c 100 BCE — the
Corieltauvi Tribe develop an
Oppidum on the eastern bank of the
River Soar (approx. date).[2] The settlement had the northernmost Iron Age coin mint yet discovered in Europe.[3]
680 —
Cuthwine is installed as the first Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Leicester.
840 — According to local tradition
Saint Wigstan, a young prince of Mercia, is
martyred at
Wistow just south of the city on the Kalends (1st) of June.[10]
874 – Leicester ceases to be a separate diocese when the last Saxon Bishop flees from the invading Danes.
There were 65
Burgesses or Freemen (the ancestor of the current Guild of Leicester Freemen).[16]
The town was governed by a Portmanmoot of 24 Jurats elected from among the Burgesses (the ancestor of the 1589 Corporation & the modern
City Council).[17]
1485 –
Richard III spends his last night in Leicester before the
Battle of Bosworth Field. He slept at the Blue Boar Inn on what is today Highcross Street. His body is afterwards brought back to the town and buried at
Greyfriars.[30][31]
1548 – The Guild of Corpus Christi is dissolved.[13]
1550 – The Free Grammar School is established by this year, using money left by
William Wyggeston .[34]
1589 –
Elizabeth I issues a
Royal Charter establishing the
Corporation of Leicester as a replacement for the Moot of Burgesses. It is granted the privilege of sharing the motto “Semper Eadem” with the monarch.[27]
1616 —
Leicester Boy Trials. A famous
witch trial instigated by a 13 year old boy who accused 15 women, the inspiration for
Ben Jonson’s play
The Devil Is an Ass. 9 of the accused were hanged, 1 died in prison, and 5 were released on the order of
King James I during his visit to the city that summer.[35]
1642 –
Charles I passes through Leicester before raising his standard at Nottingham.[36]
1680 - Knitting frames for hosiery were introduced about this time.[7]
1708 — Great Meeting House constructed for the towns Protestant Dissenters on East Bond Street. Today Leicester Unitarian Chapel.[38]
1717 — Last
English witch trial conducted by Leicester Assizes. The two accused women were both acquitted by the jury who disregarded the testimony of 25 witnesses.[39][40]
The Borough of Leicester is greatly enlarged by the Leicester Extension Act, with the addition of Aylestone, Belgrave, Knighton, Newfoundpool and parts of Braunstone, Evington and Humberstone.[51]
1906 – Future Prime Minister
James Ramsay MacDonald was elected as one of the two MPs for Leicester.[75]
1911 — ‘Great Fire of Leicester’ - Church of St. George the Martyr & surrounding factories (todays Cultural Quarter) gutted by fire on October 5th & subsequently rebuilt.[76][77]
Arch of Remembrance on
Victoria Park completed. Designed by
Edward Lutyens in memory of the sons of Leicester who died in the
Great War. Unveiled by two local war widows, Mrs Elizabeth Butler and Mrs Annie Glover, in front of 30,000 people on July 4th.[81]
Braunstone Frith is absorbed into the city of Leicester.[82]
^Pevsner, Nikolaus (1992) [1984]. Buildings of Leicestershire and Rutland. London: Penguin. p. 228.
ISBN014-071018-3.
^
abcJordan, Christine (2003). The illustrated history of Leicester's suburbs. Derby: Breedon Books. pp. 21, 32, 77, 96, 102.
ISBN1-85983-348-9.
^Stretton, John (1997). Leicestershire and Rutland Past and Present. The3 Counties of England. Wadenhoe,Peterborough: Past and present Ltd. p. 72.
ISBN9-781858951096.
"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
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.
c 100 BCE — the
Corieltauvi Tribe develop an
Oppidum on the eastern bank of the
River Soar (approx. date).[2] The settlement had the northernmost Iron Age coin mint yet discovered in Europe.[3]
680 —
Cuthwine is installed as the first Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Leicester.
840 — According to local tradition
Saint Wigstan, a young prince of Mercia, is
martyred at
Wistow just south of the city on the Kalends (1st) of June.[10]
874 – Leicester ceases to be a separate diocese when the last Saxon Bishop flees from the invading Danes.
There were 65
Burgesses or Freemen (the ancestor of the current Guild of Leicester Freemen).[16]
The town was governed by a Portmanmoot of 24 Jurats elected from among the Burgesses (the ancestor of the 1589 Corporation & the modern
City Council).[17]
1485 –
Richard III spends his last night in Leicester before the
Battle of Bosworth Field. He slept at the Blue Boar Inn on what is today Highcross Street. His body is afterwards brought back to the town and buried at
Greyfriars.[30][31]
1548 – The Guild of Corpus Christi is dissolved.[13]
1550 – The Free Grammar School is established by this year, using money left by
William Wyggeston .[34]
1589 –
Elizabeth I issues a
Royal Charter establishing the
Corporation of Leicester as a replacement for the Moot of Burgesses. It is granted the privilege of sharing the motto “Semper Eadem” with the monarch.[27]
1616 —
Leicester Boy Trials. A famous
witch trial instigated by a 13 year old boy who accused 15 women, the inspiration for
Ben Jonson’s play
The Devil Is an Ass. 9 of the accused were hanged, 1 died in prison, and 5 were released on the order of
King James I during his visit to the city that summer.[35]
1642 –
Charles I passes through Leicester before raising his standard at Nottingham.[36]
1680 - Knitting frames for hosiery were introduced about this time.[7]
1708 — Great Meeting House constructed for the towns Protestant Dissenters on East Bond Street. Today Leicester Unitarian Chapel.[38]
1717 — Last
English witch trial conducted by Leicester Assizes. The two accused women were both acquitted by the jury who disregarded the testimony of 25 witnesses.[39][40]
The Borough of Leicester is greatly enlarged by the Leicester Extension Act, with the addition of Aylestone, Belgrave, Knighton, Newfoundpool and parts of Braunstone, Evington and Humberstone.[51]
1906 – Future Prime Minister
James Ramsay MacDonald was elected as one of the two MPs for Leicester.[75]
1911 — ‘Great Fire of Leicester’ - Church of St. George the Martyr & surrounding factories (todays Cultural Quarter) gutted by fire on October 5th & subsequently rebuilt.[76][77]
Arch of Remembrance on
Victoria Park completed. Designed by
Edward Lutyens in memory of the sons of Leicester who died in the
Great War. Unveiled by two local war widows, Mrs Elizabeth Butler and Mrs Annie Glover, in front of 30,000 people on July 4th.[81]
Braunstone Frith is absorbed into the city of Leicester.[82]
^Pevsner, Nikolaus (1992) [1984]. Buildings of Leicestershire and Rutland. London: Penguin. p. 228.
ISBN014-071018-3.
^
abcJordan, Christine (2003). The illustrated history of Leicester's suburbs. Derby: Breedon Books. pp. 21, 32, 77, 96, 102.
ISBN1-85983-348-9.
^Stretton, John (1997). Leicestershire and Rutland Past and Present. The3 Counties of England. Wadenhoe,Peterborough: Past and present Ltd. p. 72.
ISBN9-781858951096.
"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
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.