Leicester

Leicester during the 9th century

Leicester (Old English: Ledecestre) is a city and the county town of Leicestershire, England. During the Roman period, the town as known as Ratae and was home to a bureau belonging to the Hidden Ones.

History

Roman period

The area that came to be Leicester was settled by a Celtic tribe by the name of Corieltauvi, who made the area their capital in the 1st century. The Romans arrived in 47 CE during their conquest of southern Britain, taking control of the area and establishing a town which they called Ratae Corieltauvorum, or Ratae for short. A few decades after the reign of Emperor Claudius, the Hidden Ones established one of their bureaus in a temple complex beneath the town as part of their plan to expand their influence throughout the province and the empire.

Medieval period

With the withdrawal of the Roman troops in the 5th century, Leicester came to be settled by the tribe of Middle Angles, and subsequently became a part of the Kingdom of Mercia during the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. Under their rule, Leicester became a prosperous farming town and came to be known by its Old English name Ledecestre, and give the name of Ledecestrescire to the shire it is in.

In 873, following the Viking assault on the stronghold of Tamworth, Leicester was used by the Mercians as a storage for food supplies on the orders of the thegn Leofric, who intended to mount a counterattack against the Vikings.

Learning that it was a possible hiding spot for King Burgred of Mercia, Ivarr Ragnarsson and his protégé Ceolbert travelled to Leicester to investigate, with Ceolbert volunteering himself to eavesdrop amongst the guards. Within the old Roman bathhouse, he was soon found by his ally Eivor Varinsdottir and reported what he found: Leofrith's plans and Queen Æthelswith's whereabouts in Templebrough Fort.

Impatient with waiting, Ivarr subsequently led his men to storm the town, killing every soldier to find the Saxon king. With Eivor and Ceolbert's unwitting assistance, Leicester fell under the control of the Sons of Ragnar.

Maria Thorpe was born in the city in 1161. In 1179, at the age of 18 she was forced to marry Peter Hallaton, a local lord. Dissatisfied with the marriage, Maria had it annulled four years later by the Bishop of Leicester, a close friend of the lord, and left the city to join the Crusaders and Templars.

Victorian era

In 1868, the first train to leave St. Pancras station in London arrived in Leicester, having been originally bound for Manchester.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Initiates (mentioned in Database entry only)
• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (mentioned in Database entry only)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first appearance)