Leicester Castle is in the city of the same name in the English county of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

. The complex is situated in the west of Leicester City Centre, between Saint Nicholas Circle to the north and

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...

to the south. A large

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortificati ...

, the Great Hall, the Church of St Mary de Castro, and the ruined Turret Gateway are the substantial remains of what was once a large set of defensive and residential structures. It was historically the seat of the Earls of Leicester, from 1107-1175 under the House of Beaumont, from 1239 to 1265 under the

House of Montfort The House of Montfort was a medieval French noble house that eventually found its way to the Kingdom of England and originated the famous Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. However, his father, Simon de Monfort the Elder, who led the F ...

, and after 1267 with the

House of Lancaster The House of Lancaster was a cadet branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancasterfrom which the house was namedfor his second son Edmund Crouchback in 1267 ...

when the Earldoms of Leicester and Lancaster were combined. The Castle's Great Hall served for centuries as the home of Leicester County Assizes and is encased in a Queen Anne style frontage. The Castle is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

History

Leicester Castle was part of the medieval town defences, built over the Roman walls in the south western corner of the town on the eastern bank of the

River Soar The River Soar () is a major tributary of the River Trent in the East Midlands as well as the principal river of Leicestershire, England. The source of the river is midway between Hinckley and Lutterworth. The river then flows north throug ...

. The castle was probably built around 1070 (soon after the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

in 1066) under the governorship of Hugh de Grandmesnil. The remains of the earliest wave of construction now consist of a

mound A mound is a wikt:heaped, heaped pile of soil, earth, gravel, sand, rock (geology), rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded ...

and various ruins in the bailey. Originally the mound was 40 ft (12.2 m) high. In 1107 Robert de Beaumont Count of Meulan was made

Earl of Leicester Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837. History Earl ...

, the first of that title, and granted possession of the castle and the old Roman town by King Henry I. He undertook significant building works in the bailey and established a college of priests to serve a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantry chapel, a b ...

in the castle chapel and the pastoral needs of his household. In 1173,

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

's three eldest sons led a rebellion against him with support from several magnates, including

Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester (1121 – 1190), called Blanchemains, was an English nobleman, one of the principal followers of Henry the Young King in the Revolt of 1173–1174 against his father King Henry II. Life Robert was the s ...

. During the conflict, Henry's forces laid siege to Leicester and burnt most of the town. The castle was then

slighted Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative, or social structures. This destruction of property is sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It ...

(partially demolished) and parts of the ditches filled. According to historian Sidney Painter, it was one of at least 21 castles demolished on Henry II's instructions. Kings sometimes stayed at the castle (

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

in 1300, and

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...

in 1310 and 1311), and John of Gaunt and his second wife

Constance of Castile Constance of Castile (1136 or 1140 – 4 October 1160) was Queen of France as the second wife of Louis VII of France, Louis VII, who married her following the annulment of his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was a daughter of Alfonso VII o ...

both died here in 1399 and 1394 respectively. Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, one of the leading captains in the early phases of the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

died at the castle on 23 March 1361. It became an official royal residence during the reigns of Henry IV,

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1216–1281 ...

, Henry VI, and

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

, but by the middle of the 15th century, it was no longer considered suitable and was used mainly as a courthouse; with sessions being held in the Great Hall. Apart from being used for

assize court The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ...

s, the Great Hall was also used for sessions of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

most notably the Parliament of Bats in 1426, when the conditions in London were not suitable. A section of the castle wall, adjacent to the Turret Gateway, has gun loops (holes) that were poked through the medieval wall to use as firing ports by the city's residents when Parliamentarian Leicester was besieged, captured, and ransacked, during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

by the main Royalist Field army under Charles I and

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

on 31 May 1645. The third storey of the Turret Gateway (known as 'Prince Rupert's gateway') was destroyed in an election riot in 1832. In the 1880s,

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

visited the assize courts regularly and spent many hours inside as reporter for the '' Nottingham Journal'' when the hall was being used as a court house. The castle continued to be used as the venue for assizes and

quarter sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts that were traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388; they were extended to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Scotland establ ...

and, after 1972, for hearings of Leicester Crown Court until the Leicester Law Courts in Wellington Street were completed in 1981.

References

External links

Photographs of the area around the castle
{{Castles in Leicestershire , state=expanded History of Leicester Castles in Leicestershire Grade I listed buildings in Leicestershire Tourist attractions in Leicestershire Grade I listed castles Buildings and structures in Leicester Ruins in Leicestershire Scheduled monuments in Leicester

History

See also

References

External links