates these are:
    • Gallowtree Gate,
    • Horsefair Street,
    • Millstone Lane,
    • past Southgates and Vaughan way,
    • The Newarke, particularly the south wall of the 11th centuryLeicester Castle,
    • Castle Gardens,
    • St Nicholas Circle,
    • Bath Lane,
    • Soar Lane,
    • past Northgate and Highcross Streets,
    • Sanvey Gate,
    • and Church Gate.^[20]
  • The walls had four major gateways of which no visible remains survive. Three of them have been preserved in the names of the streets. They were:
    • South Gate – today commemorated in the street name Southgates, they stood roughly where Millstone Lane meets Vaughan Way. Two roads branched from here; theVia Devana toMedbourne andGodmanchester, and an unnamed road to the local settlement of Tripontium on Watling Street (now the Caves Inn near Lutterworth). The Newarke Street Cemetery grew up in between the two forks in the road.
    • East Gate – today East Gates, it stood roughly between Cheapside and Gallowtree Gate. This was the eastern entrance of the Fosse Way (Belgrave Gate and Melton Road) into the city and the road to Lincoln. In the Middle Ages the two tracks following the east wall became Church Gate to the north leading up to St Margaret's and Gallowtree Gate to the south leading up to the gallows where the track met the Via Divana at the top of St Mary's Hill (opposite the Victoria Park gates on London Road).
    • North Gate – today the crossroads of Highcross Street, Northgate Street, Sanvey Gate, and Soar Lane. In the Middle Ages the road to Leicester Abbey and a procession route between St Martins Church (the cathedral) and St Margaret's Church (Sanvey Gate being an Anglo Saxon distortion of the LatinSacra Via orHoly Way).
    • West Gate – today where St Augustine's Road meets St Nicholas Circle. The onward route of both the Fosse Way (Narborough Road) to Bath and Exeter and the Via Devana (possibly Glenfield Road).^[20]

• 300 – roughly the time the provinces of Britain were reorganised. Ratae fell into the province ofFlavia Caesariensis, its capital being atLincoln.^[32]
• 360 – major fire destroyed the public baths and many other buildings never to be rebuilt.^[33]
• c. 375 —Antonine Itinerary records Ratae on a postal route between London and Lincoln.^[34]

• 406–420 —End of Roman occupation beginning around 406 with the departure of many unpaid centurions and the rise ofConstantine III.

• c. 515 —Icel, King of theAngles, led his tribe across the North Sea to settle in theTrent andSoar Valleys. In time this came to include a small settlement on the edge of the oldRoman city of Ratae, near Southgates.^[35]

• 653 —Saint Cedd undertook a mission to theMercianMiddle Angles with three companions, Adda, Betti, andDiuma. The mission was instigated by thebaptism ofPrince Peada, son of the famous warriorPenda King of Mercia, prior to his marriage toElfleda daughter ofOswiu. This marked the beginning of the conversion of the territories around theTame,Trent, andSoar Valleys to Christianity.^[36]
• 655 —Diuma appointed firstBishop of the Mercians. Leicester's early church was initially ministered fromLichfield.
• 669 —Theodore of Tarsus,Archbishop of Canterbury, appointedSaint Chad Bishop of the Mercians.
• 679 —Cuthwine was installed as the firstBishop of Leicester, separating Leicester from the See of Lichfield. Part of wider reforms by Archbishop Theodore and KingEthelred of Mercia.^[37]
  • Possible foundation date of the first church on the site ofSt Margaret's.^[38]

• 792 -Bishop Unwona of Leicester accompaniesKing Offa of Mercia (ofOffa's Dyke fame) on pilgrimage to Rome.^[39][40]

• 803 — Earliest Saxon written record of the town, referred to asLegorensis Caester.^[41]
• 810 –King Kenulf, father of the famousSaint Kenelm, purportedly issued the foundation charter ofCrowland Abbey at Leicester.Ceolwulf, brother of Kenulph,Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury, andUnwona, Bishop of Leicester, were apparently signatory witnesses. The source of this claim is the unreliable Chronicle of Crowland Abbey and cannot be accurate since Unwona died in the first years of the 9th century and had been succeeded in the See of Leicester byWernbeorht by 803. However, it has been taken as evidence for the presence of the Mercian royal household at Leicester during the period.^[42]
• 840 – According to local traditionSaint Wigstan, a young prince of Mercia, wasmartyred atWistow just south of the city on the Kalends (1st) of June.^[43]
• c. 870 – The nave ofSt Nicholas' Church dates to about this time (next toJewry Wall, approx. date).^[24][44]

• 874 – Leicester ceased to be a diocesan seat whenCeobred, the last of the ancient Bishops of Leicester, fled the invadingGreat Heathen Army (theVikings). He settled atDorchester where his office was united with the bishoprics of Dorchester andLindsey. His eventual Norman successorRemigius de Fécamp moved the ancient amalgamated see toLincoln in 1072 where the office became known as theBishopric of Lincoln.^[45]
• 878 – TheVikingDanish dominance in Leicester and the rest of theDanelaw was formally recognised by the Anglo Saxons in theTreaty of Wedmore, an agreement betweenAlfred the Great andGuthrum. Leicester and it's nearest neighbouring towns in Viking Mercia came to be known as theFive Boroughs of the Danelaw.^[46][47]

• 918 – The city's Viking defenders surrender without a fight toEthelfleda,Lady of the Mercians, andEdward the Elder, the children ofAlfred the Great.
  • Towns defensive walls repaired.^[48]
  • St Mary's Church founded by Ethelfleda and Edward, the site of today'sSt Mary de Castro.^[49]
• c. 940-943 —Edmund I, son ofEdward the Elder, and his Anglo Saxon forces besieged one King Olaf (eitherOlaf Guthfrithson orOlaf Sihtricson) and his Viking forces at Leicester. The year of the siege and treaty is unclear leading to a confusion about the characters involved.^[50] Olaf's court resident in Leicester at the time includedWulfstan (Archbishop of York 931-956). According to theAnglo Saxon Chronicle, the Viking forces were overwhelmed, with King Olaf and Archbishop Wulfstan escaping under cover of night.^[51] Other sources suggest the battle ended in stalemate.^[52]
  • In the aftermath a peace treaty was brokered between the two warring parties by Archbishop Wulfstan and, according to some sources, theArchbishop of Canterbury, eitherWulfhelm (archbishop 926-941)^[53] orSaint Odo (archbishop from 941-958)^[54] with terms largely favourable to Edmund.
  • The treaty involved the Baptism of King Olaf with King Edmund as godfather, perhaps only a symbolic affirmation of the treaty as was common at the time, since the presence of Wulfstan in Olaf’s court suggests he was already a Christian.
  • The treaty formally recognised Olaf's rule over theDanelaw north ofWatling Street (still the border of Leicestershire and Warwickshire) but in a dependency upon the Anglo Saxon Kings of England.^[54]
  • Some sources suggest the treaty stipulated that whichever of the two monarchs should outlive the other would inherit full authority over the Danelaw. When Edmund outlived King Olaf the Danelaw theoretically reverted to him.^[54]
• 971 — Bishops of Leicester in exile at Dorchester andLindsey merged to form one bishopric.^[45]

• 1013 –Sweyn Forkbeard invades East Mercia and receives the submission of the Five Boroughs. According to some sources this included a visit to Leicester. He was accompanied by one Olaf Haraldsson, now known asSaint Olaf, laterKing of Norway and a major figure in the story of Scandinavia's conversion to Christianity. The account is not based on any contemporary reference to a specific visit to Leicester but represent later conjecture based on references in thePeterborough Chronicle and theLegendary Saga of St. Olaf.^[55]
• 1015 –Edmund Ironside and his army seized Leicester following the murder of the brothersSigeferth andMorcar, thethegns ruling the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw and received the Borough's submission.^[56][57]
• 1016 –Cnut retook Leicester part of the1016 invasion of England.^[58]
  • Ironside again sacked Leicester during his counter campaign withUhtred, Earl of Northumbria.^[58]
• c. 1042 – UnderEdward the Confessor the borough paid £30 15s. annually plus honey, and its burgesses were obliged to send twelve men in the royal army and four horses in naval expeditions.^[59][57]

• c. 1070 – TheNorman Conquerors reached the city.
  • Hugh de Grandmesnil was granted the lands encompassing the town of Leicester and made firstSheriff of Leicestershire.
  • Motte and Bailey structure ofLeicester Castle was begun.^[24]
  • St Mary's, now part of the castle Bailey, was reconstructed (including nave and west wall still standing).^[49]
• 1072 — The ancient bishopric of Dorchester, Leicester and Lindsey in exile, was moved toLincoln under the new Norman bishopRemigius de Fécamp. Leicester and Leicestershires churches became part of theDiocese of Lincoln until 1541.^[45] During this period theCathedral church of the town wasLincoln Cathedral.
• 1086 – TheDomesday Survey report on the town ofLedecestre (Leicester):
  • The north to south walls of the town measured about 805 metres, from east to west 670 metres, the walls enclosing 53 hectares (130 acres).^[60]
  • 322 households.^[61]
    • 190 owned byHugh de Grandmesnil
    • 39 in the possession ofWilliam the Conqueror and the Crown.
    • 93 in other hands.^[62]
  • TheBishops Fee estate outside the north and east walls of the town (including the suburbs of Gallowtree Gate, Humberstone Gate, and Belgrave Gate) held by theBishop of Lincoln.^[63][64]
  • An estimated population of 1,278.^{[65][note 1]}
  • The town was aFree Borough outside the jurisdiction of any of the LeicestershireHundreds and operated along principles of pre-conquest Danish law.^[66]
    • There were 65Burgesses or Freemen, the ancestor of the current Guild of Leicester Freemen and the established core of the townsBurgher class.^[67]
    • The town was governed by a Portmanmoot of 24 Jurats elected from among the Burgesses (the ancestor of the 1589 Corporation & the modernCity Council).^[67]
  • Leicester Market (known as the Saturday Shambles) was active.^[68]
  • The walled town had several churches of which 5 survive:
    • St Nicholas Church, the old Anglo Saxon Minster dating back to the 6th or 7th century constructed in the shell of the old Roman Gymnasium;
    • St Mary de Castro in the precincts of Leicester Castle;
    • All Saints on Highcross Street, the northern section of the old Roman city's splitCardo Maximus, the first church reached on entering the North Gate;
    • St Margaret's Church, just outside the north eastern corner of the walls at the crossroads of Sanvey Gate and Church Gate;
    • &St Martin's Church, constructed on Fosse Way, the city's oldDecumanus Maximus, roughly midway between the East and West Gates;
  • And three churches which do not:
    • St Clement's Church, later the Blackfriars Church in the northwest corner of the town;
    • St Michael's Church, in the northeast corner of the town around what is today Vaughan Way, Burgess Street, and East Bond Street;
    • & St Peter's Church, near what is now Free School Lane, its stones surviving in the structure of the Free School.^[69][70]
  • Leicester Castle was completed.
• 1092 – First recorded existence of theArchdeaconry of Leicester. Title held byRanulph appointed byBishop Remigius.^[71][72]
• 1098 — Hugh de Grandmesnil died andIvo de Grandmesnil inherits his Leicester territory and titles:
  • Hugh died at Leicester Castle on February 22. His remains were preserved in salt and conveyed to his ancestral tomb at theAbbey of St. Evroult.^[73]
  • His sons Robert and Ivo inherited his lands and titles, Robert the lands in Normandy and Ivo the titles in Leicester and Leicestershire.

• 1100-1102 —Ivo de Grandmesnil, who according toOrderic Vitalis was the "first to introduce the horrors of private war into (post-conquest) England", and a number of other barons rebel againstHenry I in favour ofRobert Curthose.
  • c. 1101 - Ivo leads an attack on the properties of the king and other nobles in the town of Leicester and receives a heavy fine.^[74]
  • 1102 - Ivo de Grandmesnil leases his Leicester territory and titles toRobert de Beaumont,Count of Meulan and counsellor ofKing Henry, for a period of 15 years in return for money to pay his fine and go on crusade to the Holy Lands. Ivo dies en route leaving the freehold of his estates to his children and their use in the hands of Robert de Beaumont.
• 1107 —Robert de Beaumont formally madeEarl of Leicester, the first of that title. His possession of the castle and the old Roman town was confirmed byKing Henry I against the Grantmesnil interest.^[24]
  • College of Priests established to serveSt Mary de Castro and the castle's residents by the 1st Earl. All town parishes were placed under its control apart fromSt Margaret's.^[75][76][24]
  • Beaumont confirmed the rights and privileges of the Portmanmoot and itsBurgesses.^[67]
• 1118 —Robert le Bossu, younger son of Robert de Beaumont, inherits the Earldom of Leicester. The County of Meulan and the other titles of Beaumont detach from the Earldom of Leicester at this point.
• 1143 –Leicester Abbey was founded by Robert le Bossu for the canons previously resident atSt Mary de Castro. All town parishes pass to its control including the college atSt Mary de Castro while the Bishop of Lincoln continued to retainSt Margaret's alone.^[46][77][24]
• 1168 —Robert le Bossu is buried at Leicester Abbey following his death in Northamptonshire.
• 1173 –Robert Blanchemains, 3rd Earl of Leicester became a principal rebel in theRevolt of 1173–1174 againstHenry II.
  • Leicester was besieged beginning in April by the royal army, at least 410 archers and more than 300 knights. Records survive of over a 100 carpenters paid to construct siege machines. On the 28 July the town was stormed from two directions, a break in the walls on Church Gate and another one nearSt Clement's Church and the River Soar. The houses were burned, the old Romano-Saxon and Norman walls demolished, and the burghers exiled to wander as outlaws. The castle alone held out. The town took many centuries to recover and large sections of the districts worst effected were still orchards and vegetable gardens until the 18th century.^[78]
• 1174 - second round of attacks on Leicester, this time to take the castle. Keep destroyed.^[79]

• 1204 —Simon de Montfort, a French nobleman engaged in theAlbigensian crusade, was granted theEarldom of Leicester vacant since 1190. The 5th Earl never visited the borough and collected its rents through aReeve.
• 1209 — First term of the mayoralty of William fitz Leveric, the first recordedMayor of Leicester.^[81]
• 1228 – Leicesterfair active.^[68]
• 1229 —Robert Grosseteste appointedArchdeacon of Leicester (famousscholastic philosopher and theologian, laterBishop of Lincoln).^[82]
• c. 1230 – TheOrder of Friars Minor (Franciscans or Greyfriars) establishedSt Mary Magdalene's Friary (Leicester Greyfriars) just inside the towns southern wall east of Southgates, between what became Southgates, Friar Lane, Grey Friars, and St Martins. They were the first ofmendicant orders to establish themselves in the town.^[83]
• 1231 —Expulsion of the Jews of Leicester. The 6th Earl of LeicesterSimon de Montfort expelled the Jewish community to beyond the town walls, the first of such official pogroms preceding the nationalEdict of Expulsion in 1290.^[84]
• c. 1247 – TheOrder of Friars Preachers (Dominicans or Blackfriars) establishedSt Clement's Priory (Leicester Blackfriars) in the north west corner of the old town walls taking St Clement's parish church as their priory church. The site was between Soar Lane and Great Central Street and was commemorated after the reformation in names such as St Sundays Bridge (St Sunday being an English nickname forSt Dominic), Friars Preachers Lane which was the name of Great Central Street, Friars Causeway, Friars Mill, and the district of the city known as Blackfriars.^[85]
• c. 1254 — TheOrder of Friars Hermits of St Augustine (Austinfriars) establishedSt Katherine's Priory (Leicester Austinfriars) north west of West Bridge onBede Island. The site is now on the right hand side of St Augustine's Road.^[86]
• 1265 —Edmund Crouchback granted theearldom, castle, and city of Leicester on 26 October after the death ofSimon de Montfort at theBattle of Evesham earlier that year.^[87]
• 1267 – Earldoms ofLeicester and Lancaster united into one when Crouchback was madeEarl of Lancaster.
• 1269 – Leicester assessed as 13th richest borough in the Kingdom of England.^[88]
• 1294 —Ralph Norman and Robert de Scarnford are elected by the burghers of Leicester as their representatives to theParliament of England. This is the first record of theLeicester Constituency which survived as a seat with two members in the English and subsequentGreat British andUK Parliaments until 1918.
• 1298 —Leicester Market first recorded as taking place regularly at its present site.

• 1300 –King Edward I stayed atLeicester Castle.
• 1307 –King Edward II granted a fair for 17 days afterTrinity Sunday.^[24]
• 1310 – King Edward II stayed at the castle and again in 1311.
• 1318 – TheParliament of England met at Leicester for the first time on 12 April. The18th Parliament of the reign of Edward II, it was a "parliament" in a technical sense because the king was not present. TheArchbishop of Canterbury, five Bishops, threeEarls, and 28barons attended. No representatives of theCommons were present.
• 1330 – Trinity Hospital was founded south of the castle walls.^[89][90]
• 1350 - Guild of Corpus Christi constituted.^[91][92]
• 1353 – The Newarke enclosure is constructed around Trinity Hospital and a college of priests is established to serve the newChurch of the Annunciation of Our Lady. The foundation is established and endowed byHenry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster.^[93]
• 1360 –Philippa of Lancaster born at Leicester Castle, daughter ofJohn of Gaunt andBlanche of Lancaster, later Queen of Portugal, the spouse ofKing João I founder of theHouse of Aviz.^[94]
• 1361 —Henry of Grosmont died at Leicester Castle. Buried in theNewarke Chantry.
• 1366 —Geoffrey Chaucer andPhilippa Roet married, according to popular local tradition, atSt Mary de Castro.^[95]
• 1377 – Leicester assessed as 17th richest borough in the Kingdom of England.^[88]
• 1382 — First notableLollard activity in the city.
  • An informal devotional society had developed at St John's Chapel on Belgrave Gate inSt Margaret's Parish around William Smith and Richard Waytestathe.^[96]
  • A local hermit called William Swinderby living inLeicester Forest had begun preaching against themendicant orders and church property possibly with the encouragement ofPhilip Repyngdon, then a young canon of Leicester Abbey, who had come into contact with the ideas ofJohn Wycliffe while studying in Oxford.^[96]
  • OnPalm Sunday 1382 (falling on March 23) William Swinderby preached a notable sermon in the presence of John Stafford, theMayor of Leicester, and many burghers. It spread Lollardy so effectively among the people of the borough that Leicester chroniclerHenry Knighton remarked every second man had become a Lollard.^[96]
• 1389
  • On July 11 William Swinderby was tried underJohn Bokyngham,Bishop of Lincoln after an accusation from threemendicants; Friar Frisby, a Franciscan fromGreyfriars, Friar Hincely, an Augustinian fromSt Katherine's Priory, and Thomas Blaxton, a Dominican fromSt Clement's Priory. He recanted and was sentenced to an extensive public penance requiring he preach sermons proclaiming his recantation inSt Margaret's,St Martin's andSt Mary de Castro as well as atSt Dionysius,Market Harborough andSt Mary'sMelton Mowbray.^[97]
  • TheArchbishop of CanterburyWilliam Courtenay undertook an inquisition in the Borough of Leicester conducted atLeicester Abbey in October and November 1389.
    • The burghers Roger Dexter, Nicholas Taylor, Richard Wagstaff, Michael Scrivener, William Smith, John Henry, William Parchmeanar, and Roger Goldsmith also summonsed for inquisition but failed to appear. This led to a solemn ceremony of excommunication taking place onAll Souls Day (Nov 2nd 1389) headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Abbey and repeated by the clergy in all the towns parish churches. All parishioners of the town were placed underinterdict, i.e. prevented from participating in thesacraments such that masses were prohibited in Leicester's churches, until the culprits were produced.^[98]
    • Following the interdict, Matilda,anchoress immured at St Peter's church, had her enclosure violated to answer the charge of heresy. She was required to undertake forty days of penance before returning to her cell.^[98]
    • By the 17th November the accused heretics had all been discovered and recanted. Roger Dexter's wife Alice protested and maintained her earlier conviction. As a result, she and her husband were required to undertake a humiliating but mild series of public penances, carrying crosses, kissing the earth and reciting prayers.^[98]
• 1390 –Corpus Christi Guildhall constructed (approx. date).^[99][100]
• 1394 —Constance of Castile, Duchess of Lancaster, daughter ofPeterKing of Castile and second wife of John of Gaunt, died at the castle on 24 March.^[101]
• 1399
  • John of Gaunt died at Leicester Castle on 3 February in the presence of his long term mistress and 3rd wifeKatherine Swynford.
  • Henry Bolingbroke, Gaunt's son, overthrewRichard II and became King Henry IV on 30 September. The properties of theDuchy of Lancaster, including Leicester Castle and its estates, were assumed into the properties of the English Crown.
  • St Mary de Castro became one of theChapels Royal. The parish retains some of these legal privileges and royal dignities today, such as the use of red cassocks.^[101]

• 1405 –Philip Repyngdon, repentantLollard andAbbot of Leicester, madeBishop of Lincoln.^[102]
• 1414
  • In early January a militia of LeicesterLollards went to join theOldcastle Revolt. On defeat of the rebellion all of them were executed by being hanged by the neck and suspended in fire on the 10th of January 1414.^[96]
  • Parliament of England met at Leicester for theSecond Parliament of the reign of Henry V. Known as theFire and Faggot Parliament it met inGreyfriars Friary between 30 April and 29 May and is most notable for passing theSuppression of Heresy Act 1414.^[103]
• 1416 - commissions to investigateLollardy were active in Leicester and the county for a second time.^[96]
• 1419 –Margery Kempe (pilgrim, travel writer, and first English autobiographer) made a pilgrimage to the Newarke andLeicester Abbey, was accused of Lollardy by theMayor of Leicester (most likely William Pacy, possibly Thomas Walgrave), tried inAll Saints Church, and acquitted by theAbbot of Leicester Richard Rothley.
• 1425–1427 – The Englishroyal court was in residence atLeicester Castle:
  • The child KingHenry VI stayed at the castle during which time he was knighted and underwent his coming of age ceremonies. He took hisbath and vigil the night before inSt Mary de Castro.^[104][105]
• 1426 – TheParliament of Bats was held in the Great Hall of the castle.^[105]
• c. 1444 – Most ofSt Margaret's Church was rebuilt, including the West Tower.^[76]
• 1450 – Parliament of England met at Leicester,18th Parliament of the reign of Henry VI. Was adjourned because ofJack Cade's Rebellion.^[106]
• 1485 –Richard III spent the night before he died in Leicester and was buried in theGreyfriars Church following his death:
  • stayed in Leicester for his last two nights, the 19th to the 20th of August, before riding to theBattle of Bosworth Field on the 21st. He stayed at the Blue Boar Inn on what is today Highcross Street.
  • Richard's body was afterwards brought back to Leicester through the West Gates and buried by the Franciscans in their Church on the 25th of August.^[107][108]
• c. 1485 -Hugh Aston, musician, composer, Mayor, and MP, is born in the city around the year 1485.

• c. 1500 -Leicester Abbey Eastern Wall constructed.^[109]
• 1504 -John Penny,Abbot of Leicester madeBishop of Bangor.^[110]
• c. 1511
  • Henry VIII visits the town as part of aroyal progress.^[111]
  • Wigston's Chantry House was built in the Newarke.^[90][99]
• 1513 –Wyggeston Hospital founded.^[89]
• 1520 - BishopJohn Penny buried inSt Margaret's Church, Leicester.^[110]
• 1530 –CardinalThomas Wolsey died atLeicester Abbey on November 29.
• 1534 – TheHenrician Reformation begins and the parish churches of the city, county, and widerDiocese of Lincoln formally ceased to beRoman Catholic due theFirst Act of Supremacy and the secession of theChurch of England fromPapal authority.^[112]
• 1536 –John Leland visited Leicester and recorded its ancient monuments and churches in hisItinerary.
• 1538 – All monastic houses in the city are suddenly closed in October and November as part of theDissolution of the Monasteries. The three mendicant houses all surrendered on the same day, November 10:
  • Leicester Abbey,
  • theGreyfriars,^[113]
  • theAustin Friars,^[113]
  • & theBlackfriars.^[114]
• 1547-1549 — The various effects of theEdwardian Reformation are felt in the borough following the death ofHenry VIII and the succession of his young sonEdward VI:
  • 1548 - Churchwarden accounts atSt Martins record the destruction or sale of mostvestments,tabernacles,iconography, therood loft statues and other traditional adornments on the 20th of March due to theSacrament Act passed December the previous year.^[115]
  • 1548 - The Guild of Corpus Christi and all other parish Guilds were dissolved.^[61]
  • 1549 - TheBook of Common Prayer was imposed on the parishes of the borough by theAct of Uniformity in place of the old LatinUse of Sarum. Accounts record its purchase.^[115]
  • Records for nails and chains to secure the newEnglish Bible to lecterns are to be found in church accounts of 1549.^[115]
• 1550 – The Free Grammar School was established by this year using money left byWilliam Wyggeston (ancestor ofWyggeston Grammar School for Boys and the currentWyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College).^[116]
• 1553-5 - The borough's churches are subject to the various effects of theMarian Restoration ofRoman Catholicism:
  • 1553 -First Statute of Repeal ended all of Edward's religious reforms and the borough's parishes reverted to theSarum Rite and ancient custom.
  • 1554-1557 -St Martin's andSt Margaret's parish rolls both record the gradual repurchase and restoration of ritual vestments and items at this time and payments for the repainting of roof screens and walls.^[117][118]
  • 1554 -See of Rome Act overturned Henry VIII's returning the parishes of Leicester to full communion with the Pope.^[119]
• 1556 -Thomas Moor (also spelled More) was burned for heresy at Leicester on 26 June.^[120]
• 1558 – TheSecond Act of Supremacy and theAct of Uniformity, the first parts of theElizabethan Settlement, brought Leicester's parishes into schism with the Pope and returned them tostate Protestantism.
  • TheEnglish Prayer Book and Bible were restored.^[119]
  • The restored ritual imagery and objects were again removed and sold.^[119]
• 1589 –Elizabeth I issues aRoyal Charter establishing theCorporation of Leicester as a replacement for the Moot of Burgesses. It was granted the privilege of sharing the motto "Semper Eadem" with the monarch.^[90]
• 1595 –Skeffington House was built in the Newarke (approximate date).^[90][99]

• 1603 –Anne of Denmark and her sonPrince Henry stay inWilliam Skipworth's house in Leicester on 23 June.^[121]Princess Elizabeth also stayed in the town, at the house of a Mr Pilkington.^[122]
• 1604 –Prince Charles andAlexander Seton lodged in Skipwith's house at Leicester on their way to London on 15 and 16 August.^[123]
• 1606 —Shakespeare's Company performed inLeicester Guildhall withWilliam Shakespeare possibly among them.^[124]
• 1607 — Curfew imposed on the borough in May to prevent spread of theMidland Revolt, an anti enclosure rebellion beginning in Northamptonshire.
• 1616 —Leicester Boy Trials. Leicester Assizes conducted famouswitch trial instigated by a 13-year-old boy who accused 15 women inHusbands Bosworth. Nine of the accused were hanged, one died in prison, and five were released on the order ofKing James I during his visit to the city that summer. The incident was the inspiration forBen Jonson's playThe Devil Is an Ass.^[125][126]
• 1627–1628 – TheLeicester anti enclosure and disafforestation riots, a series of spring riots in both years in protest ofSir Miles Fleetwood'senclosure, division, and deforestation ofLeicester Forest on the orders ofKing Charles I.^[127]
• 1642 –Charles I passed through Leicester before raising his standard at Nottingham.^[128]
• 1645 – TheSiege of Leicester during theEnglish Civil War.^[128][129]
• 1646 — the Newarke, in Royalist hands since the Siege, was stormed by Parliamentarian forces on May 7. Festivities broke out among the burghers.^[130]
• 1647
  • Charles I spent the night of February 13 at the Angel Inn in Leicester on the journey toHoldenby following his capture by Parliament.^[131] In spite his status as a prisoner the Churchwarden ofSt Martins records the city paid for church bells to be rung to welcome him.^[132]
  • Directory for Public Worship adopted for use in the Church of England by the PuritanRump Parliament. Most of Leicester's parishes adopted it with the exception ofSt Nicholas which continued to use the Royalist Common Prayer Book. The Diocese of Lincoln was also replaced with a Presbyterian structure.^[133]
• 1662 —Act of Uniformity returned the boroughs parishes to the revised rites of the pre Civil WarPrayer Book. This led to theGreat Ejection of Puritan clergy from parishes in Leicester and across the country which affected bothSt Martin's andSt Margaret's.^[134]
• 1680
  • Knitting frames for hosiery were introduced about this time.^[24]
  • Leicester'sQuakers constructed their firstmeeting house. It was built on the extra parochial land of the dissolvedSt Clement's Priory near Soar Lane and the Northgates end of Highcross Street, the modern area of Blackfriars.^[135]

• 1708 — Great Meeting House constructed for the towns Protestant Dissenters on the corner of East Bond Street and Butt Close Lane. Today Leicester Unitarian Chapel.^[136]
• 1717 – LastEnglish witch trial conducted by Leicester Assizes. The two accused women, both ofWigston, were acquitted by the jury who disregarded the testimony of 25 witnesses.^{[137][125][126]}
• 1751 –Leicester Journal newspaper began publication.^[138]
• 1753 —John Wesley, father of theMethodist movement, made the first of about a dozen visits to Leicester. He stayed and preached at the Great Meeting House on Butt Close Lane.^[139]
• 1760 – Leicester's last recorded accusation of witchcraft. Two elderly ladies ofGlenn Magna accused one another of witchcraft and were subjected to theducking stool, which one passed and the other failed. Other accusations followed. The only court proceedings to arise were fines for rioting as the crime of witchcraft was removed from the statute books.^[126]
• 1770 –Daniel Lambert was born in Leicester^[140]
• 1771 –Leicester Royal Infirmary opened.^[141]
• 1773 – The High Cross in High Street was removed.^[69]
• 1785 – The Greencoat School was established with money left by AldermanGabriel Newton .^[116]
• 1789 —William Carey became minister of LeicestersParticular Baptist congregation. He is regarded as a key founding figure in the global Protestant missionary movement, widely known asFather of modern missions.^[142]
• 1792 –Leicester Chronicle newspaper began publication.^[143]
• 1794 – The corporation sanctioned several fairs.^[24]

• 1800
  • The City Rooms were opened.^[144]
  • Leicester Medical Book Society founded.^[145]
• 1801 – Population: 17,005.^[146]
• 1804 – Thecommon lands around the ancient city, includingSouth Fields,North Fields, andHigh Fields, were controversiallyenclosed.^[76]
• 1806 –Racecourse established.^[146]
• 1816 – James Towle, notableLuddite, was executed in the city on 20 November. Two more Luddites were executed the following year.^[147]
• 1817 – Leicester Savings Bank established.^[91]

• 1821 – Leicester Gas Company was established.^[148]
• 1825 – Wharf Street Cricket Ground opened, home to theLeicestershire County Cricket Club.^[149]
• 1827 – St George parish church, constructed to serve the new suburb built in South Fields, completed.^[150]
• 1828 – The newLeicester Prison opened on Welford Road.^[76]

• 1832 —Leicester and Swannington Railway began operating.^[151]
• 1833 —Leicester Corporation refused to hand over records toRoyal commissioners tasked byEarl Grey, the Prime Minister, with investigating municipal corruption.^[47]
• 1835 – Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society founded.^[152][153]
• 1836
  • Leicester Borough Police Force was established.^[154]
  • The Theatre Royal opened in Horsefair Street.^[76]
• 1837 – Leicester'sChurch of England parishes transferred from the control ofLincoln Diocese to theDiocese of Peterborough during a redrawing of diocesan boundaries.Peterborough Cathedral became Leicester'sCathedral Church and remained so until the establishment of the Diocese of Leicester in 1926 and the elevation ofSt Martin's Church, Leicester to cathedral status in 1927.
• 1838
  • Union Workhouse built.^[91][153]
  • Holy Trinity Parish Church first constructed.^[155]
• 1839 – Christ Church Bow Street, achapel of ease to St Margaret's, was consecrated byBishop John Kaye on 28 June.^[156]

• 1840 – The Midland Counties Railway from Derby to Rugby opened theCampbell Street Station in Leicester.^[157]
• 1845 – Particular Baptist Chapel opened.^[89]
• 1849
  • Chamber of Commerce established.^[91]
  • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery opened.^[153][99]

• 1851
  • Apumping station was built near theRiver Soar under the Leicester Sewerage Act.^[77]
  • Leicester Secular Society first established, the firstFreethought Secular Society in the world.^[158]
• 1853
  • Rowe's Circulating Library in business.^[159]
  • Leicester gained its first piped water supply^[153]
• 1855 —Leicester Corn Exchange constructed inLeicester Market.
• 1857
  • John Biggs, local hosiery manufacturer and radical liberal, was elected MP for the borough. He is commemorated with a statue in Welford Place.
  • Hitchin-Leicester railway began operating.^[91]
  • Leicester Guardian newspaper began publication.^[91]
• 1858 —Henry Norman, later journalist, Liberal MP, and Baronet, was born in the borough on 19 September.

• 1861 – Population: 68,056.^[146]
• 1862 –Joseph Merrick, the "Elephant Man", was born in Leicester on 5 August.^[160]
• 1863 – The Old Bow Bridge was demolished and replaced with an iron bridge.^[161]
• 1864
  • South Leicestershire Railway (Hinckley-Leicester) began operating.^[91]
  • Leicester balloon riot.
• 1866
  • Leicester's first working men's club opened.^[153]
  • The Collegiate School for Girls opened.^[116]
• 1867
  • Major restoration work toSt Martin's Church begun in 1860 was completed; the tower and spire having been dismantled and rebuilt.^[70]
  • Leicester Secular Society refounded.^[158]
• 1868
  • Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower erected depicting four historic heroes of the city:Simon de Montfort,Thomas White,William Wyggeston andGabriel Newton.^[91]
  • St Luke's Church on the corner of Humberstone Road and Bell Lane consecrated byWilliam Connor Magee, theLord Bishop of Peterborough between 1868 and 1891.^[162]

• 1870 – Leicester School of Art founded (ancestor of the Leicester Polytechnic College and today'sDe Montfort University).
• 1871
  • Population: 95,084.^[146]
  • The statue ofRobert Hall, notable Leicestrian Baptist Minister, was unveiled in De Montfort Square,New Walk.^[163]
  • The Free Library opened in Wellington Street.^[153][164]
• 1872
  • Leicester Borough Fire Brigade was established.^[153]
  • St Mark's Parish Church, Belgrave consecrated byBishop Magee.^[165]
• 1874
  • Leicester's first horse-drawn tram service began operating, from theClock Tower toBelgrave.^[153][164]
  • Leicester Mercury newspaper began publication.
  • 16 April –St. Peter's Parish Church, Highfields consecrated byBishop Magee.^[166]
• 1875 – Trams begin operating from the town centre toVictoria Park andHumberstone.^[153]
• 1876
  • Leicester Town Hall was built.^[153]
  • Leicester Co-operative Hosiery Manufacturing Society organised.^[167]
• 1877
  • TheWyggeston Hospital School opened.^[116]
  • Skating rink opened in Rutland Street.^[164]
  • Leicester Bicycling Club active (approximate date).^[168]
  • The Opera House opened in Silver Street.^[169]
  • St Saviour's Parish Church consecrated byBishop Magee.^[170]
  • Prebend Street Friends Meeting House opened, and the LeicesterQuakers leave the old Blackfriars Northgates Meeting House.^[135]
• 1878 –
  • Leicestershire County Cricket Club's new ground atGrace Road opened.^[149]
  • Leicestershire Lawn Tennis Club Established.^[171]
• 1879 – The first municipal swimming baths open in Bath Lane.^[153]

• 1880 –Leicester Tigers Rugby Union Football Club was founded^[172]
• 1881
  • Population: 122,351.^[146]
  • Leicester Secular Hall built by theSecular Society on Humberstone Gate.^[173]
• 1882
  • Victoria Park andAbbey Park open.^[153][174]
  • Holy Cross Priory was established on land betweenNew Walk & Wellington Street. FirstRoman Catholic church to be consecrated in the city since the reformation & a refoundation for theBlackfriars after the dissolution ofSt Clement's Priory in 1538.^[175]
• 1884 –Leicester Fosse football club formed.
• 1885 – Leicester and Leicestershire Photographic Society founded.^[176]
• 1886 –Spinney Hill Park opened.^[153]
• 1889
  • Leicester became aCounty borough perLocal Government Act 1888.
  • Leicester Branch of theSocialist League organised.^[145]

• 1890
  • St Margaret's andAll Saints united into a single parish by Letters Patent dated July 8.^[177]
  • Church of the Martyrs on Westcotes Drive was consecrated by Bishop Magee.^[178]
• 1891
  • Population: 174,624.^[146]
  • Filbert Street stadium opened.
  • Abbey Pumping Station in operation.^[99]
  • The Borough of Leicester was greatly enlarged by the Leicester Extension Act, with the addition of Aylestone, Belgrave, Knighton, Newfoundpool and parts of Braunstone, Evington and Humberstone.^[153][24]
• 1892
  • Leicester Tigers moved to their new home atWelford Road Stadium^[172]
  • London Road Station, previously Campbell Street Station, was reconstructed.^[179]
  • Belgrave became part of Leicester^[180]
• 1894 – Leicester Fosse joined the Football League.^[181]
• 1896
  • Leicester Corporation purchased Gilroes and began laying out a cemetery there.^[77]
  • All of the civil parishes within the Borough of Leicester were merged into a single parish.^[153]
• 1898 – TheGrand Hotel was built in Granby Street.^{[citation needed]}
• 1899
  • British United Shoe Machinery was established in Belgrave Road.^[182]
  • Leicester Central railway station opened. (closed 1969)

• 1901
  • Population: 211,579.^[24]
  • St James the Greater Parish Church was consecrated byEdward Carr Glyn, 25 July.^[183]
• 1904 – The conversion of Leicester's horse-drawn trams to electric trams was completed.^[153]
• 1905 –Leicester General Hospital opened.
• 1906 – Future Prime MinisterJames Ramsay MacDonald was elected as one of the two MPs for Leicester.^[184]

• 1911 — ‘Great Fire of Leicester’ - Church of St. George the Martyr & surrounding factories (today's Cultural Quarter) gutted by fire on 5 October, and subsequently rebuilt.^[185][186]
• 1913 –De Montfort Hall opened.
• 1918–1919 – theSpanish Influenza epidemic killed approximately 1600 people in Leicester.^[187]
• 1919
  • KingGeorge V and QueenMary made a state visit the city on 10 June.^[188]
  • Leicester granted city status in the aftermath of the Royal visit in June. It was seen as a restoration of the historic city status held during Roman times.^[153][188]

• 1920 – The City Boys School opened.^[116]
• 1921
  • Population: 234,000.^[153]
  • TheUniversity College of Leicester was established.^[189]
• 1923 – In theGeneral Election,Winston Churchill was the Liberal candidate inLeicester West and lost.^[190]
• 1925
  • Arch of Remembrance onVictoria Park completed. Designed byEdward Lutyens in memory of the sons of Leicester who died in theGreat War. Unveiled by two local war widows, Mrs Elizabeth Butler and Mrs Annie Glover, in front of 30,000 people on 4 July.^[191]
  • Braunstone Frith was absorbed into the city of Leicester.^[192]
• 1926 – TheDiocese of Leicester was established and the city's churches were allocated to it instead of theDiocese of Peterborough.
  • Dr.Cyril Bardsley was appointed the firstBishop of Leicester since the year 870.^[70]
• 1927 — St Martin's Church becameLeicester Cathedral, the first church in the city with Cathedral status since the 8th or 9th century.^[70]

• 1932 – TheLittle Theatre opened in Dover Street.
  • Charles Street reopened in June
  • Belgrave Gate was widened
• 1933
  • Joe Orton, noted satirical playwright, was born in the city on 1 January.
  • Leicester City Police Headquarters, designed byG. Noel Hill and A.T. Gooseman, opened in Charles Street.
• 1935
  • Humberstone, Knighton, New Parks and Beaumont Leys were absorbed into the city of Leicester.^[77][180]
  • Oswald Mosley and the Blackshirts (British Union of Fascists) held several demonstrations in the Market Place and Victoria Park and were heckled by members of the city'slabour movement.^[193]
• 1936
  • The city boundaries were further extended to include most of Evington^[180]
  • Odeon Cinema opened.
  • TheJarrow Marchers arrived in Leicester on Thursday 23 October from Loughborough and continued on the next day to Market Harborough.^[194]

• 1940 – Leicester suffered its worst air raid of World War II on the night of 19 November.^[195]
• 1946 – KingGeorge VI and QueenElizabeth made a state visit to Leicester on 30 October. The visit was part of a tour marking the end of World War II.^[188]
• 1947 —University of Leicester Botanic Garden opened.

• 1950 – St Luke's Church Humberstone Road demolished.^[162]
• 1955 – NewFriends Meeting House opened on Queens Road. Prebend Street Meeting House closes permanently the following year.^[196]
• 1958
  • Buddy Holly andthe Crickets performed live atDe Montfort Hall on 6 March, perhaps the city's first Rock n Roll performance.^[197]
  • QueenElizabeth II visited the city on 9 May, the first of her visited to the city as monarch.^[198]
  • Christ Church on Bow Street were demolished along with its parish school.^[156]
  • Vaughan Way and Burleys Way were started in July.
• 1959 —Andrew Bailey,Chief Cashier (2004–2011) and laterGovernor (2020–present) of theBank of England, was born in the city on March 30.
  • Vaughan Way and Burleys Way were opened in May 1959.

• 1960 —Gary Lineker, noted football player and commentator, was born in the city on 30 November.
• 1962 –Jewry Wall Museum built.
• 1963 –The Beatles performed live atDe Montfort Hall for the first time.^[199]
• 1966
  • St Luke's Church Stocking Farm was consecrated 29 April, a replacement to the lost Humberstone Street St Luke's.
  • Southgates Underpass and St Nicholas Circle a started in August 1966.
  • TheCity of Leicester Polytechnic was established.
• 1968 - Southgates Underpass and St Nicholas Circle in opened in 2 May
  • St Margaret's Way construction begin a November 1968, former Lower Church Gate.
• 1969 – The Museum of theRoyal Leicestershire Regiment opened in theMagazine Gateway.^[200]

• 1970
  • University of Leicester'sAttenborough Building constructed.
  • St Margaret's Way and Belgrave Circle were constructed and were opened in Saturday 2 May.
• 1972 –Abbey Pumping Station museum opened.^[99]
• 1973
  • Haymarket Shopping Centre in business.
  • Leicester Theatre Trust formed.
  • Belgrave Flyover construction started in January
• 1974 –Leicester City Council established according toLocal Government Act 1972.
• 1975 - St Matthews Way, Burleys Flyover, roundabout and Waterloo Way construction started January 1975
• 1979 —Leicester Chronicle ceased publication after 187 years.^[201]

• 1980 —Leicester Royal Infirmary extension opened by Queen Elizabeth II andPrince Philip on 14 March.^[202]
• 1985 –St Margaret's Bus Station re-opened with new buildings.

• 1992 – The Leicester Polytechnic becameDe Montfort University.
• 1993 – Queen Elizabeth II visited the city on 9 December.^[203]
• 1997
  • Leicester City Council becameunitary authority per1990s UK local government reform.
  • Leicester Bike Park opened.

• 2002
  • National Space Centre opened by the Queen on 1 August.^[204]
  • Filbert Street Stadium closes after 110 years of serving Leicester City.
  • NewLeicester City Stadium opened.
• 2005 —Peepul Arts Centre opened.
• 2007 – Statue ofSt Margaret of Antioch relocated from Corah Works to the front ofSt Margaret's Church.^[205]
• 2008
  • Leicester Statue of Liberty re-erected at the foot of Upperton Road.^[206]
  • Curve theatre opened by the Queen on 4 December.^[204]

• 2010
  • 25 September -Leicester City Council unanimously votes to ban a proposedfar right demonstration in the city planned for 9 October.^[207]
  • 4 October -Theresa May, thenHome Secretary, issues a ban on all protests in Leicester city centre for l Friday 9 October discouraging would be protesters with promises of hefty fines and prison sentences.^[208]
  • 10 October - around 2000 protesters from the far rightEnglish Defence League and associated groups gathered from across England and rioted in the lower part of Humberstone Gate outside theSecular Hall.^[209] A counter demonstration of around 1000 locals, involving key citizens such as the council leaderPeter Soulsby and the Bishop of LeicesterTim Stevens, was held in the upper part of Humberstone Gate outside theHaymarket Shopping Centre. The counter protest was also joined by around 600 protesters fromUnite Against Fascism. The protest had been delayed from 9 October to avoid the Home Secretaries ban. It resultedLeicestershire Constabulary's largest policing operation in 25 years and 13 arrests.^[210]
• 2011 – Institution of a new electedCity Mayor (as distinct from the ancient office ofLord Mayor). The first mayoral election was held on May 5 (see2011 Leicester Mayoral Election.^[211]
• 2012:
  • QueenElizabeth II, theDuke of Edinburgh, and theDuchess of Cambridge visit Leicester during the Queen'sDiamond Jubilee tour of Britain.
  • The remains ofKing Richard III were discovered beneath a car park on the site of the formerGreyfriars chapel.
• 2015 —Reinterment of Richard III inLeicester Cathedral (26 March).
• 2016 —Leicester City won the2015–16 Premier League on 2 May as their first league title, having been 5000-to-1 outsiders at the start of the season.^[212] Large civic festivities followed and the team subsequently won theBBC Sports Personality Team of the Year Award.^[213]

• 2020–2022 – TheCOVID-19 pandemic. Between 13 March 2020 and 19 December 2022 the city reported 128,123 cases of the virus and the lives of 1,171 of its citizens were lost to it. The city was one of Britain's worst affected and was subject to an additional hundred days of lockdown.^[214]
• 2020 – NewSt Margaret's Bus Station building completed in November and opened 31 December.^[215]
• 2022 – The2022 Leicester unrest. A notable summer outbreak of ethno-religious tension between members of the city's Hindu and Muslim communities.
• 2024 – Tension between a Far Right protest and an Anti Racist protest around East Gates and theHaymarket Memorial Clock Tower and other instances of unrest, 6 August (part of the2024 United Kingdom riots).^[216]

• History of Leicester
• History of Leicestershire
• Timelines of othercities inEast Midlands:Derby,Lincoln,Nottingham

• John Nichols (1795).History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester: Volume I, Part I. London: Nichols & Son. p. 407+.
• John Nichols (1815).History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester: Volume I, Part II. London: Nichols & Son.

• John Britton (1807), "Leicester",Beauties of England and Wales, vol. 9, London: Vernor, Hood & Sharpe,hdl:2027/mdp.39015063565736
• "Leicester".Commercial Directory for 1818-19-20. Manchester:James Pigot. 1818.
• Susanna Watts (1820).A Walk Through Leicester; Being a Guide to Strangers (2nd ed.). Leicester: T. Combe.
• Robert Watt (1824). "Leicester".Bibliotheca Britannica. Vol. 4. Edinburgh: A. Constable.hdl:2027/mdp.39076005081505.OCLC 961753.
• "Leicester".Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory for 1828-9. London: James Pigot. 26 August 2023.
• John Curtis (1831)."Leicester".Topographical History of the County of Leicester. W. Hextall.
• David Brewster, ed. (1832). "Leicester".Edinburgh Encyclopædia. Vol. 12. Philadelphia: Joseph and Edward Parker.hdl:2027/mdp.39015068380875.
• "Leicester",Leigh's New Pocket Road-Book of England and Wales (7th ed.), London:Leigh and Son, 1839
• John Thomson (1845),"Leicester",New Universal Gazetteer and Geographical Dictionary, London: H.G. Bohn
• Thompson, James (1849).The history of Leicester. Leicester: crossley.

• William Napier Reeve (1854),"Our Town; and How it Strikes a Stranger",Leicester New Monthly Magazine, vol. 1, London: Houlston and Stoneman,Eliot Roscoe
  • "Our Town, No. 3: Roman Leicester",Leicester New Monthly Magazine, vol. 1
  • "Our Town, No. 4: Saxon Leicester",Leicester New Monthly Magazine, vol. 1
  • "Our Town, No. 6: Lancastrian Leicester",Leicester New Monthly Magazine, vol. 1
  • "Our Town, No. 7: Yorkist Leicester",Leicester New Monthly Magazine, vol. 1
  • "Our Town, No. 8: Tudor Leicester",Leicester New Monthly Magazine, vol. 1
  • "Our Town, No. 9: Stuart Leicester",Leicester New Monthly Magazine, vol. 1
• "History of the Borough of Leicester".History, Gazetteer, and Directory of the Counties of Leicester and Rutland. Sheffield: William White. 1863.
• Leicester Postal Handbook. Leicester: Ward & Son. 1868–1869.
• James Thompson (1871),The history of Leicester in the eighteenth century, Leicester: Crossley and Clarke,OCLC 6120339
• "Roman Leicester",Transactions of the Leicestershire Architectural and Archaeological Society, vol. 4, Leicester: Samuel Clarke, 1878
• John Parker Anderson (1881),"Leicestershire: Leicester",Book of British Topography: a Classified Catalogue of the Topographical Works in the Library of the British Museum Relating to Great Britain and Ireland, London: W. Satchell
• Hammond's Guide to Leicester and the Abbey park. W.A. Hammond. 1882.
• "Leicester",Handbook for Travellers in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Staffordshire (3rd ed.), London: J. Murray, 1892,OCLC 2097091
• "Leicester".Official Guide to the Midland Railway. London: Cassell & Company. 1894.
• Charles Gross (1897)."Leicester".Bibliography of British Municipal History. New York: Longmans, Green, and Co.
• Spencer's Illustrated Leicester Almanack ... for 1898. Leicester: J. & T. Spencer. 1898.
• Mary Bateson, ed. (1899).Records of the Borough of Leicester: Being a series of Extracts from the Archive of the Corporation of Leicester 1103–1327. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press.

• Mary Bateson, ed. (1901).Records of the Borough of Leicester: Being a series of Extracts from the Archive of the Corporation of Leicester 1327–1509. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press.
• G.K. Fortescue, ed. (1902). "Leicester".Subject Index of the Modern Works Added to the Library of the British Museum in the Years 1881–1900. London: The Trustees.hdl:2027/uc1.b5107012.
• J.G. Bartholomew (1904), "Leicester",Survey Gazetteer of the British Isles, London: G. Newnes
• Mary Bateson, ed. (1905).Records of the Borough of Leicester: Being a series of Extracts from the Archive of the Corporation of Leicester 1509–1603. Vol. 3. Cambridge University Press.
• Mrs. T. Fielding Johnson (1906),Glimpses of ancient Leicester, in six periods (2nd ed.), Leicester: Clarke and Satchell,OL 25498292M
• "Leicester",Great Britain (7th ed.), Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1910,hdl:2027/mdp.39015010546516
• "Leicester" .Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). 1910. p. 393.
• Charles James Billson (1920).Mediaeval Leicester. 46 Cank Street, Leicester: Edgar Backus.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
• "Leicester".England.Blue Guides. London: Macmillan. 1920.
• Helen Stocks, ed. (1923).Records of the Borough of Leicester: Being a series of Extracts from the Archive of the Corporation of Leicester 1603–1688. Vol. 4. Cambridge University Press.
• Colin Ellis (1948).History in Leicester (2nd. (1969) ed.). City of Leicester Publicity Department.SBN 901675 008.

• A. Temple Patterson (1954).Radical Leicester: A History of Leicester, 1780–1850. University College London.SBN 7185 1003 8.
• R A McKinley, ed. (1958),"A History of the County of Leicester: The City of Leicester",Victoria County History, London
• A.E. (Tony) Brown, ed. (1970).The Growth of Leicester: A History of the City in 10 Essays (2nd. 1972 ed.). University of Leicester Press.ISBN 0-7185-1100-X.
  • A.E. (Tony) Brown, "Roman Leicester",The Growth of Leicester, pp. 11–18
  • Levi Fox, "Leicester Castle",The Growth of Leicester, pp. 19–26
  • G.H. Martin, "Church Life in Medieval Leicester",The Growth of Leicester, pp. 27–38
  • A.M. Everitt, "Leicester and its Markets: The Seventeenth Centuries",The Growth of Leicester, pp. 39–46
  • G.A. Chinnery, "Eighteenth Century Leicester",The Growth of Leicester, pp. 47–54
  • G.R. Potts, "The Development of the New Walk and King Street Area",The Growth of Leicester, pp. 55–62
  • R.H. Evans, "The Expansion of Leicester in the Nineteenth Century",The Growth of Leicester, pp. 63–70
  • R.H. Evans, "The Local Government of Leicester in the Nineteenth Century",The Growth of Leicester, pp. 71–78
  • G.C Martin, "Twentieth Century Leicester: Garden Suburbs and Council Estates",The Growth of Leicester, pp. 79–86
  • Jack Simmons, "Leicester Past and Present",The Growth of Leicester, pp. 87–92
• Malcolm Elliott (1983).Leicester, a pictorial history (2nd. 1999 ed.). Chichester: Phillimore.ISBN 1-86077-099-1.
• Patrick Clay (1988).Leicester Before the Romans. Leicestershire Museum Publications.ISBN 0-85022-244-3.

• Buckley, Richard; Codd, Mike; Morris, Matthew (2011).Visions of Ancient Leicester. University of Leicester Archeological Services.ISBN 978-0-9560179-7-0.
• Steven Willis (2022),Updated Period Resource Assessment: The East Midlands in the Later Bronze Age and Iron Age

Wikimedia Commons has media related toLeicester.

• "Story of Leicester". Leicester City Councils official history website.
• "Leicestershire",Historical Directories, UK:University of Leicester, 19 November 2024. Includes digitised directories of Leicester, various dates
• "(Leicester)".Discovering Britain: Walks: East Midlands.Royal Geographical Society. c. 2013.
• "(Leicester population of 2019)". Archived from the original on 28 May 2019.

52°38′00″N1°08′00″W / 52.633333°N 1.133333°W /52.633333; -1.133333

• Years in England
• History of Leicester
• Timelines of cities in the United Kingdom
• English history timelines
• Leicester-related lists

• Pages with reference errors
• CS1 errors: ISBN date
• Pages with broken reference names
• CS1: long volume value
• Webarchive template wayback links
• CS1 maint: location missing publisher
• Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the ODNB
• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Dynamic lists
• Use British English from October 2013
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Use dmy dates from August 2024
• Articles containing OSM location maps
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from September 2013
• Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference
• CS1 maint: location
• Commons category link is locally defined
• CS1: unfit URL
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Pages using the Kartographer extension