From Chester Wiki

This is just a list of dates and links to other sources. A narrative history of Chester can be found elsewhere on this site. Another Chester Timeline can be found on the local authority website. Further information can be found in Phil Jones' detailed history (impressive to say the least!) and at British History Online (comprehensive). The original timeline is found in the Annals of Chester Cathedral.

A Google time-line search can be found here

In the spirit of the Annals, the apparitions of Halley's comet have been noted. As Halley returns every 75-76 years this provides a useful "beat" for the passage of time.

Contents 1 Chester Before The Romans 2 Chester Events in Roman Times 3 Chester in the Early Dark Ages 4 Chester in the Later Dark Ages 4.1 Alfred the Great(23 April 871 — 26 October 899) 4.2 Edward the Elder(26 October 899 - 17 July 924). Son of Alfred the Great. 4.3 Æþelstān (August 2, 924 – October 27, 939). Son of King Edward the Elder. 4.4 Edmund I (October 27, 939 – May 26, 946). Another son of Edward the Elder and half-brother of Athelstan. 4.5 Edred (May 26, 946 - November 23, 955). A son of King Edward the Elder by his third wife. 4.6 Edwy [Eadwig, The Fair] (November 23, 955 - October 1, 959). Edred's Nephew 4.7 Edgar [The Pacific] (October 1, 959 – July 8, 975). Edwy's brother. 4.8 Edward [The Martyr, Eadweard II] (July 8, 975 - March 18, 978). Eldest son of King Edgar. 4.9 Ethelred [the Unready: Old English Æþelred Unræd] (March 18, 978 – April 23, 1016). Younger son of King Edgar. 4.10 Edmund [Ironside] (April 23, 1016 - November 30, 1016). Second son of King Æthelred. 4.11 Canute [The Great] (1016 - November 12, 1035). A son of the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard (who invaded England and ruled unopposed for only five weeks). 4.12 Harold I [Harefoot] (November 12, 1035 – March 17, 1040). Son of Canute. 4.13 Harthacanute (March 17, 1040 – June 8, 1042). Son of Canute. 4.14 Edward the Confessor [Eadweard II] (1042 – 5 January 1066). Son of Ethelred the Unready. 4.15 Harold II (5 January 1066 (aged 44) — 14 October 1066). Had no claim to the throne by birth. 5 Chester and the Anglo-Norman Kings (see: The Earls of Chester) 5.1 William I [William the Conqueror, William the bastard] (25 December 1066 (aged 41) - 9 September 1087) 5.2 William II [Willam Rufus] (9 September 1087 (aged 27) — 2 August 1100). Third son of William I 5.3 Henry I [Beauclerc] (3 August 1100–1 December 1135). Fourth son of William I. 5.4 Stephen [of Blois] (22 December 1135 – 25 October 1154). Son of William I's daughter. 5.5 Henry II (25 October 1154-6 July 1189). Son of Henry I's daughter. 5.6 Richard I [The Lionheart] (6 July 1189 – 6 April 1199). Third son of Henry II. 5.7 John [Lackland] (6 April 1199 – 18/19 October 1216). Fifth son of Henry II 5.8 Henry III (18-19 October 1216 - 16 November 1272). Eldest son of King John. 6 After the Norman Earls (Chester in the Late Middle Ages) 6.1 Edward I [Hammer of the Scots] (20 November 1272 – 7 July 1307). Eldest son of Henry III. 6.2 Edward II (7 July 1307 - 20 January 1327). Second son of Edward I. First royal Earl of Chester to become king. 6.3 Edward III (25 January 1327 – 21 June 1377). Son of Edward II (previously Earl of Chester). 6.4 Richard II (22 June 1377 - 29 September 1399). Son of Edward, the Black Prince (previously Earl of Chester). 7 Chester and the Wars of the Roses 7.1 Henry IV (30 September 1399 - 20 March 1413) LANCASTRIAN. Descended from Edward III - was never Earl of Chester. 7.2 Henry V(21 March 1413 - 31 August 1422) LANCASTRIAN. Son of Henry of Bolingbroke, later Henry IV. Last Earl of Chester until Edward (later Edward V) 7.3 Henry VI(31 August 1422 - 4 March 1461) LANCASTRIAN. Son of Henry V. 7.4 Edward IV(March 4, 1461 – 31 October, 1470) YORKIST. Descended from Edward III. 7.5 Henry VI - again (31 October 1470 - 11 April 1471) LANCASTRIAN 7.6 Edward IV - again (April 11, 1471 – April 9, 1483) YORKIST 7.7 Edward V(18 April 1483 - 25 June 1483) YORKIST. Son of Edward IV. Earl of Chester (followed by Edward of Middleham). 7.8 Richard III(20 June 1483–22 Aug 1485) YORKIST. Edward V's uncle. 8 Chester and the Tudors & Stewarts 8.1 Henry VII(August 22, 1485 - April 21, 1509). Somewhat distantly descended from Edward III. 8.2 Henry VIII(April 22, 1509–January 28, 1547). Third child of Henry VII (previously Earl of Chester) 8.3 Edward VI(January 28, 1547-July 6, 1553). The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour. He had been Earl of Chester and would be followed as Earl by the older brother of Charles I. 8.4 Jane(July 10, 1553 – July 19, 1553) 8.5 (Bloody) Mary I (19 July 1553–17 November 1558). Only child of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon to survive infancy. 8.6 Elizabeth I(17 November 1558 – 24 March 1603). Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. 8.7 James I(24 March 1603 - 27 March 1625). Descendant of Henry VII. Never Earl of Chester. 9 Chester and the Civil War 9.1 Charles I (27 March 1625 — 30 January 1649). Second son of James I (previously Earl of Chester) 9.2 The Interregnum (30 January 1649 - 29 May 1660) 10 The Restoration 10.1 Charles II (29 May 1660 - 6 February 1685). Son of Charles I. The next Earl of Chester was the "Old Pretender", followed by George Augustus, later George II 10.2 James II(6 February 1685 — 11 December 1688). Second surviving son of Charles I. Was never Earl of Chester. 10.3 William III (and Mary) (12 February 1689 - 8 March 1702). William was "invited" over from Holland, Mary (died 1694) was co-monarch and daughter to James II. 10.4 Anne (8 March 1702 – 1 August 1714). Mary's sister. 11 The Hanoverians 11.1 George I (1 August 1714 – 11 June 1727). Anne's closest living Protestant relative (51st in succession). Was never Earl of Chester. 11.2 George II (11 June 1727 – 25 October 1760). Son of George I. First Earl of Chester since the "Old Pretender". 11.3 George III (25 October 1760 - 29 January 1820). Grandson of George II and previously Earl of Chester. 11.4 George IV (29 January 1820 — 26 June 1830). Son of George III, previously Earl of Chester. 11.5 William IV (26 June 1830 — 20 June 1837). Third son of George III. Was never Earl of Chester. 12 Victorian Chester 12.1 Victoria (20 June 1837–22 January 1901). Granddaughter of George III and the niece of her predecessor William IV. 13 The 20th Century 14 The 21st Century 15 History References

[edit] Chester Before The Romans

The geology of Cheshire consists mainly of Triassic (~240 million years old) "new red" sandstones. To the north west of Cheshire, these sandstones are heavily faulted and the underlying Carboniferous coal measures are exposed, thus, around Macclesfield, coal was easily mined. The mid-east area comprises the "Cheshire Basin" a fault-bounded "graben" structure which was flooded repeatedly in the Permian and early Triassic. The evaporation of this flood-water left salt beds which have been exploited both by cavern-working and hot-water brine extraction for over 200 years. Around the time that these rocks were forming, a significant "extinction event" took place globally. Theories for the cause of this extinction include shifting of continents, a giant meteor, a supernova (or similar), volcanic eruption, a greenhouse effect, or some combination of these - no one is really sure.

The Cheshire Plain is a flat, "boulder clay" plain bounded by the hills of North Wales in the west, and the Peak District of Derbyshire in the east. It was formed in and beneath ice sheets during the Ice Ages. The earliest signs of habitation in Cheshire may be from 380 000 to 400 000 BC (the 'Hoxnian Interglacial'). The Hoxnian is sometimes dated 300,000 and 200,000 BP so this is remarkably early (see also this dating). At some time the ice sheets lay just to the north of the Mersey and much of the topography of the Mersey valley may have been formed by flood-waters from the melting ice. Occupation by people is not likely to have been continuous as the ice came and went. There is considerable debate about hominid activities in this period. Further details on this period can be found here.

It appears that early settlement was largely along the sandstone ridges. Bickerton Hill, for example, has an Iron Age promontory hill fort dated around 600 BC (Maiden Castle) that encloses an area of 1.3 acres adjacent the cliff edge. It was destroyed by fire in around 400 BC, although the area was probably used as a settlement until around the 1st century AD, when the Romans arrived. Signs of Iron Age settlement (including post-holes) have been found in Chester (see this history) and reported.

see: Phil Jones History for more.

[edit] Chester Events in Roman Times

In 69, the "year of four emperors", civil war raged in Rome and weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain. Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance, ending up in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively - the Romans then conquered more of the island, building a fort at Chester on the way and providing the first approximate dates for this timeline. The governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, with XX Valeria Victrix, defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius (somewhere in northern Scotland). Chester was occupied for the next 300 years and may have been the effective capital of Roman Britain. Around 384, the usurper Magnus Maximus (he is mentioned on the "Pillar of Eliseg") fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots, but his continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned at this period. Not all of the troops in Britain may have returned, but by around 396, there were increasing barbarian incursions in Britain.

• 43 Romans invade Britain under Claudius, Twentieth Legion lands.

• c57 Oman (History of England, Methuen, 1910) gives this as the date that either Didius or Suetonius moved the headquarters of one or both of his legions from Wroxeter to Deva, built a flotilla of flat-bottomed boats on the Dee and in 60 A.D. invaded North Wales.

• 66 Comet Halley puts in an appearance.

• 69; Romans overthrow Brigantes. This tribe was a Roman ally ruled by Cartimandua and her consort, Venutius. Cartimandua had been responsible for handing over resistance leader Caratacus to the Romans in 51 AD. Shortly afterwards, she divorced Venutius who revolted but was driven off by Roman arms. But in 69 AD, with the Romans in the midst of civil war, Venutius staged a second revolt and successfully overthrew Cartimandua, who fled to the Romans. According to one scrap of fragmentary evidence she may have lived out her days in Chester.

• 74 Roman fort first established at Chester? Some give this as the date of the fort - others give earlier dates.

• c.76, Tuathal Teachtmhar, a legendary High King (exiled from Ireland as a boy) is said to have returned from Britain at the head of an army to claim the throne. He may have been supported by the Romans, possibly sailing from Chester (no firm evidence).

• c.79, Romans construct the "Elliptical Building", possibly as the residence of the governor of the province of Britain. A building inscription from the palaestra of a bath building in the eastern half of the praetentura records completion in A.D. 79 (Also in this year - Vesuvius buries Pompeii)

• 84, The governor of Britain (and Chester resident) Gnaeus Julius Agricola, with the help of XX Valeria Victrix, defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius (somewhere in Scotland). Before the battle Calgacus (the Cadedonian leader) supposedly makes his much quoted "Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant" speech.

• 88, The Roman legion XX Valeria Victrix returns to Chester.

• c102, Rebuilding of the walls in stone commenced under Trajan, probably soon after A.D. 102

• 122, Emperor Hadrian may have visited Chester on his way north to organize the construction of his wall from the Solway Firth to the Tyne, a project in which the Chester (XX) legion played a large part.

• 141 Comet Halley puts in an appearance.

• 218 Comet Halley puts in another appearance.

• after 222, Perhaps under Constantius Chlorus, substantial portions of the N and W walls were rebuilt on a wider gauge incorporating much inscribed material (mostly tombstones - found after 1883 and now in the Grosvenor Museum)

• 295 Comet Halley puts in an appearance.

• 374 Comet Halley puts in another appearance.

• 380, Romans withdraw from Chester around this time - the last regular troops may have been removed by Magnus Maximus in 383.

• 390, Earliest burials at Eccleston churchyard

• 406, Legio XX Valeria Victrix (once of Chester) is the legion featuring in the novel "Eagle in the Snow" (Wallace Breem) which postulates they were annihilated by the Germanic invasion of 406.

[edit] Chester in the Early Dark Ages

Following the decline of Rome in the west, Chester was first part of Mercia (Old English: Mierce, "border people") - one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy, centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the midlands. There is a more detailed article entitled Dark Age Chester and a useful list of rulers of Mercia can be found on the British-Towns.net website.

• 451 Comet Halley puts in another appearance.

• 530 Comet Halley puts in another appearance.

• 536, Volcanic eruption causes extreme weather events and possibly extensive crop failures.

• 560, around this time a Celtic monastery had been established at Bangor-on-Dee

• 585, Foundation of the Kingdom of Mercia.

• 603, Meeting of St Augustine with the British bishops at "Urbs Legion" (Chester? - others place the meeting with the British bishops in Wessex at a place known today as Augustine's oak - see "Bede and the Augustine's Oak conferences: implications for Anglo-British ecclesiastical interaction in early Anglo-Saxon England" - Martin Grimmer)

• 607, comet Halley revisits.

• 616, Battle of Chester: Aethelfrith of Northumbria against Kings Selyf Sarffgadau of Powys and Cadwal Crysban of Rhôs (and possibly also Iago ap Beli) - a large number of Saint Dunod's monks are slaughtered (said to be in keeping with Augustine's prophecy that if "they would not accept peace with their brethren, they should have war with their enemies"). Geoffrey of Monmouth (in History of the Kings of Britain) states that one of leaders of the British was "consul urbis" (Consul of the City) and that:

"After this all the princes of the Britons met together at the city of Legecester,(..possibly Chester/possibly Leicester..) and consented to make Cadwan their king, that under his command they might pursue Ethelfrid beyond the Humber. (Book XII part I)"

• 675, according to the Annales Cestrienses "Wulferus, king of Mercia, father of S. Werburg", died.

• 684, comet Halley revisits.

• 689 St John's Church founded by Ethelred of Mercia - "In the year of our lord six hundred and eighty-nine Ethelred, king of the Mercians, the uncle of S. Werburg, with the assistance of Wilfric, bishop of Chester, as Giraldus [Cambrensis] relates, founded a collegiate church in the suburbs of Chester in honour of S. John the Baptist (Annals of Chester)"

• 690, St Werbergh dies: her relics were taken to Chester in late 9th Century or early 10th Century (Annales Chestriensis gives this date as 690)

• 704, according to the Annales Cestrienses "Ethelred, king of Mercia, gave up the kingdom to Kenred, brother of S. Werburg".

• 717, Ethelbald becomes King of Mercia, marking the beginning of that kingdom's ascendancy over the other Saxon realms.

• 736, King Ethelbald of Mercia describes himself as "King of Britain"

• 757, King Ethelbald of Mercia murdered; after the short reign of Beornrad he was succeeded by Offa. Wat's Dyke constructed.

• 760, comet Halley revisits.

• 784, Construction of Offa's Dyke begins.

• 789, Chester Annals record "Primus Danorum educatus [adventus] in Angliam qui docuerunt Anglos nimis potare" (The first arrival in England of the Danes, who taught the English to drink too much).

• 789, Offa dies. Brief reign of Ecgfrith of Mercia. He is succeeded by Coenwulf.

• 801, Northumbrian invasion of Mercia fails.

• 821, Coenwulf dies at Basingwerk near Holywell, probably while making preparations for a campaign against the Welsh and in succeeded by his brother Ceolwulf who promptly invaded Wales.

• 823, Beornwulf overthrows Ceolwulf and become ruler of Mercia.

• 825, Beornwulf attacked the West Saxons but was badly defeated by the King of Wessex, Ecgbert, in battle at Ellandun, fought at Wroughton near Surrey.

• 827, after the death of Beornwulf and the brief reign of Ludeca, Wiglaf become ruler of Mercia

• 828, Ecgbert, King of the West Saxons, takes Chester and has statues of Cadwallon, King of the Britons, destroyed. Under Egbert, Wessex rose to become the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, overthrowing the supremacy of Mercia.

• 830, Mercia regains independence when Wiglaf "obtained the kingdom of Mercia again"

• 837, Ethelwulf held the Witenagemot (literally "meeting of the wise") in Chester, and, being crowned (in Kingston not Chester?), received at Chester the homage of tributary kings, "From Berwick to Kent." (Encyl Brit 1911 - not found in the A.S. Chron). April 10 — Comet Halley passes approximately 5 million km from Earth — its closest ever approach.

• 840, Wiglaf dies, is succeeded by Wigmund (who dies at once), then Wigstan (who does not want to be king), then Ælfflæd (his mother) as regent. She is deposed by Beorhtwulf who becomes king of Mercia

• 852, Burgred becomes ruler of Mercia. He promptly invades Wales

• 868 Chester Annals record a severe famine, follow by a visitation of the plague. Alfred the Great marries Ealhswith and goes to the aid of Burgred of Mercia, who is attacked by Danes.

[edit] Chester in the Later Dark Ages

While the House of Wessex ruled a kingdom in southwest England from the 6th century (under Cerdic of Wessex) it was not until the unification of the Kingdoms of England that they became rulers of all England (Bretwalda) roughly from Alfred the Great in 871 to Edmund II (Edmund Ironside) in 1016. The Dane, Sweyn Forkbeard claimed the throne from 1013 to 1014 and Sweyn and his successors ruled until 1042. There was a brief Saxon restoration between 1042 and 1066. During this time Chester was at some times deserted and at others an important strategic location. There is a more detailed article entitled Dark Age Chester

[edit] Alfred the Great(23 April 871 — 26 October 899)

Alfred is noted for his defence of the kingdom against the Danish Vikings, becoming the only English King to be awarded the epithet "the Great". He was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons", was a learned man, and encouraged education and improved his kingdom's law system as well as its military structure. By 879, both Wessex and Mercia, west of Watling Street, were cleared of the Danish invaders.

• c872, Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians born.

• 874, the Danes drive Burgred from Mercia and appoint a Mercian ealdorman Ceolwulf II to replace him, demanding oaths of loyalty to the Danes. Burgred retires to Rome and dies there.

• 875, St Werbergh's shrine moved to the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul within the city walls of Chester - "..when the Danes made their winter quarters at Repton after the flight of Burdred, king of the Mercians, the men of Hanbury, fearing for themselves, fled to Chester as to a place which was very safe from the butchery of the barbarians, taking with them in a litter the body of S. Werburg, which then for the first time was resolved into dust."

• 881, Ceolwulf II dies.

• 883, Aethelred becomes Earl (Eaoldorman) of Mercia

• c887, Æthelflæd, marries Aethelred, Earl of Mercia

• 893, Vikings raided Chester, then 'a deserted city in Wirral'

• 894, Danes made a forced march across England to occupy the ruined Roman fortress of Chester - besieged by Alfred 894. The invaders "marched day and night, till they reached a waste fortress in Wirrall, called Legaceaster. The Saxon army could not overtake them, before they were within and had possession of the fortress": "Waste fortress" (westre ceastre) may be the origin of the name "West Chester" sometimes applied to the city.

• 899, Alfred dies, possibly of Chrohn's disease

[edit] Edward the Elder(26 October 899 - 17 July 924). Son of Alfred the Great.

Edward extended the control of Wessex over the whole of Mercia, East Anglia and Essex, conquering lands occupied by the Danes and bringing the residual autonomy of Mercia to an end in 918, after the death of his sister, Ethelfleda (Æðelflǣd). There is no reference to Edward's relations with the Mercians in the narrative sources between 919, when Edward is commanding Mercian armies, and 924, when William of Malmesbury records a Mercian revolt at Chester. Between 907 and 921 further forts were built over an area which stretched from north-east Wales to Manchester. Chester thus probably became the focus of complex garrisoning arrangements, initially to monitor Viking settlement.

• 900, Edward was consecrated at Kingston-upon-Thames by the archbishop of Canterbury, Plegmund (of St Plegmund's Well fame): Edwardus rex Anglorum est consecratus in regem a Pleemundo Dornobernensi archiepiscopo apud Kingestune.

• 901, while it is a lot to base on a single document, it is possible that there was an attempt at Mercian independence that year, as a charter of Æthelred and Æthelflæd gives the Lord and Lady of the Mercians grander styles than usual, and there is no mention of Edward. This was also the time of Æthelwold's revolt against Edward, which might have encouraged the Mercians to make their own bid for freedom

• 902, A Hiberno-Norse community settles in Wirral after its expulsion from Dublin. The exiles, led by Hingamund, were granted land in Wirral by Æthelflæd (Edward the Elder's sister) but cast covetous eyes on the wealth of Chester. Archaeology confirms a Hiberno-Norse presence in Chester:a brooch with Borre-Jellinge ornament found at Princess Street is identical with a brooch found in Dublin, and must have derived from the same mould.

• 906, Abbey of St John the Baptist founded by a later Ethelred, Earl of Mercia (he was married to Æthelflæd)

• 907, Edward the Elder (or Æthelflæd) regains "Chester" [1] after a battle (some sources say Leicester).

• 911, after the Battle of Tettenhall, Æthelflæd was elevated to the status of "Lady of the Mercians"

• 912, Chester besieged by Hingamund, only to be repulsed by the great army which Æthelflæd assembled in the city. Comet Halley passes perihelion. There is a cryptic reference in "Lives of the Queens of England before the Norman conquest" to "A monastery, dedicated to St. Barnabas, was likewise founded by the 'Lady of Mercia', at Brunnesburgh, [In Cheshire.] that year, which shortly after fell to decay" (St Barnabas is the Parish Church in Bromborough and there is an interesting cross there)

• 916, Æthelflæd of Mercia invaded Brycheiniog and on 19 June stormed the royal llys in Brecenan Mere Llangorse lake. There she captured the queen of the land and 34 others.

• 918, Æthelflæd of Mercia dies. She is succeeded by Ælfwyn who hands power to Edward the Elder

• 920, Norse Vikings under Sihtric attack Cheshire.

• 921, Edward the Elder establishes an earth and timber fort or burh at the mouth of the Clwyd, as part of his defence of the north Wales and Cheshire coastlines against the Viking raids.

• 924, Chester joins a Welsh revolt against English rule (William of Malmesbury records a Mercian revolt at Chester). The revolt is put down by Edward the Elder who dies leading his army on 17 July 924 at Farndon. Annals of Chester record: "King Athelstane is crowned; in whose time, and thenceforth until the arrival of the Normans, secular canons and afterwards regular monks, served in this monastery in honour of S. Werburg."

[edit] Æþelstān (August 2, 924 – October 27, 939). Son of King Edward the Elder.

Athelstan was the son of Edward the Elder, and grandson of Alfred the Great. His father succeeded, after some difficulty, to the Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons formed by Alfred. His aunt, Edward's sister, Æthelflæd, ruled western Mercia on his behalf following the death of her husband, Ealdorman Æthelred. On Æthelflæd's death, Edward was quick to assume control of Mercia, and at the time of his death he directly ruled all the English kingdoms south of the Humber. Athelstan was fostered by his family as 'Half-King' in Mercia, perhaps as a method of encouraging Mercian loyalty to the West Saxon dynasty. On Edward's death, Athelstan immediately became King of Mercia, though it seems to have taken longer for him to be recognised in Wessex where his half-brothers Ælfweard and Edwin had support. During his reign Chester retained its strategic significance because of its command over the route to Dublin and its proximity to Wales, whose princes' relations with the West Saxons were always ambiguous.

• 937 Battle of Brunanburh (possibly at Bromborough). Athelstan's crushing defeat of the combined Norse-Celtic force facing him irrevocably confirmed England as an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, forcing the Celtic kingdoms to consolidate in the positions they occupy today.

[edit] Edmund I (October 27, 939 – May 26, 946). Another son of Edward the Elder and half-brother of Athelstan.

Chester was an important base in 942 when there was collusion between the Welsh and the Scandinavian kingdom of York during King Edmund's campaign against the latter. Edmund was murdered in 946 by Leofa, an exiled thief. He had been having a party in Pucklechurch, when he spotted Leofa in the crowd. After the outlaw refused to leave, the king and his advisors fought Leofa. Edmund and Leofa were both killed. He was succeeded as king by his brother Edred.

• 942, Edmund at "Chester" during his reconquest of the midlands from Anlaf of Northumbria (this could have been Leicester as "Legracester" and "Legecester" are sometimes confused)

[edit] Edred (May 26, 946 - November 23, 955). A son of King Edward the Elder by his third wife.

King Edred, known as 'weak-in-the-feet', was King of England from 946 until his death. He was a son of King Edward the Elder by his third marriage, to Edgiva, daughter of Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent. He succeeded his brother, King Edmund I. Like his elder brothers, Edred enjoyed military success over the Vikings. Edred was a strongly religious man but in very poor health; he could only eat the juices of chewed food. As he died a bachelor and thus had no children, he was succeeded by his nephews, Edwy and Edgar, who divided the country.

• 946 legend records that a wooden statue of the Virgin fell on the head of Lady Trawst, wife of the Governor of Hawarden Castle, and killed her. The statue was tried by jury and condemned to be thrown into the River Dee. It was washed up at the Roodee in Chester. (N.b. this is an unfeasably early date for Hawarden Castle). It may or may not have been taken to St John's Church

• c.949, Chester mint strikes coin for the Welsh king, Hywel Dda. He was the first Welsh ruler to produce coinage for at least a thousand years.

• 955, Towards the end of his life, Eadred suffered from a digestive malady which would prove fatal. 'Author B', the biographer and former apprentice of St Dunstan, described with vivid memory how the king sucked out the juices of his food, chewed on what was left and spat it out. Then he died.

[edit] Edwy [Eadwig, The Fair] (November 23, 955 - October 1, 959). Edred's Nephew

The eldest son of King Edmund and Saint Elgiva, Edwy was chosen by the nobility to succeed his uncle Edred as King. His short reign was marked by ongoing conflicts with his family, the Thegns, and especially the Church, under the leadership of Saint Dunstan and Archbishop Odo. His kingdom did not include Chester.

• 955, Mercia is restored to having a separate political existence from Wessex (955-959), while Edwy rules south of the Thames, Edgar became king of Mercia. Mercia is mostly run by Ælfhere.

• ???, A lead customs tag produced at the Chester mint at this time was later found at Coppergate in York

• 958 Edgar, king of Mercia, grants a charter to the familia of St Werburgh.

[edit] Edgar [The Pacific] (October 1, 959 – July 8, 975). Edwy's brother.

Edgar seized the Northumbrian and Mercian kingdoms from his older brother, Edwy, in around 955 and became king on the death of Edwy a few year later. Edgar's reign was a peaceful one, and it is probably fair to say that it saw the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England at its height. Although the political unity of England was the achievement of his predecessors, it was Edgar who saw to its consolidation. By the end of Edgar's reign there was practically no likelihood of any recession back to its state of rival kingships, and the division of its domains.

• 970, 20 moneyers at work at Chester mint

• 973, King Edgar, comes to Chester by ship and holds court at Edgar’s Field. Taking the helm of a barge, he is rowed the short distance up the River Dee to St John's Church by six or eight tributary kings.

[edit] Edward [The Martyr, Eadweard II] (July 8, 975 - March 18, 978). Eldest son of King Edgar.

Edward was king of England from 975 until he was murdered in 978. He is thought to have been the son of King Edgar and Æthelflæd. His succession to the throne was contested by supporters of his half-brother Æthelred, but with Dunstan's support, Edward was acknowledged by the Witan and crowned king by Dunstan and Oswald of Worcester. Edward's reign began inauspiciously when a comet was sighted. A famine followed. His reign was short and disturbed by factional strife. He was killed at Corfe Castle by servants of his stepmother the Queen Dowager Ælfthryth (Elfrida) on 18 March 978. Edward became known as "the Martyr" because of his violent end.

• c975, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul was re-dedicated to St. Werburgh and St Oswald. A monastery was founded in the names of these two saints. The ASC records "in the same year, during harvest, appeared "cometa" the star; and then came in the following year a very great famine, and very manifold commotions among the English people."

[edit] Ethelred [the Unready: Old English Æþelred Unræd] (March 18, 978 – April 23, 1016). Younger son of King Edgar.

His nickname ‘the Unready’ derives from Old English unræd, meaning 'without counsel', 'ill-advised' or 'indecisive'. This can be seen as a pun on his name, Æþelræd, which may be understood to mean 'noble counsel', thus giving rise to 'Noble counsel, No counsel'. Perhaps the worst piece of advice he heeded was to try to buy the Danes off - "..if once you have paid him the Danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane". The first evidence of the new Mercian shires comes in a reference to "Cheshire" in 980. The unreliable William of Malmesbury reported that Ethelred defecated in the baptismal font as a child, which led St. Dunstan to prophesy that the English monarchy would be overthrown during his reign. He certainly had trouble from the Danes.

• 978, English troops possibly supplied by Ælfhere of Mercia are deployed on the Lleyn Peninsula on behalf of King Hywel ab Ieuaf of Gwynedd in order to prevent his uncle, Iago, invading with Viking allies from Dublin.

• 980, The Danes renew their raids on England attacking Chester and Southampton. Manx Vikings led by King Godfred I ally themselves with Prince Custennin of Gwynedd and raid Anglesey and the Lleyn Peninsula. Custennin is killed. AS Chronicle records that Vikings ravage Chester, doing great damage: "the county of Chester was plundered by the pirate-army of the North". Three of the four Anglo-Saxon coin hoards found in the city, those from Castle Esplanade, Pemberton's Parlour, and Eastgate Street, have been assigned to roughly the same period and interpreted as linked to that raid.

• 983, Mercian Earl Ælfhere campaigns against Brycheiniog and Morgannwg, with the aid of the Welsh king Hywel ap Ieuaf (Annales Cambriae).

• 989, Comet Halley revisits.

• 1000, Chester served as the naval base for an attack on Cumberland and Man: "This year the king went into Cumberland, and nearly laid waste the whole of it with his army, whilst his navy sailed about Chester with the design of co-operating with his land- forces; but, finding it impracticable, they ravaged Anglesey"

• 1006, supernova SN 1006.

• 1010, Wulfric, Earl of Mercia and Chief Councillor of State to King Ethelred died (12 October). Leofwine becomes earl of Chester.

• 1013, English resistance to the Danes collapsed and Sweyn conquered the country, forcing Ethelred into exile, but after his victory Sweyn lived for only another five weeks.

• 1014, Canute the Great was proclaimed King of England by the Danish army in England, but was forced out of England that year.

• 1015, Canute launched a new invasion.

• 1016, Ethelred's control of England was already collapsing once again when he died at London on 23 April. Ethelred was buried in St Paul's and was succeeded by his son, Edmund Ironside.

[edit] Edmund [Ironside] (April 23, 1016 - November 30, 1016). Second son of King Æthelred.

Edmund succeeded to the throne and mounted a last-ditch effort to revive the defence of England from the Danes. While he first won victories over Canute, he was defeated at Ashingdon and the two kings negotiated a peace in which Edmund kept Wessex while Canute held the lands north of the Thames. In addition, they agreed that if one of them died the other would inherit the whole. Edmund and "Earl of Chester" Leofric both appear in the apocryphal Shakespeare play Edmund Ironside although Leofric did not become earl of Chester until after the death of Edmund.

• 1016, Chester ravaged by Edmund Ironside and Uhtred, Earl of Northumbria because Cheshire men would not fight against the Danes (under Canute). Edmund did not last long - a popular story has it that soldiers acting in favor of Canute hid in the cess-pit of a lavatory and stabbed Edmund in the bowels when he sat down to relieve himself (or that the Ealdorman of Chester Eadric Streona arranged for him to be shot from the midden with a primitive crossbow - the "Skåne Lockbow"), though this has never been proven and he may well simply have died of injuries sustained in battle.

[edit] Canute [The Great] (1016 - November 12, 1035). A son of the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard (who invaded England and ruled unopposed for only five weeks).

The custom of "sanding the streets" in Knutsford (Cheshire) - some believe it means 'Canute's ford' - is thought to have started in Canute's reign. Tradition has it that King Canute threw sand from his shoes into the path of a wedding party upon fording the River Lily. Queen Victoria, in her journal of 1832 recorded: "we arrived at Knutsford, where we were most civilly received, the streets being sanded in shapes, which is peculiar to this town". Today the custom is practised May Day. Wirral locals also believe that Canute's less than successful attempt to hold back the sea with a command occurred in the Wirral at Meols.

• 1017, Eadric ("the grasper") ealdorman of the Saxon Mercians is killed on the orders of Canute. Mercia may have been given to Leofric immediately after that. Leofric may have married Lady Godiva about this time.

• 1020, Coin minting dyes are produced at Chester for Sihtric Silkbeard, king of Dublin

• 1030, Norwegian king Olaf Haraldsson (he of St Olave), was killed. Olaf (995 – 1030) is credited with converting Norway to Christianity.

[edit] Harold I [Harefoot] (November 12, 1035 – March 17, 1040). Son of Canute.

Upon Canute's death, Harold's younger half-brother Harthacanute, the son of Canute and his queen, Emma of Normandy, was legitimate heir to the thrones of both the Danes and the English. He was, however, unable to travel to his coronation, because his Danish kingdom was under threat of invasion by King Magnus I of Norway and King Anund Jacob of Sweden. England's magnates favoured the idea of installing Harold Harefoot temporarily as regent, due to the difficulty of Harthacanute's absence, and despite the opposition of Godwin, the Earl of Wessex, and the Queen, he eventually wore the crown. Harold survived an attempt to unseat him led by Alfred Aetheling and Edward the Confessor, Emma's sons by the long-dead Ethelred the Unready, in 1036. Harold died at Oxford on March 17, 1040, just as Harthacanute was preparing an invasion force of Danes, and was buried at the abbey of Westminster. His body was subsequently exhumed, beheaded, and thrown into a fen bordering the Thames when Harthacanute assumed the throne in June, 1040.

• 1035, King Cnut died at Shaftesbury leaving the rule of the country in dispute between Harthacnut (the son of Emma) and Harold Harefoot (the son of Aelfgifu). The Earls of Northumbria and Mercia (Chester) support Harold's claim while Earl Godwine (father of Harold II) supports Harthacanute's.

• 1039, Edwin (brother of Leofric of Chester) was killed in battle(at Rhyd y Groes near Welshpool) by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn.

[edit] Harthacanute (March 17, 1040 – June 8, 1042). Son of Canute.

Harthacanute was a harsh and unpopular ruler: to pay for his fleet, he severely increased the rate of taxation, and in 1041 the people of Worcester killed two of Harthacanute's housecarls who had been collecting the tax, prompting an attack by Harthacanute in which the city was burned. The story of Lady Godiva, wife of Leofric "Count of Chester", riding naked through the streets of Coventry to persuade the local earl to lower taxes may come from the reign of Harthacanute.

• 1041, Harthacanute orders Leofric and his other earls to plunder and burn Worcester, and lay waste the whole area

[edit] Edward the Confessor [Eadweard II] (1042 – 5 January 1066). Son of Ethelred the Unready.

Edward's reign was marked by peace and prosperity, but effective rule in England required coming to terms with three powerful earls: Godwin of Wessex, Leofric of Mercia, and Siward of Northumbria. Edward's sympathies for Norman favourites frustrated his nobles alike, fuelling the growth of anti-Norman opinion led by Godwin (who had become the king's father-in-law in 1045).

• 1043 Earl Leofric (comes of Chester), founds Coventry Abbey; gives grant of land by charter

• 1051 Earl Leofric supported Edward the Confessor when he came under threat at Gloucester from Earl Godwin. Earl Godwin and his family were outlawed for a time

• 1054, July 4th, supernova SN 1054 appears in Taurus.

• 1055, Ælfgar son of Earl Leofric was outlawed. 24 October - Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and Ælfgar, exiled son of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, raid England, and sack Hereford. Harold Godwinson makes peace with Ælfgar, who returns from exile.

• 1057, Chester Chronicle records: "Leofric, earl of Chester, in the time of S. Edward, king and confessor, repaired, and conferred privileges on the collegiate church of S. John the Baptist, and the church of S. Werburg situate within the city as William of Malmesbury relates in his Chronicle, De Gestis Anglorum, Book 2". Earl Leofric dies. He is succeeded by Ælfgar. Ælfgar is again exiled for treason.

• 1058 Ælfgar, supported by the Welsh and Norwegians, unsuccessfully attacks the English coast; he is nonetheless re-instated as Earl of Mercia. Edith of Mercia (Ealdgyth) marries her first husband Gruffydd ap Llywelyn of Wales, King of Gwynedd, Powys, Gwent, Glywysing, and Deheubarth

• 1062, Ælfgār, son of Earl Leofric of Mercia dies. Edwin becomes the last Saxon Earl of Chester (his sister, Ealdgyth will later marry Harold II)

• 1063, Earl Harold (later Harold II) attacked Gryffudd ap Llywelyn's (for ap Cynan, see below) palace at Rhuddlan in Flintshire using Chester as his base. Gruffydd dies (at the hands of his own troops).

• 1064, Harold marries Ealdgyth (sister of Edwin, Earl of Chester) and divides Gruffydd ap Llywelyn's realm into the traditional kingdoms of Gwynedd and Powys, the rule of which were given to Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and his brother Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn.

• 1065, Earl Edwin's younger brother, Morcar was elected Earl of Northumbria when Tostig Godwinson was ejected by the Northumbrians.

[edit] Harold II (5 January 1066 (aged 44) — 14 October 1066). Had no claim to the throne by birth.

• 1066, Halley's comet puts in an appearance. Harold supposedly dies at Hastings, although a Chester legend has it that he later lived in the Hermitage near St John's Church.

[edit] Chester and the Anglo-Norman Kings (see: The Earls of Chester)

The Norman dynasty ruled England from the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, until 1154. They were followed by the House of Plantagenet (House of Anjou, or Angevin dynasty) originally a noble family from France, which had ruled Anjou and ruled England from 1154 to 1485. During this period the Earls of Chester wielded considerable political power, and at time opposed the crown, but afterwards their line died out the Earldom was held by the heir to the throne. The Victorian stained glass windows above the staircase in Chester Town Hall depict Gherbod the Fleming, who was given the Earldom of Chester by William the Conqueror, and the seven Norman Earls of Chester; Hugh I (c.1077-1101); Richard (1101-20); Ranulph I (1120-28); Ranulph II (1128-53); Hugh II (1153-81); Ranulph III (1181-1232); and John the Scot (1232-37).

[edit] William I [William the Conqueror, William the bastard] (25 December 1066 (aged 41) - 9 September 1087)

William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson and suppressing subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. His reign, brought Norman culture to England, saw changes to English law, a programme of building and fortification, changes to the vocabulary of the English language, and the introduction of continental feudalism into England.

• 1069 Men of Chester in alliance with "Eadric the Wild" and the Welsh rise against the Conqueror

• 1070, Chester besieged by the Normans, Wulf son of Harold and Ealdgyth, taken hostage as a babe when Chester opened its gates to William. Work starts on Chester Castle under Gherbod the Fleming (this date is subject to debate)

• 1071, Gherbod the Fleming is either imprisoned or exiled. Hugh of Avranches (later "Hugh the Fat") granted the earldom of Chester. Hugh appoints his cousin, Nigel of Cotentin, as the first Baron of Halton (he will build Halton Castle). Edwin the last Saxon Earl of Chester attempts a rebellion - he is betrayed to the Normans by his own retinue and killed.

• 1074, Ranulf de Meschines born.

• 1075, north-west Mercian See transferred from Lichfield to St John's Church.

• 1081, Gruffydd ap Cynan captured and imprisoned in Hugh of Avranches castle at Chester

• 1086, in an engraving of the coat of arms of Hugh of Avranches, first Norman Earl of Chester, the artist has gave the head of the wolf a wide grin, which might be mistaken for that of a cat - this has been suggested as the origin of the Cheshire Cat.

• 1087, King Philip of France described the portly William I as looking like a pregnant woman. William mounted a furious attack on Philip's territory, and burned Mantes. His horse stood on an ember and William was thrown against the pommel of his saddle so violently that "his intestines burst". He lingered for five weeks, but on September 9, 1087 died.

[edit] William II [Willam Rufus] (9 September 1087 (aged 27) — 2 August 1100). Third son of William I

Commonly known as 'William Rufus', perhaps because of his florid, red-faced appearance rather than his read hair (N.B all the English monarchs from here until Elizabeth I seem to have red hair). He was an effective soldier, a ruthless ruler and, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 'hated by almost all his people.' English Church chroniclers took a dim view of William's reign, accusing him of being homosexual. According to Norman tradition, William scorned the English and their culture. According to William of Malmesbury, William Rufus was 'well set; his complexion florid, his hair yellow; of open countenance; different coloured eyes, varying with certain glittering specks; of astonishing strength, though not very tall, and his belly rather projecting.' He was the third son of William the Conqueror.

• 1092 Hugh of Avranches granted Chester abbey, all the tolls, rents, and issues of a fair lasting three days about the feast of St. Werburg 'in the summer' (20–22 June), and assigned jurisdiction over it to the abbot's court and the proceeds to the monks. A weir is built across the River Dee with mills at both ends to grind corn.

• c.1093 Gruffydd ap Cynan exhibited at Chester market in chains and released by a young Welshman visiting 'to buy necessities'. St Anselm founds the Benedictine monastery in Chester: see (Chester Cathedral). According to the Chester Annals: "Anselm .. on the invitation of the noble prince, earl Hugh, he came to Chester, and there founded the abbey in honour of S. Werburg, and, having assembled the monks together, he appointed Richard, a monk of Bec, the first abbot. Having done this, in the same year, upon his return from Chester, he was made archbishop of Canterbury."

• 1095, William II invades Wales - his army was unable to draw the Welsh to battle and returned to Chester without having achieved very much

• 1097, King Willam mounted a second invasion of Wales, but again without much success

• 1098, Hugh of Avranches marched from Chester as joint leader of an ill-fated expedition to Anglesey. This time, Earl Hugh joined with Earl Hugh of Shrewsbury in another attempt to recover his losses in Gwynedd. Gruffydd and his ally Cadwgan ap Bleddyn retreated to Anglesey, but then were forced to flee to Ireland in a skiff when a fleet he had hired from the Scandinavian settlement in Ireland accepted a better offer from the Normans and changed sides. The expedition became a disaster for almost everyone involved when the Norse fleet turned up and the Earl of Shrewsbury was shot by an arrow said to have been fired by Magnus III of Norway. See Gerald of Wales for more on this

• ~1100, Ranulf de Gernon born

• 1101, William II killed in a "hunting accident" his body is abandoned by his nobles at the place where he fell. William's younger brother, Henry, hastens to Winchester to secure the royal treasury, then to London, where he is crowned within days. It is left to a local charcoal-burner named Purkis to take the king's body to Winchester Cathedral on his cart. He is buried in the crossing under the spire, which promptly collapses on his grave.

[edit] Henry I [Beauclerc] (3 August 1100–1 December 1135). Fourth son of William I.

Called "Beauclerc" for his scholarly interests and "Lion of Justice" for refinements which he brought about in the rudimentary administrative and legislative machinery of the time.Henry's reign is noted for its political opportunism - his succession was confirmed while his brother Robert was away on the First Crusade and the beginning of his reign was occupied by wars with Robert for control of England and Normandy. In the 12th century, though Chester was clearly regarded as a prosperous town, there are hints that it was very dependent on external trade. William of Malmesbury, for example, noted that while its hinterland abounded in beasts and fish, especially salmon, it was unproductive of cereals, which had to be imported from Ireland. Somewhat later the monk Lucian also praised the woods, pastures, beasts, and fisheries of the Cestrians, but also remarked that they were well placed to obtain supplies not only locally but from Wales and Ireland. There was a market in the city immediately south of St. Peter's church.This was fronted in the 1120s by important buildings, including the sheriff's house and a 'great shop' (magna sopa).

• 1101, Hugh of Avranches dies, July 27. Richard of Avranches becomes second earl. (mcj Defuncto Hugone comite cestrensi principe nobili. Ricardus puer vij annorum comitatum suscepit. - The noble prince Hugh [Lupus, 1st], earl of Chester, being dead, Richard, a boy of seven years of age, inherited the earldom)

• 1102, Abbot Robert I of the monastery of (Bury) St. Edmund(s), illegitimate son of Hugh of Avranches, earl of Chester, is deposed for simony by St. Anselm.

• 1106, Great Comet of 1106 seen from Wales, so must have been visible in Chester - although not mentioned in the Chronicle.

• 1110, Chester Annals record: "King Henry, son of William the bastard, gave [Matilda] his daughter in marriage to Udescalcus, emperor of Germany, who now lies buried at Chester".

• 1115 (mcxv Ricardus comes Cestriæ duxit uxorem Mathildam neptem Henrici regis filiam Stephani comitis - Richard, earl of Chester, took to wife Matilda, niece of king Henry [I.], daughter of earl Stephen.)

• 1116, Death of Richard, first abbot of Chester.

• 1119, the earliest record of Hoole in the Chartulary of the abbey of St. Werburgh.

• 1120, the line of the d'Avranches as Earls of Chester fails when Richard of Avranches is drowned on the White Ship. See this site for more detail. (Obiit Robertus Prior. In die S. Katerine filius regis et Ricardus comes Cestrie cum uxore sua et multis aliis submersi sunt apud Barbelfleo - Robert, the prior [of S. Werburg], died. On S. Catherine's Day [Nov. 25], the king's son [William] and Richard, earl of Chester, with his wife and many others, were drowned near Barfleur.) - It is said that after the death of his son and heir Henry I "never smiled again".

• 1121, Ranulf de Meschines "le Briquessart" (1074-1128) becomes Earl of Chester. Chester Annals briefly records that "William was elected abbot" (Willelmus abbas effectus) - the abbots post had been vacant during the last years of the life of Richard of Avranches. De Meschines, created Alan Sylvester chief forester of the forest of Wirral and granted to him the manors of Hooton,Storeton and Puddington to hold upon condition that he performed the duties of forester and in addition that he blew or caused to be blown a horn at the Gloverstone in Chester on the morning of every fair day

• 1124, Ranulf de Meschines defeats rebels against Henry I at Bourgtheroulde

• 1128, Ranulf de Gernon inherited the palatine earldom, aged 28 (cxxviij Obiit Godefridus abbas Scropesburiensis. Obiit Ranulphus Miscinus comes Cestrie cui successit Rannulphus comes filius ejus - Godfrey, abbot of Shrewsbury, died. Randle Meschines, earl of Chester, died, and was succeeded, as earl, by his son Randle II)

• 1132, Ranulf de Gernon founded Basingwerk Abbey

• 1134, The Annals record that Norton Priory "founded by William, son of Nigel, constable of Chester". William "FitzNigel" was Baron of Halton. They may have their dates slightly wrong - William is believed to have died in 1134 and be buried at Chester.

• 1135, Henry I died on 1 December 1135 of food poisoning from eating "a surfeit of lampreys" (of which he was excessively fond) at Saint-Denis-en-Lyons (now Lyons-la-Forêt) in Normandy. His remains (after the extraction of the brains and intestines) were sewn into the hide of a bull to preserve them on the journey, and then taken back to England. A later writer recorded: "the man, indeed, who had been hired, at great expense, to extract the brain, became infected, as it is said, from the intolerable stench and died."

[edit] Stephen [of Blois] (22 December 1135 – 25 October 1154). Son of William I's daughter.

An unfavourable thumbnail sketch of Stephen is given by Walter Map (who wrote during the reign of Matilda's son Henry II): "A man of a certain age, remarkably hard-working but otherwise a nonentity [idiota] or perhaps rather inclined to evil." The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Peterborough Chronicle, second continuation) provides a more favourable picture of Stephen, but depicts a turbulent reign:- "In the days of this King there was nothing but strife, evil, and robbery, for quickly the great men who were traitors rose against him. When the traitors saw that Stephen was a good-humoured, kindly, and easy-going man who inflicted no punishment, then they committed all manner of horrible crimes . . . And so it lasted for nineteen years while Stephen was King, till the land was all undone and darkened with such deeds, and men said openly that Christ and his angels slept".

• 1136, Ranulf de Gernon loses lands in Scotland and falls out with King Stephen.

• 1137, Gruffydd ap Cynan dies of old age.

• 1138, Chester Annals records "Bellum inter Gallos et Scocios" - a battle between the French and the Scots. It is possible that the chronicler intended to describe the forces of Stephen, who were chiefly Normans, as the French. The battle is otherwise known as the Battle of the Standard

• 1140, Major fire in Chester. (mcxlij kal. Julii urbs cestria combusta et castellum de Bromfeld v non. Martii. iij non. octobris obiit Willelmus abbas Cestrie cui successit Radulphus abbas xi kal. Feb. - The city of Chester was burned down on June 30, and thecastle of Bromfield on March 3. October 5, William, abbot of Chester, died. Ralph succeeded him as [third] abbot on January 22 [1141].) Ranulf de Gernon (supporting Matilda) takes Lincoln.

• 1141, Battle of Lincoln, (mcxlj iijo non. Februarii Stephanus rex Anglie a duobus comittibus, id est, a Ranulpho comite Cestriæ et a Roberto comite Gloucestrie captus in bello apud Lincolniam - On February 3, Stephen, king of England, was made prisoner in battle at Lincoln by two earls, namely, Randle, earl of Chester, and Robert, earl of Gloucester.)

• 1144, Ranulf de Gernon takes Lincoln again.

• 1145, Comet Halley returns. Ranulf de Gernon defects from Matilda to Stephen. Robert of Chester makes the first translation of an algebra text from Arabic into Latin -

• 1146, Ranulf de Gernon accused of treason by Stephen, arrested and imprisoned in chains until his friends succeeded in coming to terms with the King (28 August 1146). (mcxlvj Ranulphus comes de Cestrie dolo captus est a rege Stephano apud Northamantiam iiij kal. Septembris. Quo audito Walenses vastaverunt provinciam. Contra quos Robertus dapifer cum paucis armatis perrexit ad bellum, et multa millia occidit apud Wichum iij non. Septembris - Randle, earl of Chester, was made prisoner by stratagem by king Stephen at Northampton, August 29. When the Welsh heard of it, they laid waste the province [of Chester]. Against whom Robert [de Montalt] the seneschal [of Chester] advanced to battle with a few armed men, and killed many thousands at Nantwich on September 3)

• 1147, (mcxlvij Natus comes Hugo II - Hugh II, earl [of Chester], was born). A gathering of leading Angevin supporters is convened in Chester by Ranulph II which included his nephew Earl Gilbert of Clare, Earl Roger of Hereford, Cadwaladr ap Gruffudd, younger brother of the ruler of Gwynedd, and William FitzAlan of Oswestry.

• 1149, the expedition of Duke Henry and David of the Scots failed because (according to John of Hexham) "Earl Ranulph did none of the things he had promised" - "nichil eorem quae condixerat prosecutus".

• 1153, Ranulf de Gernon survived a failed attempt at murder by poison by one of his arch-enemies, William son of William Peverel of Nottingham. Ranulf died later the same year (possibly of the poison). Hugh of Cyfeiliog (1147 – June 30, 1181) becomes Earl of Chester at the agae of six. (mcliij Obiit Stephanus Rex Angliæ. Obiit Ranulphus II. comes Cestrie, et Eustachius filius Stephani - Stephen, king of England, died. Randle, earl of Chester, and Eustace, son of king Stephen, died.)

[edit] Henry II (25 October 1154-6 July 1189). Son of Henry I's daughter.

Like his grandfather, Henry II had an outstanding knowledge of the law. A talented linguist and excellent Latin speaker, he would sit on councils in person whenever possible. His led a frugal lifestyle: dressed casually except when tradition dictated otherwise and ate a sparing diet. Henry also had a good sense of humour and was never upset at being the butt of the joke. Unfortunately, he is best remembered for his involvement in the murder of Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury

• 1157, During the minority of Hugh of Cyfeiliog, Henry II receives the homage of Malcolm IV (Máel Coluim mac Eanric), king of Scots, in Chester before invading north Wales (Henry refuses to allow Malcolm to keep Cumbria, or allow his brother William to keep Northumbria, but instead grants the Earldom of Huntingdon to Malcolm, for which Malcolm does homage at Chester). A great battle took place between 3000 Welshmen led by Owain Gwynedd and the 30000 troops of Henry II. The Welsh had sent spies into the drinking dens of Chester to fathom the English plans and, discovering that they were going to bring an army up a narrow river valley approaching Ewloe Castle, set the obvious trap. During the ambush Henry was almost killed by Owain Gwynedd's sons, and the English King's forces suffered a crushing defeat.

• 1169 (mclxix In hoc anno factus Hugo comes Cestrie miles, eodem vero anno duxit Hugo comes Cestrie uxorem filiam Simonis comitis Ebroensis nomine Bertrad quam Rex Henricus II. Angliæ ei tradidit quia ipsius cognata fuit. - In this year Hugh [II., Kyveliock], earl of Chester, was made a knight. In the same year, Hugh, earl of Chester, took to wife Bertrada, daughter of Simon, count of Evreux. Henry II., king of England, gave her to [the earl] because she was his own [the king's] cousin.)

• 1170 (Hic natus Ranulphus III. filius Hugonis comes Cestrie. In hoc etiam anno interfecit Hugo comes Cestrie magnam multitudinem Walensium juxta pontem de Baldert de quorum capitibus factum unum de aggeribus apud Hospitalem infirmorum extra Cestriam - This year Randle III., son of Hugh, earl of Chester, was born. In this year also Hugh, earl of Chester, slew a great multitude of Welshmen, near the bridge of Baldert, of whose heads one of the mounds at the hospital for the sick outside Chester is formed.) Thomas Becket was slain at Canterbury - a decorative boss at Chester Cathedral illustrates his murder (Becket was later voted Worst Britain of the 12th Century)

• 1173 Hugh of Cyfeiliog joins the Baronial Revolt of 1173-1174

• 1174 Some sources say that Hugh of Cyfeiliog captured at Alnwick (he seems to have been captured at Dol).

• 1177 Hugh of Cyfeiliog got his estates restored.

• 1180, Major fire destroys much of Chester. The mint is closed.

• 1181, Hugh of Cyfeiliog dies (30 June, at Leek). Ranulf of Blundeville succeeds to the earldom of Chester (like his father before him) as a minor (aged nine) and attains his majority in 1187. Supernova SN 1181 appears in Cassiopeia.

• 1187, Arthur of Brittany, later stepson of Ranulf of Blundeville is born. See the Arthur Counter-factual for a fictional history of what might have happen thereafter.

• 1189, Ranulf of Blundeville married to Constance of Brittany, the widow of Henry II’s son Geoffrey, and the mother of Arthur of Brittany, with whom King John contested the succession. Weak, ill, and deserted by all but an illegitimate son, Geoffrey, Archbishop of York, Henry II died at Chinon on 6 July 1189. His legitimate children, chroniclers record him saying, were "the real bastards." Foxe gives him an ignominious end: "In the five and thirtieth year of his reign, being in the castle of Chiven in Normandy, he died: at whose death those that were present were so greedy of the spoil, that they left the body of the king naked, and not so much could be found as a cloth to cover it, till that a page coming in, and seeing the king so ignominiously to lie, threw his cloak upon his nether parts; wherein, saith the author, was verified the surname which from his youth he bare, being called Henry Court Mantil."

[edit] Richard I [The Lionheart] (6 July 1189 – 6 April 1199). Third son of Henry II.

Richard described England as "cold and always raining" and spent only six months of his reign there while siphoning the kingdom's resources to support his Crusade. According to William Stubbs: "He was a bad king: his great exploits, his military skill, his splendour and extravagance, his poetical tastes, his adventurous spirit, do not serve to cloak his entire want of sympathy, or even consideration, for his people. He was no Englishman, but it does not follow that he gave to Normandy, Anjou, or Aquitaine the love or care that he denied to his kingdom. His ambition was that of a mere warrior: he would fight for anything whatever, but he would sell everything that was worth fighting for. The glory that he sought was that of victory rather than conquest."

• 1189 Ranulf of Blundeville(aged 19) was present at Richard I's coronation, being the bearer of the crown

• 1190, St John's Hospital (Little St Johns) founded by Ranulf of Blundeville: its site is now the Blue Coat School

• 1191, Richard I proclaimed his nephew, Arthur of Brittany, stepson of Ranulf of Blundeville as his heir to the English throne

• 1193, Ranulf of Blundeville opposes John's coup.

• 1198, Ranulf of Blundeville, Earl of Chester divorced from Constance of Brittany, the widow of Henry II’s son Geoffrey, and the mother of Arthur of Brittany.

• 1199, In the early evening of March 25, 1199, King Richard was walking around a castle he was besieging. One defender in particular was of great amusement to the king — a man standing on the walls, crossbow in one hand, the other clutching a frying pan which he had been using all day as a shield to beat off missiles. He deliberately aimed an arrow at the king, which the king applauded. However, another arrow then struck him in the left shoulder near the neck. A surgeon, called a 'butcher' by Hoveden, removed it, 'carelessly mangling' the King's arm in the process. The wound swiftly became gangrenous. Richard asked to have the crossbowman (a boy) brought before him. Richard, as a last act of mercy, forgave the boy his crime and died. His last act of chivalry proved fruitless as mercenary captain Mercadier had the crossbowman skinned alive and hanged as soon as Richard died.

[edit] John [Lackland] (6 April 1199 – 18/19 October 1216). Fifth son of Henry II

King John's reign has been traditionally characterised as one of the most disastrous in English history: it began with defeats—he lost Normandy to Philip Augustus of France in his first five years on the throne—and ended with England torn by civil war (The First Barons' War), the Crown Jewels lost and himself on the verge of being forced out of power. In 1213, he made England a papal fief to resolve a conflict with the Roman Catholic Church, and his rebellious barons forced him to sign the Magna Carta in 1215.

• 1200 Ranulf of Blundeville, Earl of Chester married to Clemence of Fougères; daughter of William of Fougères, widow of Alan de Dinant, and sister of Geoffrey of Fougères

• 1203, in April Arthur of Britanny dies possibly at the hands of King John. Also in April, King John took a renewed oath of fealty from Ranulf of Blundeville.

• 1209, Basingwerk castle burnt by Ranulf of Blundeville, Earl of Chester, after complaints from the monks of Chester that they had lost the Well Church at Basingwerk during the wars with the Welsh Princes. Ranulf had the castle rebuilt to protect the many pilgrims to the Well Church.

• 1210, King John lands at Waterford looking for the rebel baron William de Broase who had supposedly fled to Ireland. John took the opportunity to visit his lands in Ireland receiving homage from the Irish Chieftains. Maud, de Broase's wife and son were captured, taken back to England and starved to death in Windsor Castle.

• 1211, King John visits Chester. Henry de Lacy rescues Ranulf of Blundeville from siege at Rhuddlan by collecting a body of "players, fiddlers and other loose persons" from the midsummer fair. This led to the Dutton/Button family being granted the right to hold the "Minstrel Court".

• 1214, Ranulf of Blundeville established the abbey of Dieulacres at Abbey Green, nr Leek, Staffordshire. The story is that Ranulf de Blundeville had a vision one night in bed. His grandfather, Ranulf de Gernon, appeared and instructed his grandson to go to Cholpesdale, in the territory of Leek, and found a Cistercian abbey there on the site of the former chapel of St. Mary the Virgin there, and to provide it with buildings and ample possessions. Ranulf de Gernon also ordered that in the seventh year of the interdict that would be placed upon England, his grandson should transfer to this new site the Cistercians of Poulton. Apparently, when Ranulf de Blundeville told his wife of this vision she exclaimed in French ‘deux encres’ – ‘may god grant it increase’. Thereupon Ranulf fixed the name.

• 1215, Ranulf of Blundeville witnesses the Magna Carta by John (who was voted "Worst Britain" of the 13th Century)

• 1216, Before John's death, rebel barons had offered the throne of England to Louis, the heir to the French throne. Louis had invaded the country during the summer of 1216 and had taken Winchester. Ranulf of Blundeville put his political weight behind re-issuing the Magna Carta in 1216 and 1217. Retreating from the French invasion, John took a safe route around the marshy area of the Wash to avoid the rebel held area of East Anglia. His slow baggage train (including the Crown Jewels), however, took a direct route across it and was lost to the unexpected incoming tide. This dealt John a terrible blow, which affected his health and state of mind. Succumbing to dysentery and moving from place to place, he stayed one night at Sleaford Castle before dying on 18 October (or possibly 19 October) 1216, at Newark Castle (then in Lincolnshire, now on Nottinghamshire's border with that county). Numerous, possibly fictitious, accounts circulated soon after his death that he had been killed by poisoned ale, poisoned plums or a "surfeit of peaches".

[edit] Henry III (18-19 October 1216 - 16 November 1272). Eldest son of King John.

Henry was the first child king in England since Ethelred the Unready. Despite his long reign, his personal accomplishments were slim and, weak and vacillating, he was a political and military failure. Henry was much taken with the cult of the Anglo-Saxon saint king Edward the Confessor who had been canonised in 1161, and took to dressing like him. By the 1230s Chester was a prosperous trading centre with a market of regional importance, two fairs, and a port. Its economy continued to expand, stimulated by royal interest and its role as a supply centre for royal enterprises in Wales, which more than compensated for the resultant temporary interruptions to the Welsh trade.

• 1217, Ranulf of Blundeville's military experience was utilised in defeating the rebels at Lincoln

• 1218, 11 February - letters of safe conduct were issued for Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth to come to Worcester. The next day Ranulf of Blundeville, Walter Lacy, Hugh Mortimer, John Fitz Alan, Walter and Roger Clifford were ordered to conduct him hither to pay homage to the king. In mid year Ranulf of Blundeville took part in the fifth crusade.

• 1220, Ranulf of Blundeville returns from the crusades and raises the Everton Beacon. Ranulf of Blundeville is offered the position of King of Jerusalem but turns it down. Trial by ordeal is abolished in England. Ranulf starts work on Beeston Castle.

• 1221, Fulk Fitzwarin III began rebuilding his fortress (Whittington Castle), with one eye on Wales for the reaction of Prince Llywelyn and his friend, Earl Ranulf of Chester.

• 1222, according to Picturesque England King John visits Chester for a few days. This must count as a miracle since he died in 1216 (and this just goes to prove you can't believe everything you read on the web). Comet Halley returned as well.

• 1227, The Dee Bridge collapses during a flood. William the Clerk, is first known Mayor of Chester at around this time. John Canmore is knighted by Alexander II the king of Scotland on Whitsunday.

• 1231, Ranulf of Blundeville's sister Hawise became 1st Countess of Lincoln in April, when her brother resigned the title in her favour.

• 1232, Ranulf of Blundeville dies, aged 60. His heart was buried at Wallingford Castle, while his body was buried at St Werburg's, Chester, Cheshire. His earldom of Chester went to the son of his sister Maud of Chester, John Canmore known as "John the Scot".

• 1236, John Canmore mentioned in the pipe rolls see Feb 3rd entry.

• 1237, John Canmore dies (June 7th) aged 30, without issue, at Darnal and is buried at Chester the next day. Henry III hears of his death and is quick to take control of his castles at Beeston and Chester. After John's death, the honour of Chester was bought from Ranulf of Blundeville's sisters by Henry III. The earldom passes to Edward, Lord of Chester (later Edward I). Greyfriars settled in Chester by Albert of Pisa, the minister of the English province. Blackfriars turned up at the same time!

• 1238, Alexander de Stavensby, bishop of Chester, died on S. Stephen's Day [December 26] at Andover.

• 1240, Walter de Pincebeck, abbot of Chester, died.

• 1241, Henry III in Chester and meets with Dafydd ap Llywelyn who hands over his brother Owain Goch ap Gruffydd as a prisoner. Hugh de Pateshull, bishop of Chester, died.

• 1245, Chester used as a base for the invasion of Wales.

• 1246, Dafydd ap Llywelyn dies. Owain Goch ap Gruffydd, brother of Prince Llewelyn conveniently "escapes" from Chester Castle.

• 1253, Edmund Crouchback becomes Earl of Chester? - see Royal Earls.

• 1264, Henry III defeated and taken prisoner by Simon de Montfort's army and reduced to being a figurehead king. Henry III and Prince Edward (Lord of Chester) placed under house arrest. Simon de Montfort becomes Earl of Chester (until 1265). The Chronicle recorded: "William la Zouche, the justiciary, and the citizens of Chester, fearing that the city was about to be besieged by the barons or by the Welsh, at the suggestion of a certain cursed fellow named Robert Mercer, then sheriff of the city, the day before the Annunciation of Our Lady [March 24], pulled down the houses of S. Werburg that were in Bog lane, and, after totally destroying the gardens, they began to dig a ditch round the city, the justiciary himself and David Fitz-Griffin faithfully promising to the abbot that the lord Edward should restore an equivalent of land and rents to the church of S. Werburg."

• 1267, Royalist supporters of Henry III besieged Luke de Taney (he of the battle of Orewin Bridge), Simon de Montfort's justice of Chester, in Chester castle during the Second Baron's War

• 1272, Henry III dies. His body was laid, temporarily, in the tomb of Edward the Confessor (with whom he was obsessed) while his own sarcophagus was constructed in Westminster Abbey.

[edit] After the Norman Earls (Chester in the Late Middle Ages)

[edit] Edward I [Hammer of the Scots] (20 November 1272 – 7 July 1307). Eldest son of Henry III.

Unlike his father, Henry III, Edward I took great interest in the workings of his government and undertook a number of reforms to regain royal control in government and administration. The late 13th and early 14th century probably saw the peak of Chester's prosperity in the Middle Ages. Though there was a corn market in Eastgate Street by the 1270s, and though some corn was undoubtedly grown in the county and by the citizens themselves in the town fields, considerable quantities of wheat and barley had to be brought in from further afield, principally Ireland. The grain was not simply for home consumption: the city also acted as a centre for distribution throughout its region. Although trade with the native Welsh was suspended during Edward I's campaigns, such disruption was more than counterbalanced by the citizens' provisioning of the English armies. Trade rose to a peak during the campaign of 1282-3, when foodstuffs, including peas, beans, wine, salmon, cheese, and salted meat as well as corn, flowed through Chester in quantities which far exceeded those from any other province apart from Ponthieu. With the establishment of peace Chester resumed its wider distributive role. The extremely high tax income of the Dee Mills throughout the 13th and earlier 14th century perhaps reflected toll income resulting from Chester's role as an entry-port for wheat, oats, barley, and malt.

(a descendant of Edward works at the Chester Military Museum - he bears a scary resemblance to this portrait and has the characteristic red hair .. so if we ever need a spare king...)

• 1273, Prince Alphonso becomes Earl of Chester? - see Royal Earls.

• 1274, Kaleyard gate cut through the walls so that monks could reach their cabbage-patches.

• 1275, Edward called Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, ('Llywelyn the Last') then Prince of Wales, to Chester castle to pay homage, Llywelyn refused to attend. Kaleyard Gate cut through City Walls by monks of St Werburgh's

• 1276, The king and queen's chambers at Chester Castle were repaired and a new chapel was built in the outer bailey. The Blackfriars apply to pipe water from Boughton.

• 1277, the Whitefriars were established in Chester (and Edward sends some cash to the little known Friars of the Sack). Edward's army camps at Saltney before invading Wales.

• 1278, Great fire destroys almost all the buildings within the City Walls. Welshmen swear on the "Rood of Chester" (a relic at St John's Church) not to bear arms against Edward. A charter for a market to be held each Monday at Bromborough was granted by Edward to the monks of St. Werburgh's Abbey. The monks are licensed to make a conduit from a well at Newton.

• 1279, Dee Bridge swept away. The mayor and citizens were granted a three-year pavage of ½d. on every cartload of firewood or coals brought into the city.

• 1282, pipes were laid to bring water to the Cathedral from Christleton.

• 1283, Dafydd ap Gruffydd captured and taken to Chester

• 1284, Alphonso, Earl of Chester, dies. New domestic buildings were begun at Chester Castle

• 1290, a three-year "murage" grant is made for the repair of the walls of Chester.

• 1292, a new outer gateway was added to Chester Castle with twin drum-towers on either side of a vaulted passage defended by a pair of portcullis.

• 1293, a mason worked from April until December making a seat for the king in the new chapel at the castle and a new garden was laid out ouside the building. "Bakers Row" and "Ironmongers Row" are recorded.

• 1295, the Justice of Chester was ordered to recruit 100 experienced masons from Chester and send them to Caernarfon "without delay".

• 1296, Chester was among the two-dozen English towns ordered to select two citizens to attend the autumn parliament at Bury-St-Edmunds.

• 1298, Justice of Chester, Sir John Grey took part in the expedition against William Wallace.

• 1300, Edward I grants Chester a new charter.

• 1301, Edward I gave the Earldom of Chester to his son Edward (later to be Edward II) during his last visit to the city. Halley's comet appears.

• 1302, Fire in the Agricola Tower.

• 1303, "Saddlers Row" recorded.

• 1305, "Richard the Engineer" (who lived in lower bridge street) was elected mayor of Chester. Richard was the builder of many of Edward's Welsh castles.

• 1307 Edward I died at Burgh-by-Sands, Cumberland on the Scottish border, while on his way to wage another campaign against the Scots under the leadership of Robert the Bruce. He asked to be buried in a lead coffin until such time as Scotland was conquered by the English - then be moved to the traditional gold box. He is still in the lead coffin.

[edit] Edward II (7 July 1307 - 20 January 1327). Second son of Edward I. First royal Earl of Chester to become king.

Edward II had few of the qualities that made a successful medieval king. Edward surrounded himself with favourites (the best known being a Gascon, Piers Gaveston), and the barons, feeling excluded from power, rebelled. Throughout his reign, different baronial groups struggled to gain power and control the King. In the reign of Edward II, when they were recorded in detail, tolls were levied on the goods of 'foreign' merchants as they entered and left the Chester, the citizens themselves being exempt. At the Eastgate, the principal entry for landborne traffic and the only gate at which tolls could be paid in cash, there was a tariff for wool, salt, coal, timber, 'long boards', bark for tanning, turf, knives, cups, dishes, and tankards. Merchandise produced within Cheshire, including corn, malt, lead, iron, steel, and livestock, was exempt. At the Northgate the serjeant took toll on a wide variety of sea fish and shellfish, ale, fruit, sheep, timber, shingles, coal, firewood, and turf. At the Bridgegate tolls were taken on cattle brought in from Wales, fish and shellfish of various kinds, hops, nuts, firewood, turf, coal, timber, shingles, laths, bark for tanning, knives, cups, and dishes. Levies were presumably also made at the two adjacent gates, the Shipgate and the Horsegate, for which the serjeant of the Bridgegate was also responsible. The commodities which passed through the Watergate were similar, and included barley, various kinds of fish, coal, cups, dishes, and knives.

• 1311, Chester is asked to supply two ships for the campaign against Robert the Bruce.

• 1312, Edward II visits Chester to meet and welcome Piers de Gaveston (reputedly his lover) on his return from exile in Ireland.

• 1316, During an exceptionally bad famine, Chester merchants are licensed to go to Ireland to buy corn and other victuals for the king.

• 1322 Chester castle granted to Edward II's favourite (and lover), Hugh Despenser the younger (voted "Worst Britain" of the 14th Century). William of Doncaster was involved, with seven other leading Chester merchants, in shipping merchandise including 105 tuns of wine from Bordeaux to Chester, but the vessel which they chartered was attacked by armed men off Anglesey and its cargo was lost or damaged.

• 1323, The Water Tower and spur wall from the north-west corner of the City Walls built at a cost of £100 to protect the harbour.

• 1326, Chester castle returned to Edward II, Hugh Despenser the younger brutally executed at Hereford on 26 Nov - with a huge crowd gathered in anticipation. He was dragged him from his horse, stripped, and had biblical verses against corruption and arrogance scribed on his skin. The list of charges against him read out (taking a great time). He was then condemned to hang as a thief, be castrated, and then drawn and quartered as a traitor - his quarters to be dispersed through England.

• 1327, there was unrest in Chester following Edward II's deposition - in July the former mayor, Richard le Bruyn was imprisoned at the Castle accused of supporting the Earl of Mar, an "enemy and a rebel". In August the Justice was ordered to arrest the large number of outlaws who had gathered in the vicinity of the city. Edward II is done to death with a red-hot poker.

Or was he .. in 1877, Alexandre Germain, professor at the university of Montpellier, discovered an undated document written by Emanuele Del Fiesco, papal notary, priest in York, bishop of Vercelli (1343-1348). According to him, Edward escaped from prison, fled to Normandy, then to Avignon where the pope John XXII sheltered him. He then went to Paris, Koln, Milan, and lived for two and a half years in the castle of Melazzo, near Acqui (nowadays in Piedmont region, northern Italy); finally, he moved to the castle of Cecima (province of Pavia), where he lived for 2 more years as an hermit. He was then buried in the abbey of Sant'Alberto di Butrio: in the small closter, a sign over an empty tomb reads "here is the tomb where was buried Edward II King of England, who married Isabelle of France and whose successor was Edward III, son of him. There is some further information on the possible "rescue" [here].

[edit] Edward III (25 January 1327 – 21 June 1377). Son of Edward II (previously Earl of Chester).

Edward was one of the most successful English monarchs of the Middle Ages. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into the most efficient military power in Europe. His reign saw vital developments in legislature and government—in particular the evolution of the English parliament — as well as the ravages of the Black Death. He remained on the throne for 50 years; no English monarch had reigned for as long since Henry III, and none would again until George III. In 1361 the citizens of Chester claimed that they lived by trade. In the later Middle Ages, however, the port suffered from facing west, away from the Continent, and also perhaps from the silting of the Dee estuary, as was frequently alleged. Ships with very heavy cargoes, such as wine and millstones, unloaded at anchorages in Wirral, the goods then being transferred to smaller craft or carts, but the city's own harbour at Portpool handled fish, Welsh slates, woollen cloth, hardware, and malt, and at high tide the smallest vessels could reach the New Tower at the north-western corner of the city walls.

• 1332, Supposed discovery within the church of St John of the his remains of Harold II, clad in leather hose, golden spurs, and crown

• 1333, Edward, the Black Prince, created Earl of Chester

• 1340it was re-affirmed that "during the time of war with Wales, all persons, being in the peace of the King of England and the Earl of Chester ....(could)... have refuge on Hoole Heath, with their goods, necessaries, and beasts, for a year and a day."

• 1343, Chester was named as a place to which wool bought below the fixed price was taken to evade customs. The city was expressly excluded from the national customs system and closed to the export of wool.

• 1345, "This summer was called the dry summer for from March until the latter end of July there fell little rain or none by reason whereof corn was very scant the year following" (Hemingway)

• 1346, Revenue for the Dee Mills is £245 - this will fall sharply in the next few years due to the Plague. Work begins on the renewal of the Dee Bridge but this is later abandoned due to the Plague.

• 1349, The Black Death sweeps through Chester killing about one third of the population

• 1351, As part of an investigation of his earldom's franchises, the Black Prince instituted quo warranto proceedings in Chester. For ratification of their charters and declare of the bounds of their liberties, the citizens of Chester agree to pay a "fine" of £300, which (because they were impoverished) was to be collected in instalments over five years. The Dee Bridge was "in such plight that no one [could] pass over it".

• 1353, Edward the Black Prince, Earl of Chester, visits Chester "in great state" and stays for two months.

• 1354, the Black Prince asserted that there were more evil-doers within the city than in the entire shire outside it. In the Charter granted by the Black Prince Chester's boundaries extended well beyond the walled city and included the settlements of Handbridge, Boughton and Lache. The Castle and its surroundings and the Abbey precincts were exempt from mayoral authority. This charter also granted the Mayor and Citizens admiralty rights over the river Dee. The Lord Mayor today is still the Admiral of the Dee and carries the Admiralty oar as a symbol of his authority.

• 1357, Mayor and the commonality of Chester petition the Black Prince for a reduction in taxes claiming that most of those who should have paid have died in the Plague. Empty and ruined tenements are reported throughout the city among them Stone Hall in Lower Bridge Street and many shops are closed. The Black Prince orders that no-one should buy or sell goods within four leagues of Chester except at official markets.

• 1360, new tenants has been found for much commercial property, including "a shop on Ironmongers Row" (Northgate Street).

• 1361, the city's tanners paid the Black Prince to establish a monopoly in the production of leather.

• 1364, Ranulph Higden dies and is buried in the South Choir Aisle of the Abbey.

• 1370, after prolonged challenges Chester shoemakers are granted the right to tan their own leather.

• 1375, First known performance of the Chester Mystery Plays

• 1376, Edward the Black Prince, Earl of Chester, dies and so never ruled as king (becoming the first English Prince of Wales to suffer that fate). Around 29 September 1376 Edward III had fallen ill with a large abscess. After a brief period of recovery in February 1376, the king died of a stroke (some sources say gonorrhea) at Sheen on 21 June.

[edit] Richard II (22 June 1377 - 29 September 1399). Son of Edward, the Black Prince (previously Earl of Chester).

Richard is famed for his pivotal role in resolving the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, and for his purported misdemeanours as King. Richard himself favoured genteel interests like fine food, insisting spoons be used at his court and inventing the handkerchief. He exiled his council, and turned to his circle of favourites for his council - it is also possible that Richard had a homosexual relationship with Robert de Vere - Thomas Walsingham called it 'obscene' and 'not without a degree of improper intimacy'. Richard had the Earl of Arundel executed and Warwick exiled, while Gloucester (another of the so-called "Lords Appellant") "died in captivity". Finally able to exert his autocratic authority over the kingdom, he purged all those he saw as not totally committed to him, fulfilling his own idea of becoming God’s chosen prince. He even took the title "Prince of Chester". This led to both to his forced resignation and civil war.

• 1378, comet Halley revisits.

• 1379, "A bushel of wheat sold for 6d a gallon of white wine for 6d, a gallon of claret for 4d, a fat goose for 2d, a fat pig for 1d. A Mayor's Feast containing all the dainties of the season cost exactly eleven shillings and ten pence."

• 1381; John Holland half-brother to Richard II made Justice of Chester;

• 1385; Edmund of Langley made Justice of Chester;

• 1387, Richard II visits Chester and grants its citizens a murage for the repair of the ruined Dee Bridge. First mention of the High Cross in the city records. Robert de Vere made Justice of Chester

• 1388, Thomas of Woodstock made Justice of Chester;

• 1393, there was a mysterious rising in Cheshire, (by "Sir Baldwyn Rudistone") apparently aimed primarily against Richard II's hated enemy Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester, then justice of Chester - "Sir Baldwyn Rudistone and other desperados excite a dreadful riot in the Abbey Precincts and city. After killing one Sheriff, taking the other prisoner and injuring the Mayor, they were finally expelled but returned a few days after with 300 men, and attempted to take the place by surprise, but were repulsed and many taken prisoner."

• 1394, Richard II arrives in Chester with the duke of Gloucester and the earls of Northhampton, Arundel, Salisburu, March and Rutland. "John the Armourer" is ordered to "arrest ships in the Dee" to transport the royal household to Ireland.

• 1396, £35 is spent on repairing the two stone towers of the inner gate of the Castle, in response to a letter from the King that the towers were "molt ruinose et fieble" and on the point of collapse.

• 1397, Richard II. sent secretly to Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, who was levying troops in Wales, to come to him with all speed, to aid him with the Duke of Gloucester and his friends; and commissioned at the same time Sir Thomas Molineux de Cuerdale, Constable of Chester, a man of great influence in Cheshire and Lancashire, and the Sheriff of Chester, to raise troops, and to accompany and safe conduct the Duke of Ireland to the Kings presence. Molineux executed his commission with great zeal, imprisoning all who would not join him. Thus was raised an army of 5,000 men. (Hollinshead). Following the battle of Radcot Bridge Arundel, Warwick and Gloucester (Thomas of Woodstock - Justice of Chester) arrested and charged with treason. Arundel is executed and his estates in Shropshire and North Wales later become part of principality of Chester. Gloucester is murdered by Nicholas Colfox. The clerk John Hatton of Chester is appointed "yeoman of the livery of the crown" at 6d a day for life.

• 1398, Chester is erected into a principality by King Richard who styles himself "Prince of Chester". He was a regular visitor over the next year. 4000 marks are deposited at St Werburgh's for the benefit of the Cheshire men who fought for Richard II at Radcot Bridge.

• 1399, Richard II has a heated bathroon constructed in Chester Castle (costing £70). It was panelled with Norwegian timber. His apartments were redecorated with cushions and fine silk hangings. While Richard II is away on a military campaign in Ireland, Henry Bollingbroke, later Henry IV, lands in Britain after exile and takes Chester without a fight. He stays at Chester for a few days and then captures Richard II who is briefly imprisoned at Chester Castle. Richard's treasure is reputedly hidden somewhere near Chester (often cited as Beeston Castle).

[edit] Chester and the Wars of the Roses

The Houses of York and Lancaster, both branches of the House of Plantagenet, were two of the factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war during the 15th century. Both claimed descent from Edward III.

John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (March 6, 1340 – February 3, 1399) was the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. John of Gaunt's legitimate male heirs, the Lancasters, included Kings Henry IV (Henry Bolingbroke), Henry V, and Henry VI. John of Gaunt's illegitimate descendants, the Beauforts, ultimately became legitimate by his marriage to Katherine Swynford in 1396, and later married into the House of Tudor. The House of York was descended from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth son of Edward III.

Chester seems to have taken no clear side in the war, although relations with the crown cooled and (not least from the election of a Welsh mayor) there seems to have been much sympathy with Wales. Medieval Chester housed no industry of national importance and, as a west-facing port, was unable to participate in Continental trade to any significant extent. The city's economy was broadly based but its activities were small in scale and none dominated. Although Chester did not share the spectacular success enjoyed by towns more closely associated with the wool and cloth trades, it was spared the consequences of the dramatic slumps in those industries. Even so, for much of the period the city was far from prosperous, and occasionally, as in the 1450s, in considerable decay. The period was marked by much feuding between city factions.

[edit] Henry IV (30 September 1399 - 20 March 1413) LANCASTRIAN. Descended from Edward III - was never Earl of Chester.

Henry Bolingbroke began a military campaign, confiscating land from those who opposed him and ordering his soldiers to destroy much of Cheshire. Henry quickly gained enough power and support to have himself declared King Henry IV, to imprison King Richard, who died in prison under mysterious circumstances, and to bypass Richard's seven-year-old heir-presumptive, Edmund de Mortimer. Henry spent much of his reign defending himself against plots, rebellions, and assassination attempts, some of which he imagined.

• 1399, Chester is reduced from a principality to an earldom. A map of the County at the time can be found here. The first mention of "The Bell" inn - now the East Glory restaurant.

• 1400, revolt in Cheshire, linked with the Earls' Rising, Chester Castle besieged. An armed group of men, dressed in the livery of Richard II made their way to the Eastgate and removed the head of Peter Legh and then issued a proclamation in Richard's name that all men of the city should rally to his cause. Sir William Venables, constable of the castle, resisted the assault. Richard II is believed to have been killed by starvation, or otherwise murdered. A general pardon is issued to the people of Cheshire, but property is confiscated from several Cestrians including their leader Thomas Cottingham.

• 1403, Sir Henry Percy ('Hotspur'), lately justice of Chester, stayed in the city and raised the standard of revolt there. Percy formed an alliance with the Welsh rebel, Owain Glyndŵr. Before they could join forces, Hotspur was defeated and killed at the Battle of Shrewsbury as he raised his visor to get some air (he was wearing full plate) and was hit in the mouth with an arrow. After Percy's defeat one of the quarters of his body was sent to Chester, together with the heads of Sir Richard Venables and Sir Richard Vernon. Chester was not wholly on the side of the rebels as the mayor and the constable of the castle were present at Shrewsbury in the king's retinue. See Shooting the Welsh! for the consequences and see also the BBC 'report' on the battle

• 1404, The government still found it necessary to order the citizens of Chester not to sell arms or merchandise to the rebels and to commission keepers of roads out of Chester. A large group of rebels broke into the fulling mills at Handbridge and stole white woollen cloth, an ox and three cows belonging to William Venables.

• 1407, The city's butchers, fishmongers, and poulterers were indicted for trading offences 'both in the market and without', and the smiths, cutlers, goldsmiths, skinners, barbers, coopers, and slaters for trading without paying toll and custom to the earl and for paying excessive wages contrary to the Statute of Labourers. A Chester butcher was arrested "on suspicion of having bought herrings from the French" (who were allies of the Welsh).

• 1408, Chester elects a welsh mayor - A serious feud then breaks out between on one side the civic authorities, led by the Welshman John Ewloe, and on the other William Venables, constable of the castle. Venables and over fifty members of his retinue were bound to keep peace with the mayor and sheriffs,

• 1409, Venables and Ewloe suspended from office. The Crown nominates a governor Sir William Brereton, sheriff of Cheshire, to replace mayor Ewloe as 'keeper and governor' of the city. Brereton and his deputy presided over the portmote and crownmote until Ewloe was re-elected later in 1409

• 1410, Another election was disrupted by the armed intervention of Robert Chamberlain, a former sheriff and a crony of Venables's. He was unsuccessful, the new mayor Roger Potter, was one of the leading opponents of the former constable

• 1411, A 'day of reconciliation' (dies amoris) was celebrated between Venables and the leading townsmen

• 1412, Under terms awarded by arbitrators, Venables pays reparations to various citizens. The city remained riven by feud - a further attempt at armed interference in the elections of 1412 caused the Crown to commission the current mayor and to appoint Crown nominees to choose the next mayor,

• 1413 Henry IV dies after suffering acute attacks of some grave illness which might have been leprosy; perhaps psoriasis; perhaps a symptom of syphilis; or some other disease.

[edit] Henry V(21 March 1413 - 31 August 1422) LANCASTRIAN. Son of Henry of Bolingbroke, later Henry IV. Last Earl of Chester until Edward (later Edward V)

Famous for his military exploits, by the time Henry died, he had not only consolidated power as the King of England but had also effectively accomplished what generations of his ancestors had failed to achieve through decades of war: unification of the crowns of England and France in a single person. He was a member of the Order of the Dragon.

• 1415 John de Chester and Lyell de Chester fight at Agincourt as part of the retinue of Sir John Grey. Also present were "Archers of the erle Chester, that was of the Retenu oi our Soveraigne Lord the King CIIIJ".

• 1416 Former Welsh mayor Ewloe, his son Edmund, and their Welsh retainers attack another citizen in Eastgate Street. Shortly afterwards Edmund and his fellow Welshmen break into the house of John Hope (lately sheriff and soon to be mayor). Further disturbances in the same year include an attack on two citizens with the connivance of the mayor, William Hawarden, who was briefly imprisoned in Chester castle. Many leading citizens, including William Venables and two former mayors, are required to give guarantees to keep the peace.

• 1422 Henry V died suddenly on 31 August 1422 at Bois de Vincennes near Paris, apparently from dysentery which he contracted during the siege of Meaux. He never was crowned king of France.

[edit] Henry VI(31 August 1422 - 4 March 1461) LANCASTRIAN. Son of Henry V.

Henry was the only child and heir of King Henry V of England and therefore great things were expected of him from birth. A revival of French fortunes, beginning with the military victories of Joan of Arc, led to the repudiation of Henry's title to rule France, and the crowning of the French Dauphin. Diplomatic errors as well as military failures resulted in the loss of most of the English territories in France. In later life he suffered from periods of insanity, and by 1461, Henry was suffering such a bout of madness that he was apparently laughing and singing while the Second Battle of St Albans raged.

• 1431, a "great frost lasting nine weeks" settles on Chester.

• 1435, King Henry VI, a boy of 14, informed Pope Eugenius IV that he agreed to the election of John Saughall as Abbot of Chester. Severe famine in Chester - "the people made bread of peas, feathers and fern roots"

• 1442, Chester Castle chosen for the imprisonment of Eleanor Cobham, whose husband, Henry VI's uncle Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, had been justice of Chester 1427-40.

• 1445, King visits Chester and reduces an annual tax from £100 to £50, on the grounds that trade had suffered from the silting of the port and that 'restrictions and charges' had been imposed by the Welsh rebellion. Cestrians claim that the "greater part of the city lay in ruins".

• 1449, a 'Royal Brief' assessed the City of Chester and proposed the construction of a quay at Neston for the transfer of cargoes into smaller vessels.

• 1456, comet Halley revisits. Riots in Chester: "The commonalty of the city arose but were suppressed and committed to the Northgate and afterwards to the castle"

• 1459, After the battle of Blore Heath, two of the Yorkist leaders, the earl of Salisbury's sons Thomas and John Neville, were imprisoned in Chester castle. To discourage prostitution in Chester, an order of assembly was made that "no person in the four principal streets of the city should willingly receive into their houses chambers or cellars nor set the same to any woman that openly misuseth herself with any wedded man or any other man"

[edit] Edward IV(March 4, 1461 – 31 October, 1470) YORKIST. Descended from Edward III.

An extremely capable and daring military commander, Edward destroyed the House of Lancaster in a series of spectacular military victories; he was never defeated on the field of battle. Despite his occasional (if serious) political setbacks - usually at the hands of his great Machiavellian rival, Louis XI - Edward was a popular and very able king. Whilst he lacked foresight and was at times cursed by bad judgement, he possessed an uncanny understanding of his most useful subjects, and the vast majority of those who served him remained unwaveringly loyal until his death.

• 1461, Edward IV further reduced taxes on Chester, but his anxieties about the city were reflected in a proclamation requiring the mayor and sheriffs of Chester to arrest all within the shire who supported the king's Lancastrian enemies. These may have included Lewis Glyn Cothi, who had a command of foot in the army of the Lancastrian Jasper Earl of Pembroke at the battle of Mortimer's Cross. After the battle Lewis Glyn Cothi had found his way to Chester, where he married a widow and opened a shop. The mayor seized all his goods and drove him out of town. Lewis Glyn Cothi cursed the inhabitants of Chester with dire results.

• 1463, slaughter of Chester citizens at Mold: "This year happened a bloody fray between Reginald ap Griffith ap Bleddyn ancestor of the Wynnes of Tower at the head of a great number of the Welsh and many citizens of Chester There was a dreadful slaughter on both sides and Reginald having taken prisoner Robert Brynn who had been Mayor of Chester three years before carried him away to his fortress near Mold and there hanged him in the large ground room within the tower" (Cowper).

• 1464, Trouble at Newcastle on Tyne was put down with the help of the "great bombard" of Chester (a mighty cannon). All of the gunpowder at Chester Castle was used up in the siege of Skipton Castle.

• 1468, the central tower of St John's Church collapsed. Sir William Stanley rides out from Chester to Denbigh to resist Jasper Tudor who was preparing to land in Wales.

[edit] Henry VI - again (31 October 1470 - 11 April 1471) LANCASTRIAN

The "Readeption" of Henry VI took place on 3 October 1470. However, by this point Henry was too mentally feeble to rule unaided; for example, he had to be led by the hand when he paraded through London. One historian has described him as a "useful political vegetable".

• 1470, Henry VI visits Chester. The goods of a Chester labourer at this time consisted of "two sheets (one canvas, one flax), two saucers, four plates and a dish as well as cloth to hang over the window".

• 1471, Edward of Wesrminster (Earl of Chester) slain at the Battle of Tewkesbury. Henry VI was imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he was murdered in the Wakefield Tower on 21 May 1471. Some of the reproduction tiles in the tower were manufactured by Willie Carter of Farndon, near Chester. Each year on the anniversary of Henry VI's death, the Provosts of Eton and King's College, Cambridge lay white lilies and roses, the floral emblems of those colleges, on the spot in the Wakefield Tower at the Tower of London where the imprisoned Henry VI was, according to tradition, murdered by Richard III as he knelt at prayer.

[edit] Edward IV - again (April 11, 1471 – April 9, 1483) YORKIST

• 1471, On 17 July the later Edward V received formal grants, which were afterwards confirmed by parliament, of the principality of Wales, the counties palatine of Chester and Flint, and the duchy of Cornwall (Rolls of Parl. vi. 9-16).

• 1472, Edward again reduced taxes

• 1483, Edward IV dies. Just which of Edward's many ailments actually caused his death has never been satisfactorily resolved. He probably died of pneumonia, though it has been conjectured that he had contracted typhoid or may even have been poisoned.

[edit] Edward V(18 April 1483 - 25 June 1483) YORKIST. Son of Edward IV. Earl of Chester (followed by Edward of Middleham).

Edward V (4 November 1470 – 1483?) was the King of England from 9 April 1483 until his deposition two months later. His reign was dominated by the influence of his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who succeeded him as Richard III. Along with his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Edward was one of the Princes in the Tower, who were never seen alive after being sent (ostensibly for their own safety) to the Tower of London. Richard III has been widely blamed for their deaths, though it is not certain that he was responsible for them. The brother survives in "Blackadder", becoming Richard IV. Along with Edward VIII and Lady Jane Grey, Edward V is one of only four post-1066 English monarchs never to have been crowned (the others were: Edward VIII, Empress Matilda and Lady Jane Grey).

[edit] Richard III(20 June 1483–22 Aug 1485) YORKIST. Edward V's uncle.

Much that was previously considered 'fact' about Richard III has been rejected by modern historians. For example, Richard was represented by Tudor writers as being physically deformed, which was regarded as evidence of an evil character. However, the withered arm, limp and crooked back of legend are nowadays believed to be fabrications, possibly originating from the questionable history attributed to Thomas More, which made a deep impression upon William Shakespeare, and was long taken as the authoritative history of events. The accusations against his moral character have proven more resistant to refutation than the slanders against his physical looks.

• 1484, Richard III again cuts an annual tax on Chester to £30. Edward of Middleham Earl of Chester, dies (the next Earl would be Arthur Tudor).

• 1485, the citizens' sympathies seem to have been with the Tudors. Their mayor from 1484 to 1486, Sir John Savage (d. 1495), had close links with the Stanleys, and his son, also Sir John (d. 1492), led the left wing of Henry Tudor's forces at Bosworth and was afterwards well rewarded. The serjeant of the Bridgegate, Sir William Troutbeck, also fought for Henry at that battle. Richard III was abandoned by Lord Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, Sir William Stanley, and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Tradition holds that Richard III's final words were "treason ,treason, treason, treason, treason"

[edit] Chester and the Tudors & Stewarts

The House of Tudor (Welsh: Tudur) produced a series of six monarchs of Welsh origin who ruled England and Ireland from 1485 until 1603. While the Tudor claim to the throne was tenuous, being based upon a lineage of illegitimate succession , the death of Richard III on Bosworth Field effectively ended the long-running Wars of the Roses, which ensured that most other claimants were either dead or too weak to challenge Henry VII. Chester's economy grew steadily from 1550 to c. 1600, not least because in the early 1580s and later 1590s the passage of troops bound for Ireland created more demand for goods and services. Recovery from the plagues of 1603-5 was hampered by national economic difficulties and by recurrent, though limited, local epidemics, but from the mid 1620s prosperity returned. Throughout the 16th century Chester was the largest port in north-west England, although it carried only a small proportion of the country's trade, ranking 12th in a list of 18 provincial ports in 1594-5. However Chester's ships were small and the port was unfavourably located for trading with England's main markets overseas (except Ireland). Silting of the Dee continued and the port began it's long decline.

[edit] Henry VII(August 22, 1485 - April 21, 1509). Somewhat distantly descended from Edward III.

Henry VII was a fiscally prudent monarch who restored the fortunes of an effectively bankrupt exchequer (Edward IV's treasury had been emptied by his wife's Woodville relations after his death and before the accession of Richard III) by introducing ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation. In this he was supported by his chancellor, Archbishop John Morton, whose "Morton's Fork" was a catch 22 method of ensuring that nobles paid increased taxes. After the treaty of Medina del Campo opened up trade with the Iberian peninsula in 1489, Spanish iron, and wine from Portugal, Spain, and Gascony became the basis for a dramatic expansion in Chester's overseas trade, which allowed other Mediterranean commodities to reach the city, and provided new markets for hides and cloth. Chester's trade with Spain focused on the Basque region and involved iron. Besides iron, small quantities of angora, silk and velvet, liquorice, train oil, woad, and Cordovan skins were sometimes carried. Trade with Portugal and Andalusia through the northern Spanish ports brought cork, dyestuffs, figs and raisins, litmus, pepper and herbs, oil, sugar, wax, and sweet wines to Chester from c. 1509.

• 1486, Henry VII reduced the annual farm to £20 in perpetuity. (fn. 4) The king visited Chester with his queen and his mother in 1493 or 1495, and in 1498 or 1499 his son Prince Arthur attended a performance of an Assumption Day play and presented a silver badge to the Smiths, Cutlers, and Plumbers' company.

• 1491, "great tempest strikes Chester on St John's day" (Roberts) "A child of Tendon ap Thomas was slain by the fall of a principal from St Peter's church and a child of Ralph Davenport was sore hurt the same day"

• 1493, "great fire without the Northgate" (Roberts)

• 1498, Midsummer Watch Parade first held during the mayoralty of Richard Goodman - organised by the City Guilds.

• 1499, Dee Bridge rebuilt in stone

• 1500, another "great fire without the Northgate" (Roberts)

• 1502 Arthur, Earl of Chester marries Catherine of Aragon and dies. The cause of his death is unknown but may have been consumption, diabetes, or the mysterious sweating sickness (a hantavirus). Some have suggested that he was worn out by the amorous Catherine.

• 1503, "all innkeepers ordered to hang out lanterns from All Saints until Candlemas" (Roberts)

• 1506, Henry VII grants Chester its 'Great Charter', which constituted the city a county in its own right, fully exempt from County control. The rights, privileges and procedures of the Mayor and Corporation were ratified. The Corporation comprised a Mayor, 24 aldermen and 40 common councilmen. There were 2 sheriffs, 2 coroners and 2 muringers (officials who were responsible for collecting special murage taxes for the repair of the City Wall). The Corporation had the right to hold courts and to control trade, buildings and social conditions.

• 1507, Chester visited by the sweating sickness a disease which seems to have vanished - 91 householders died within three days (only four of which were women).

• 1509 Henry VII died of a broken heart following the deaths of his son and heir, Arthur (Earl of Chester), and his wife, Elizabeth of York

[edit] Henry VIII(April 22, 1509–January 28, 1547). Third child of Henry VII (previously Earl of Chester)

In the first parts of his reign he energetically suppressed the Reformation of the Anglican Church, which had been building steam since John Wycliffe of the fourteenth century. He is more often known for his ecclesiastical struggles with Rome, which ultimately led to him separating the Anglican Church from Roman authority, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and establishing the English monarch as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. Henry also oversaw the legal union of England and Wales. He is noted in popular culture for being married six times. In the early 16th century Chester's overseas trade with Ireland, Spain, Portugal, and Brittany expanded, but only merchants with a sizeable turnover could carry the heavy costs which arose from carriage from anchorages down the estuary and from high customs duties. The share of the port's trade controlled by Cestrians fluctuated. Dubliners dominated the Irish Sea trade, and there was strong competition for the rest of the overseas trade from English, Welsh, and Continental merchants. In 1538-42, during Chester's trading zenith, 40-45 per cent of traders were Chester freemen. At this time Chester was one of 16 or so towns with 3500-5000 inhabitants. Of the freemen, most were probably only occasionally involved in trade, and between 1500 and 1550 there were forty or so significant Chester merchants who shipped through the port. Their trade was predominantly in importing iron and wine and exporting hides and cloth, but few were specialists. Even though Richard Grimsditch's main trading effort was with the Continent, for example, he also bought Irish cloth, while Henry Gee in 1532 shared a cargo which included canvas, buckram, glass, honey, black soap, velvet, trenchers, a round table, and a bedcase. However, Liverpool was beginning to develop as a port and this would eventually spell doom for trade in Chester.

• 1508-10, St Ursula's Hospital founded following bequest of Roger Smith

• 1517, Chester visited again by the sweating sickness a disease which seems to have vanished - it was said that effects were so marked that "grass grew a foot high at the market cross".

• 1522, Chester called upon to supply forces to defend the Scottish borders, and the mayor mustered a force of sixty soldiers to serve with Thomas Howard, earl of Surrey.

• 1531, comet Halley revisits.

• 1532, Chester's Assembly legislated against its own and Dublin citizens shipping through Liverpool and forbade Cestrians to bargain with Irish merchants at Liverpool.

• 1533, Henry Gee, Mayor, orders that "No manner person or persons go abroade in this citie mumming in any place within the said citie, their fayses being coveryd or disgysed (because) many dysordered persons have used themselves rayther all the day after idellie in vyse and wantoness than given themselves to holy contemplation and prayre the same sacryt holye and prynsepaul feaste" This popular Mayor ordered that ale, beer and wine were not to be sold after 9pm on any day or after Sunday services. Henry gee also banned the local football game, traditionally played at the Cross and started the Chester Races instead. It has been suggested that Henry Gee is the origin of the term "Gee-gee" for horse, but this is not confirmed by the OED.

• 1536, Chester was brought into the national customs system for leather (in 1537-8 customs duties were paid on 10,681 tanned hides in five Spanish and five Chester ships).

• 1537, "water first brought from Boughton to the Bridgegate by pipes" (Roberts) - actually the Romans had done this quite some time before.

• 1538, Three Chester friaries surrendered on 15 August during the Dissolution of the monasteries

• 1539, Manchester cottons, friezes, kerseys, broad dozens, and goatskins were carted from Chester to four Spanish ships at anchor in the Dee estuary.

• 1540, St Werburgh's Abbey and St Mary's Nunnery surrendered. First races on the Roodee. Women forbidden from running pubs in Chester: "Whereas all the taverns and alehouses of this city be used to be kept by young women otherwise than is used in any other place of this realme whereat all strangers greatly marvel and think it inconvenient whereby great slander and dishonest report of this city hath and doth run abroad in avoiding whereof as also to eschew such great occasions of wantonness brawls frays and other inconveniences as thereby doth and may arise among youth and light disposed persons as also damages to their masters owners of the taverns and alehouses. Ordered that after the 9th of June next there shall be no tavern or alehouse kept in the said city by any woman between fourteen and forty years of age under pain of forty pounds forfeiture for him or her that keepeth any such servant"

• 1541, The former abbey of St. Werburgh, Chester, was reconstituted the Cathedral of Christ and St. Mary in August, with an establishment consisting of a dean and six prebendaries; John Bird appointed the first bishop. The new diocese had both administrative and financial problems: Bird tried to address the finances, and dispensed with archdeacons, but succeeded only in making bad deals with the Crown and with leaseholders. Thomas Clarke, last abbot of St. Werburgh's, became the first dean of Chester (he died a month later). The King's School is founded by Henry VIII. Chester gets its first seat in parliament. An attempt to improve port facilities was under way by 1541, with the construction of a quay at Neston some 10 miles down river from Chester. A committee of four, including three aldermen, was set up to supervise the work, voluntary contributions were gathered in each parish, and a customs levy was dedicated to the project. The "New Haven" was used even though it remained uncompleted. According to Douglas Jones ("The Church in Chester, 1300-1540") the relic of the "Rood of Chester" is removed from St John's.

• 1547, St Ursula's Hospital dissolved, but continues as Sir Thomas Smith's Almshouses. Henry VIII had become grossly overweight and had to be moved about with the help of mechanical inventions. He was covered with suppurating boils and possibly suffered from gout. He expired soon after uttering these last words: "Monks! Monks! Monks!".

[edit] Edward VI(January 28, 1547-July 6, 1553). The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour. He had been Earl of Chester and would be followed as Earl by the older brother of Charles I.

During his father's reign Edward had effectively been pampered and kept in seclusion. Edward desperately wanted his own freedom. He became extremely fond of sports such as tennis. During the winter of 1552–53, Edward VI, strained by physical activities in the bitter weather, became ill. While he may have contracted a cold or other respiratory infection, smallpox was epidemic in the region at the time. Doctors administered various medicines (including arsenic), but their efforts were in vain, leaving Edward in perpetual agony. The first symptoms of "tuberculosis" were manifest in January 1553 and by May it was obvious that his condition was fatal

• 1550 Henry Gee, Mayor of Chester, dies of the "Sweating Sickness". His name is remembered with the annual running of the Henry Gee Maiden Stakes (a race for three-year old fillies) in July.

• 1551, "dreadful flood at Saltney - many drowned in their beds" (Roberts)

• 1553 Edward VI died at the age of 15 at Greenwich Palace on 6 July 1553. The definite cause of his death is unknown, but may have been tuberculosis, arsenic poisoning, syphilis (from his father) or rheumatoid arthritis. Edward named the (Protestant) heirs of his father's sister, Mary Tudor as his successors in a will composed on his deathbed.

[edit] Jane(July 10, 1553 – July 19, 1553)

Jane Grey was 15 when she became queen and she abdicated nine days later - she was executed in 1554. Edward VI's death was kept secret for several days so that preparations could be made for Jane's accession. High civic authorities privately swore their allegiance to the new Queen, who was not publicly proclaimed until 10 July 1553. However, the people were much more supportive of Mary, the rightful heir under the Act of Succession. On 19 July, Mary rode triumphantly into London, and Jane was forced to give up the Crown. Jane's proclamation was revoked as an act done under coercion; her succession was deemed unlawful. Thus, Edward VI's de jure successor was Mary I (1553–58), but his de facto successor was Jane.

[edit] (Bloody) Mary I (19 July 1553–17 November 1558). Only child of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon to survive infancy.

She is remembered for restoring England to Roman Catholicism after succeeding her short-lived brother, Edward VI, to the English throne. In the process, she had almost three hundred religious dissenters (more than one a week) burned at the stake in the "Marian Persecutions", resulting in her being called Bloody Mary.

• 1554 John Bird surrendered his bishopric on his marriage. He is succeeded by George Cotes.

• 1555 24 Apr - George Marsh burned at the stake at Boughton (on the orders of George Cotes). Cotes dies shortly afterwards (Foxe claims he "died of the pox, caught from a harlot"). Cuthbert Scott becomes bishop.

• 1558 Henry Cole, Dean of St. Paul's, is commissioned to persecute "heretics" in Ireland. At the Blue Posts Inn in Chester the hostess stole the commission and replaced it with a pack of cards. The dean sailed immediately afterwards for Ireland, and arrived Dec. 7th, 1558 (by which time Mary was dead). Being introduced to Lord Deputy Fitzwalter and the Privy Council, he explained his business and then presented the commission to the Lord Deputy, who took it, opened it, and beheld the knave of clubs! Mary died at age 42 at St. James's Palace on 17 November 1558.

[edit] Elizabeth I(17 November 1558 – 24 March 1603). Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

Elizabeth was a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, who enjoyed more than her share of luck. Elizabeth is however acknowledged by historians as a charismatic performer and a dogged survivor, in an age when government was ramshackle and limited and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal problems that jeopardised their thrones. Such was the case with Elizabeth's rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, whom she imprisoned in 1568 and eventually executed in 1587. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry, but despite several petitions from parliament, she never did. The reasons for this choice are unknown, and they have been much debated. As she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity, and a beauty cult grew up around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants and literature of the day (in reality her skin had been scarred by smallpox in 1562, leaving her half bald and dependent on wigs and cosmetics). Towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity to the point where many of her subjects were relieved at her death. After the short reigns of Elizabeth's brother and sister, her forty-five years on the throne provided valuable stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity. Chester's population in 1563 of c. 4,700-5,200 put it in the second rank of provincial towns, half the size of York and a third that of Norwich. Within the North-West, however, it was the largest town for sixty miles around. The city probably reached that population after half a century of growth following the recession of the later Middle Ages

• 1559, Cuthbert Scott was one of the four Catholic bishops chosen to defend Catholic doctrine at the conference at Westminster, and immediately after this he was sent as a prisoner to the Tower of London and then in the Fleet Prison 1559-1563.

• 1561, William Downham becomes Bishop of Chester. He was considered rather ineffectual against the Roman Catholics, preferring not to offend the gentry.

• 1563, The diocesan returns of 1563 suggest that Chester had 1,041 households, representing 4,685 inhabitants.

• 1564, "great fire without the Northgate" (Roberts)

• 1566, "great fire in Handbridge" (Roberts)

• 1568, "Northgate Street, Whitefriars Lane, Parsons Lane and Castle Lane paved" (Roberts)

• 1570, New Haven at Neston came permanently into use.

• 1571, The reformer Christopher Goodman (he died in Chester and is buried here) attacked the Bishop of Chester, as "supine", on a pretext of the continuing the Whitsun plays.

• 1572, All of the central tower and part of the north-west tower of St John's Church collapses. November 11 - Tycho Brahe first observes the supernova SN 1572 in Cassiopeia. Elizabeth I decided to establish a weekly post to Ireland via Chester and Liverpool.

• 1574, More of the north-west tower of St John's Church collapses. The plague breaks out in Chester and the infected houses are "shut up" with ill and healthy alike trapped inside by boarding up the windows and doors. A conduit is made at the High Cross supplying water.

• 1575, Mystery Plays banned

• 1577, Great Comet of 1577 would have been visible from Chester. The whole company of city butchers are imprisoned for not supplying enough meat

• 1579, Chester was the main port used for sending English troops levied in other parts of the country to quell a rebellion in Ireland. Watergate Street paved. William Chaderton becomes Bishop of Chester. Chaderton was also Warden of Manchester College, where he was succeeded by John Dee.

• 1581, The choir and chapels of St John's pulled down. Braun and Hogenberg map of Chester produced

• 1582, Elizabeth Acton, of 'Orton Madock' in Maelor Saesneg confesses (at Chester Cathedral) of having counterfeited religious trances

• 1584, dreadful hailstorm - many cattle killed by lightning: "The 24th of July being St James's day there was such a storm of thunder, lightning, hail and rain from noon till midnight that the waters did rise of a sudden and overflowed the streets into the cellars so that hogsheads of wine did swim and much wares were hurt besides great harms to the mills much hay and corn destroyed and many glass windows broken with the hail being five inches in compass many men and cattle were slain by the light bolt in divers places so that the like was never heard of in the memory of man."

• 1585, "Upon St Andrew's day the Castle bridge fell down and killed two horses and other cattle going over the same with a load of coals Sixteen pirates were committed to the castle and the Northgate for taking a ship out of Wirral and killing one man in the same ship but the wind crossed them brought them back so that they were forced to leave the ship and in flying away they were taken"

• 1586, a (false) rumour that 700 Spanish troops had landed at the New Quay causes great commotion in the city

• 1587, A coiner (forger) "hung drawn and quartered, and his quarters set on the four gates". The Rose Theatre opens in London.

• 1589, A woman "burnt at Boughton for poisoning her husband". The keeper of the castle gaol hung for maltreatment of prisoners.

• 1591, Stanley Palace built. Construction of the abbey gateway started.

• 1594, An army of 4000 horse and foot passes through Chester to quell the rebellion of Tyrone. The mayor erects a gibbet at the High Cross to deter disorderly conduct by the troops.

• 1595, 1700 troops pass through en route to Ireland. Hugh Bellot becomes Bishop of Chester - he assisted William Morgan in his Welsh language translation of the Bible and was also a reputed misogynist (he died within a year).

• 1597, solar eclipse: "25th of February being Saturday the sun being totally eclipsed it was so dark for the time that the like was never seen in the memory of man". Richard Vaughan becomes Bishop of Chester.

• 1598, major famine in Chester - the toll on grain is cancelled to try to attract corn into the city. 700 horse and foot ship from Chester for Ireland.

• 1599, Mayor Henry Hardware prohibited the Midsummer Watch Parade and ordered the Giants to be broken up. Bull ring closed. 6000 horse and foot ship from Chester for Ireland.

• 1600, 4000 troops ship from Chester to Ireland.

• 1601, the Dee Mills "stopped for three months" (this was due to the collapse of the weir)

• 1602, The plague once more visits Chester. It is said to have started in a house of a musician named Glover in St John's Lane, where seven people died. On the 22nd August a major auroral display was witnessed over the city. A passage through the walls made for the Newgate. According to Roberts, Lord Mountjoy with the Earl of Tyrone prisoner passes through Chester and sleeps at the mayors house (seems to have his dates wrong). The first 'watchsmith' is recorded in Chester.

• 1603, In March, Elizabeth fell sick and remained in a "settled and unremovable melancholy". She died on 24 March 1603 at Richmond Palace, between two and three in the morning. Legend has it that she died sitting up because, as she said, "she would lie down for no man". 812 die of plague in Chester.

[edit] James I(24 March 1603 - 27 March 1625). Descendant of Henry VII. Never Earl of Chester.

James faced great difficulties in England, including the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 and repeated conflicts with the English Parliament. According to a tradition originating with historians of the mid-seventeenth-century, James's taste for political absolutism, his financial irresponsibility, and his cultivation of unpopular favourites established the foundation for the English Civil War. Recent historians, however, have revised James's reputation and treated him as a serious and thoughtful monarch. James was a talented scholar, the author of works such as Daemonologie (1597) and Basilikon Doron (1599). Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been termed "the wisest fool in Christendom", an epithet associated with his character ever since. He rarely washed and had a habit of "fiddling with his cod-piece". The widespread and severe epidemic of bubonic plague in 1603-5 was unusual in Chester in falling into two contrasting phases. The first was long drawn out but relatively mild: 933 dead out of c. 5,220 inhabitants over 83 weeks represented a death rate of 11 per cent a year, four times the annual rate of the previous decade but not as severe as that experienced elsewhere. The second phase killed 1,041 people in 34 weeks, or 20 per cent a year among a population probably as large as in 1603. The first outbreak was accompanied by 'other diseases' (probably smallpox), and when it was carried from Chester to Nantwich in June 1604 it killed 430 people in 10 months, a mortality of between 23 and 28 per cent. Preventive measures taken in Chester by the Assembly in 1603-5 may have retarded the spread of infection, even though they were conventional and crude: erecting pesthouses on the outskirts to isolate the sick; destruction of infected bedding; orders against overcrowded housing; and a ban on the Michaelmas fair and Christmas watch in 1604 to prevent crowds from gathering.

• 1604, county courts held at Tarvin "on account of the plague". Aldersley and Dutton petition the King that the rights of "sanctuary" relating to Chester should be abolished.

• 1605, a waterworks housed in a tower is built on the Bridgegate to draw water from the River Dee. In May 1605, after a six-week lull, the plague returned, either from incubating bacilli or a fresh infection (1313 deaths). It struck first not in the suburbs but in the city centre, and so made the civic élite unusually vulnerable. One of the first victims was the previous year's mayor, John Aldersey. Rights of "sanctuary" abolished. George Lloyd (of Bishop Lloyd's Palace) becomes Bishop of Chester.

• 1607, comet Halley revisits.

• 1608, plague breaks out in "The Talbot" an inn on the site of what is now the Grosvenor Hotel. "A great part of the walls between the Watergate and the new Tower were repaired and the Newgate repaired and made larger"

• 1609, "The walls that were repaired the last year fell down this year in the month of November"

• 1610, John Speed's Map of Chester produced.

• 1612, Henry, Earl of Chester, dies.

• 1616, Thomas Morton becomes Bishop of Chester.

• 1617, James I visits Chester. Elizabeth Wainewright of Hawarden, widow, and Richard Fazakarley, of Broadlane were both accused, "of going to charmers to be blessed", apparently at Chester.

• 1619, there was "a bull baytinge at the high crosse the 2nd daye of October according to Auncient Custome for Mr. Mayor's farewell out of his office". John Bridgeman becomes Bishop of Chester. His son Orlando was a noted Judge, playing an important part in the trial of the Regicides of King Charles I in 1660.

• 1624, Chester "suffered dreadfully from the plague"; the court of exchequer was removed to Tarvin, the court of assize to Nantwich, and the fairs were suspended

• 1625, In early 1625, James I was plagued by severe attacks of arthritis, gout and fainting fits, and in March fell seriously ill with tertian ague and then suffered a stroke. James finally died at Theobalds House on 27 March during a violent attack of dysentery, with Buckingham (his possible lover) at his bedside.

[edit] Chester and the Civil War

Chester had major strategic importance during the Civil War. It could readily be garrisoned and defended, was the principal port for Ireland and the gateway to royalist north Wales, had road connexions with north-western and midland counties, and was close to the western route to Scotland.

[edit] Charles I (27 March 1625 — 30 January 1649). Second son of James I (previously Earl of Chester)

Charles famously engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England. He was an advocate of the Divine Right of Kings, and many citizens of England feared that he was attempting to gain absolute power. Many of his actions, particularly the levying of taxes without Parliament's consent, caused widespread opposition. His last years were marked by the English Civil War, in which he was opposed by the forces of Parliament, which challenged his attempts to augment his own power, and by Puritans, who were hostile to his religious policies and supposed Catholic sympathies. Charles was defeated in the first Civil War (1642 - 1645), after which Parliament expected him to accept demands for a constitutional monarchy. He instead remained defiant by attempting to forge an alliance with Scotland and escaping to the Isle of Wight. This provoked a second Civil War (1648 - 1649) and a second defeat for Charles, who was subsequently captured, tried, convicted, and executed for high treason.

• 1629, The murage assessment of 1629 named 1,117 'citizens and inhabitants' (that is, householders) by ward. St. John's Lane was omitted, but 78 householders were assessed there in 1630. The poor were exempt from paying the murage, but a survey of 1631 numbered c. 250 pauper households. The total number of households in 1629 was thus 1,445, representing 6,503 inhabitants.

• 1632, Charles I orders the Mayor and Sheriffs of Chester to collect money for the repair of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, "Which is grown into much decay", and was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, 1666.

• 1633 a new customs house was established in Watergate Street, replacing the office formerly at Chester Castle

• 1640, with the Scottish army in northeastern England, the Chester Assembly set up a nightly watch, strengthened the defences at the Eastgate, Newgate, and Bridgegate, and ordered members of the corporation and others to supply corselets, muskets, halberds, and calivers within a month

• 1641, In support of the Irish rising, a Chester conspiracy involved the Catholic Lord Cholmondeley. While Parliament had decreed that all "Papists" be disarmed, those of Cheshire refused the "trained bands" (militia). On 20 November, the Cholmondeley supporters, after gathering at his mansion in Chester, sallied out with the intention of battering down the city walls. As might be expected, this did not come to much.

• 1642, 26 Sep - Thomas Aston issues an order at Chester for the seizure of arms and horses from those who had joined Parliament's Militia in Cheshire. Bishop Bridgeman cottages built in the Cathedral Square - they are still there.

• 1643, "The Boot Inn" opens - it is still open.

• 1645

• ?? Feb - William Brereton's forces attack Chester and fail in their attempt to scale the walls near the Northgate.

• 18 Sept - King Charles (then at Raglan in Monmouthshire) set out to the north. His objective was to relieve Chester and link up with his remaining allies.

• 20 Sept - Parliamentarian Colonel Michael Jones led a determined assault on Chester's outer defences with 700 infantry and 700 horse and dragoons and stormed the eastern suburbs of Boughton.

• 22 Sept - Parliamentary assault on the city walls repulsed. Charles, then at Chirk Castle, learned that Chester might soon fall and led his army north on a relief mission.

• 23 Sept - Charles entered Chester with his "Lifeguard of Horse". On the same day, 1,500 Royalist cavalry arrived at Rowton Heath.

• 24 Sept - At dawn the Royalists crossed Holt Bridge. By nightfall, the Royalists were defeated before the walls of Chester in what was to be one of the last battles of the first civil war - Rowton Heath

• 25 Sept - Charles left Chester in retreat to Denbigh, accompanied by only 500 horse.

• 1646

• 3 Feb - Lord Byron at Chester surrendered.

• 1647, The plague arrived in June, perhaps with troops bound for Ireland. The onslaught was unprecedented. In 16 weeks 1,863 people died. The first week alone claimed 64 victims, more than the week of highest mortality in 1605. The peak was the seventh week, with 209 dead, and the worst of the epidemic was over in the sixteenth week with 52 dead, after which there was a long tail of intermittent deaths, lasting until April 1648 and numbering 236. The plague was reported as taking its victims 'very strangely, strikes them black of one side, and then they run mad; . . . they die within a few hours'. It was evidently bubonic plague, and Chester was one of two places in the British Isles hit hardest in the outbreak.

• 1648 John Wilkins (later Bishop of Chester) describes the advantages of the submarine in his book Mathematicall Magick.

[edit] The Interregnum (30 January 1649 - 29 May 1660)

• 1649, Charles II proclaimed a traitor at the High Cross

• 1650, the Bishops Palace with all furniture sold for £1059

• 1651, James Stanley VII Earl of Derby tried at Chester and executed (1651) in Bolton. While in Chester Castle, Derby nearly escaped by means of a long rope thrown up to him from outside the walls; he fastened the rope securely, slid down it, and reached the banks of the River Dee, where a boat waited for him. Unfortunately, Derby's escape was discovered; he was seized, and brought back to the castle. On account of the plague in Liverpool a watch is set on the city gates.

• 1654, 17 October - three Cheshire women hanged at Boughton for "entertaining evil spirits and bewitching Elizabeth Furnivall, who had languished and died". Plague strikes Chester and Tarvin - Chester assizes held Nantwich. "House of correction" built.

• 1656, 15 October - three women hanged at Boughton for witchcraft and buried in the castle ditch. One of the judges in this case and the 1654 case was John Bradshaw, appointed Chief Justice of Chester in 1649 in part recognition of his services as Lord President of the High Court which had tried and sentenced Charles I to death.

• 1659, Sir George Booth surprised and took possession of the city, but it was soon given up to the parliamentary forces under General Lambert

• 1660, In the assessment list for the 1660 poll tax 1,307 householders were named by ward, but those in receipt of alms and exempt from the tax amounted to at least another 20 per cent, suggesting a real household total of 1,568 and a population of 6,742.

[edit] The Restoration

The tonnage of cheese carried, mainly to London, doubled between 1664 and 1676 and exceeded 1,000 tons in 1683 before dwindling rapidly because of French cheese-piracy after 1689. From the 1710s, with the renewal of peace, the trade grew enormously under London cheesemongers who used local cheese factors to collect from all over the Cheshire plain and neighbouring counties. About 1730 there were supposedly 20 ships making three round trips each and carrying over 5,500 tons a year (though no more than 1,500 tons a year was ever registered through the port records).

[edit] Charles II (29 May 1660 - 6 February 1685). Son of Charles I. The next Earl of Chester was the "Old Pretender", followed by George Augustus, later George II

He was popularly known as the Merrie Monarch, in reference to both the liveliness and hedonism of his court and the general relief at the return to normality after over a decade of rule by Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans. Looking back, Tories tended to view Charles's reign as a time of benevolent monarchy whereas Whigs perceived it as a terrible despotism. Today he is seen as more of a lovable rogue—in the words of John Evelyn: "a prince of many virtues and many great imperfections, debonair, easy of access, not bloody or cruel". This affable character had most of those involved in his father's death beheaded, including those who had since died and were dug-up especially to be "executed". Charles left no legitimate heir. He did, however, have a dozen children by seven mistresses; five of those children were borne by a single woman, the notorious Barbara Palmer, Countess of Castlemaine, for whom the Dukedom of Cleveland was created. His other mistresses included Catherine Pegge, Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth, Lucy Walter, Elizabeth Killigrew and Nell Gwyn.

• 1660, Amid modest jubilation following the Restoration the Chester corporation sent a loyal address to the king in early May 1660. Soon afterwards the aldermen began to dismiss some of the main supporters of the previous regime, principally the Cromwellian alderman and city counsel Jonathan Ridge. Between then and autumn 1660 three aldermen resigned, including the leading puritan Calvin Bruen, three royalists purged in 1646 were restored, and VIII Earl of Derby, was newly appointed. The communion table from St.Mary's-on-the-Hill was found to be missing, so 6d was spent on a warrant to search for it and 4d spent on constables "in going about to search for the table". Brian Walton was consecrated Bishop of Chester in December: in the autumn of 1661 he paid a short visit to his diocese, and returning to London, he died.

• 1661, Rumours of plots prevailed for some time after the Restoration. In 1661 doubts about the loyalty of the citizens led the corporation to pay for a permanent guard of 30 men and to stockpile match, while the county militia was also placed on alert.

• 1662, Following further rumours of plots the government stationed 60 foot soldiers in Chester. In February 1662, Henry Ferne became Bishop of Chester and died five weeks after his consecration on the 16th March. George Hall was then appointed as Bishop.

• 1663, immediately after his appointment as governor of Chester Sir Geoffrey Shakerley repaired the city's fortifications and "repressed dissent".

• 1665, many gentry imprisoned at the castle (Roberts)

• 1668, Charles Stanley VIII Earl of Derby becomes Mayor of Chester. He presents the City with a silver gilt mace and a scabbard for the City Sword. Bishop of Chester George Hall dies in "an accident with a knife": John Wilkins is appointed in his place (he proposed a decimal system of measure not unlike the modern metric system). Wilkins was also a founder member of the Royal Society.

• 1670, significant beds of rock salt discovered in Cheshire (salt having been produced here since Roman times). It was customary for the two sheriffs of Chester to shoot with bow and arrows on Easter Monday, for a breakfast at which calf's head and bacon was the principal dish, after which the company went to the commercial hall of the city, where " the mayor, alderman and gentlemen and the reste take part together of the saide breakfast in loveing manner. This is yearly done, it being a commendable exercise, a good recreation and a loveing assemblye." In March 1670 the sheriffs were fined £10 for not keeping the calf's head feast.

• 1672, Bishop of Chester John Wilkins died in London, most likely from the medicines used to treat his kidney stones and stoppage of urine. John Pearson was appointed as his successor.

• 1674, A survey by Captain Andrew Yarranton, published in 1677 and entitled "England's Improvement by Sea and Land", concluded that the River Dee was so choked with sand that a vessel of twenty tons could not reach Chester, and propose the construction of a new channel along the Flintshire shore to provide deep water navigation to Chester

• 1675, the "Mary" sailing from Dublin to Chester is wrecked on the Skerries

• 1678, The "Popish Plot" led to cancellation of the Midsummer show and the Christmas watch in successive years, as well as repairs to the city walls.

• 1679, July 19th John Plessington, a practicing Catholic priest burned at the stake at Boughton after being tried and found guilty of High Treason, on account of his priesthood.

• 1680, The infamous "Hanging Judge Jeffreys" is made Chief Justice of Chester.

• 1682, The visit of the Duke of Monmouth in September was accompanied by searches for arms, surveillance of those deemed disaffected, a few arrests, and frequent reports to London. Local antagonisms were intensified by the duke of Monmouth's visit (planned by Mayor George Mainwaring, Colonel Roger Whitley, and other leading Whigs). Monmouth was greeted enthusiastically by the populace and acted as godfather at the christening of the mayor's daughter. The duke rebelled in 1685 - Judge Jeffreys presided over the "Bloody Assizes" at which harsh sentences were handed out to the Duke of Monmouth's unsuccessful followers. Comet Halley also puts in an appearance.

• 1685 Charles II suffered a sudden apoplectic fit on the morning of 2 February 1685, and died at 11:45 a.m. four days later at Whitehall Palace (at the age of 54). The symptoms of his final illness are similar to those of uraemia (a clinical syndrome due to kidney dysfunction). On his deathbed Charles told his brother, James: "Let not poor Nelly starve." and to his courtiers: "I am sorry, gentlemen, for being such a time a-dying." On the last evening of his life he was received into the Roman Catholic Church, though the extent to which he was fully conscious or committed, and with whom the idea originated, is unclear. In March of 1687, Nell Gwyn suffered a stroke that left her paralysed on one side. In May, a second stroke left her confined to the bed in her Pall Mall house; she made out her will on 9 July. Nell Gwyn died on 14 November 1687, at ten in the evening, less than three years after the King's death. She was 37 years old.

[edit] James II(6 February 1685 — 11 December 1688). Second surviving son of Charles I. Was never Earl of Chester.

James was the last Roman Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Many of his subjects distrusted his religious policies and autocratic tendencies, leading a group of them to depose him in the Glorious Revolution in 1688. He was replaced not by his Roman Catholic son, James Francis Edward, but by his Protestant daughter and son-in-law, Mary II and William III, who became joint rulers in 1689. James made one serious attempt to recover his crowns, when he landed in Ireland in 1689. After his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in the summer of 1690, James returned to France, living out the rest of his life under the protection of his cousin and ally, King Louis XIV.

• 1685, following the outbreak of Monmouth's rebellion in June: the Midsummer fair was cancelled, suspects were imprisoned at the castle, and arrangements were made (in the event proving unnecessary) to send 1,000 foot from Ireland to protect the city. The duke's cause evidently had some support in Chester, but there was no uprising.

• 1686, Bishop of Chester John Pearson died at Chester on 16 July 1686, and is buried in Chester Cathedral. Thomas Cartwright was then appointed bishop of Chester by James II, and became a member of the King's Ecclesiatical Commission. In October 1687 he was one of three Royal Commissioners, with Robert Wright and Sir Thomas Jenner, sent to Magdalen College, Oxford. They removed all but three of the Fellows. After the Glorious Revolution he followed James II into exile. He died in Dublin (1689), of dysentery, and is buried in Christ Church, Dublin.

• 1687, Mistrust of the king was evident during his visit in August 1687, to the extent that the governor of Chester was unable to procure a loyal address from the corporation. The King saw the Quaker, William Penn preach at the Quaker meeting house. Bishop Cartwright of Chester wrote: "I was at his majesty's leave and accompanied him to the choir where he healed 350 persons" (presumably of the "king's evil").

• 1688, the Roman Catholic lords, Molyneux and Aston, raised a force, and made themselves masters of Chester, for James II - unfortunately James' abdication rendered their efforts useless. The first book to be printed in Chester, the 'Academy of Armory', is published. In the event of the Glorious Revolution the country is "invaded" by the Dutch and James II is deposed .During his last years, James lived as an austere penitent. He died of a brain hemorrhage on 16 September 1701 at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. During the French Revolution, James's tomb was raided and his remains scattered.

[edit] William III (and Mary) (12 February 1689 - 8 March 1702). William was "invited" over from Holland, Mary (died 1694) was co-monarch and daughter to James II.

William's primary achievement was to contain France when it was in a position to impose its will across much of Europe. His life was largely opposed to the will of King King Louis XIV of France. This effort continued after his death during the War of the Spanish Succession. Another important consequence of William's reign in England involved the ending of a bitter conflict between Crown and Parliament that had lasted since the accession of the first English monarch of the House of Stuart, James I, in 1603. The conflict over royal and parliamentary power had led to the English Civil War during the 1640s and the Glorious Revolution of 1688. During William's reign, however, the conflict was settled in Parliament's favour by the Bill of Rights 1689, the Triennial Act 1694 and the Act of Settlement 1701. After the Restoration Chester was still regarded as 'the head of the region', but in fact its provincial standing was permanently reduced. By the yardstick of the hearth tax both Shrewsbury and Manchester were as big, and soon after 1700 Chester was outstripped by Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and Dublin. In the 1690s the city's political alignment was in the balance. Chester needed influential connexions to obtain a scheme for the Dee navigation, relief from heavy taxation, and a relaxation of the regulations hindering the import of cattle and hides. Economic and political issues were therefore linked as Whig and Tory groups, led respectively by Whitley and Grosvenor, vied for control of parliamentary representation.

• 1689 Nicholas Stratford appointed Bishop - he was one of the founders of the Blue Coat School in Chester. He promoted good relations with the Chester nonconformist Matthew Henry, and supported the Society for the Reformation of Manners. Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk raised a regiment on the little Roodee in Chester in an effort to resist any attempt by James II to re-take the English throne - this would eventually become the Cheshire Regiment.

• 1690, William visited Chester (later, on 1st July, he defeated his James II at the Battle of the Boyne). John Davies falls down the stairs the the Pied Bull and dies - he is still said to haunt the cellar

• 1691, ten young women drown in the River Dee, opposite St John's Church, by "the upsetting of a boat" on Whit Monday.

• 1696, The Great Recoinage supervised by Edmund Halley, at Chester Castle. This is so badly organised that William runs out of money and is forced to abandon his campaign in France.

• 1697, Edmund Halley observes a triple rainbow from next to the Phoenix Tower.

• 1698, Chester Exchange completed in Market Square.

• 1702 William III died of pneumonia, a complication from a broken collarbone, resulting from a fall off his horse, Sorrel. Because his horse had stumbled into a mole's burrow, many Jacobites toasted "the little gentleman in the black velvet waistcoat."

[edit] Anne (8 March 1702 – 1 August 1714). Mary's sister.

Anne's life was marked by many crises, both personally and relating to succession of the Crown and religious polarisation. Because she died without surviving issue, Anne was the last monarch of the House of Stuart. She was succeeded by her second cousin, George I, of the House of Hanover, who was a descendant of the Stuarts through his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth, daughter of James I. A statue of Queen Anne used to stand in a niche alongside the steps leading to the watertower. However according to Virtual Stroll it vanished in the 1960's. From the 1710s the Grosvenor family repeatedly intervened in the Chester's affairs. All attempts to break their power were thwarted, despite popular support and the presence within the corporation of a faction opposed to Grosvenor influence.

• 1702, the Quaker's Meeting House in Cow Lane (Frodsham Street) built (they are still on the same site). The upper part of the Goblin Tower (Pemberton's Parlour) removed.

• 1703, At the age of seven Ibrahim Hannibal was taken to the court of the Ottoman Sultan at Constantinople as a slave. After many adventures he became governor of Tallinn (Russia). Some British aristocrats descend from Hannibal, including Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster.

• 1704, the south side of the Pentice was rebuilt in brick

• 1707, the corporation restored and levelled the walls (completed 1708) to provide "an agreeable pathway" around the city. Morgan's Mount is rebuilt.

• 1708, William Dawes appointed Bishop of Chester.

• 1710, Roodee enclosed with a cop (earthen embankment).

• 1714 Queen Anne died of suppressed gout, ending in erysipelas, at approximately 7 o'clock on 1 August 1714. Her body was so large that it had to be buried in Westminster Abbey in a vast almost-square coffin.

[edit] The Hanoverians

By 1700 Chester was on the verge of losing its dominance as a regional economic hub, as nearby towns, especially the industrial and mill towns in south Lancashire and around Telford began to specialize in trade or manufacturing. The reopening of the Dee in 1737 did not halt Chester's decline as a port. In 1701 Chester shipowners had 25 vessels, and in the early 1710s the total tonnage, no more than 3,400, was less than half that owned at Liverpool. By the 1730s it had fallen to around 1,650 tons (a tenth of Liverpool's total) and in the late 1750s Chester's 1,000-1,400 tons was scarcely a twentieth of Liverpool's fleet. Efforts were made to improve the Dee by dredging a "new cut" in the estuary and cutting the canal, but the decline of traditional industry and trade continued.

[edit] George I (1 August 1714 – 11 June 1727). Anne's closest living Protestant relative (51st in succession). Was never Earl of Chester.

George was ridiculed by his British subjects; some thought him unintelligent on the flimsy grounds that he was wooden in public. Though he was unpopular due to his supposed inability to speak English. However, in Europe he was seen as a progressive ruler supportive of the Enlightenment, who permitted his critics to publish without risk of severe censorship, and provided sanctuary to Voltaire, when the philosopher was exiled from Paris in 1726. European and British sources agree that George was reserved, temperate and financially prudent: George disliked to be in the public light at social events, avoided the royal box at the opera and often travelled incognito to the house of a friend to play cards. In Chester, membership of the corporation was occasionally conferred on the Grosvenors, their allies among the Cheshire gentry, and other outside supporters, including in 1720 their steward and political agent, Robert Pigot, who served as mayor in 1723-4.

• 1715, the Chester Corporation cooperated with private subscribers in replacing the former Hospital of St. John outside the Northgate. Charles Murray imprisioned at Chester Castle.

• 1718, Thomas Parnell, one of the so-called "Graveyard poets", dies at Chester and is buried in Trinity Church.

• 1720, the walls were connected with the Groves, by the Recorder's Steps (built by the Corporation). As part of the Roodee cop is washed away it is repaired with stonework. 18th December - a huge stone was washed up on the banks of the River Dee by floods: this is now at the Grosvenor Museum (but not on display).

• 1723, The mortal remains of Hugh of Avranches, having lain undisturbed for over six centuries, were found in the Chapter House of the Cathedral.

• 1725, Daniel Defoe (author of Robinson Crusoe) visits Chester: "The walls, as I have said, are in very good repair, and it is a very pleasant walk around the city and within the battlements"

• 1727, George I suffered a stroke on the road between Delden and Nordhorn (in Hanover) on 9th June. He died in the early hours of 11th June. Thomas Robinson and Robert Meridith fight a duel (with swords) in Foregate Street - Robinson is killed. "A private soldier received 900 lashes and was drummed out of his regiment with rope about his neck having been found guilty of being a Papist."

[edit] George II (11 June 1727 – 25 October 1760). Son of George I. First Earl of Chester since the "Old Pretender".

He was the last British monarch to have been born outside Great Britain, and was famous for his numerous conflicts with his father and, subsequently, with his son. As king, he exercised little control over policy in his early reign, the government instead being controlled by Great Britain's first de facto Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole.

• 1732, The Whigs tried to win over the mayor of 1731-2 (Trafford Massie) by offering clerical preferment for his son. Shortly before the election in 1732 the Whig candidate for mayor left £100 in gold with Massie in return for a written promise to call no further Assemblies. Meanwhile sporadic disorders culminated in a clash in Bridge Street in early October between a Whig mob (allegedly reinforced with disguised soldiers, revenue officers, and Liverpool sailors) and Tory supporters who included Welsh miners. The latter came off worse, and the Whigs broke into and wrecked the Pentice. The mayor called for dragoons from Warrington to help restore order and appointed c. 270 special constables. The violence shocked the faction leaders into a truce, but when polling was adjourned the Whigs, supposing that their man had won, pursued the mayor and justices into the coffee house under the Exchange and carried off the mayoral sword and mace.

• 1733, The Merchant Venturers of Chester obtained an Act of Parliament authorising a 'New Cut' under the supervision of the marine engineer Nathaniel Kindersley. "The first sod of the new channel of the river Dee was taken up by R Manley Esq April 20th".

• 1736, while visting Chester Samuel Johnson supposedly scratched the words "Charming Miss Oldfield 1736" on the window of Olde Leche House. At the time Johnson was recently married and working as a schoolmaster near Lichfield, however his Tourette's syndrome meant that he could not continue with that occupation.

• 1737, Nathaniel Kindersley's new Dee cut along the Welsh shore was opened

• 1739, "The Mayor was this year refused admittance into the Abbey court by Bishop Peploe when proclaiming war against Spain whereupon he ordered the Abbey gates to be broke down"

• 1741, Handel visits Chester having stated that he would "smoke a pipe over a dish of coffee in the Exchange Coffee House"

• 1743, George II was the last King of Great Britain to lead his troops into battle in person at the Battle of Dettingen (against the French) in 1743. It was a British victory and Handel composed the "Dettingen Te Deum" specially for the celebrations that followed. During the battle Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Andrew Agnew of warned The Royal Scots Fusiliers not to fire until they could “see the whites of their e’en.” George II’s horse "bolted" during the battle and ran away. George is said to have "sheltered" under an oak and to have presented an oak leaf to the soldiers who looked after him. The Cheshire Regiment claims this honour (they were in garrison in Minorca at the time - but a detachment was present).

• 1745, During the Jacobite revolt part of the county militia was brought in to garrison the city. The city gates were bricked up, save for wickets at the Bridgegate and Eastgate, the walls were patrolled, cannon were mounted to com mand the bridge, and the castle defences were improved. The spring assizes were held at Flookersbrook in Hoole.

• 1751, Frederick, Earl of Chester, died prematurely at the age of forty-four.

• 1756, the last Minstrel Court held.

• 1758, Watkin Tench born in Chester. A British Marine officer best known for publishing two books describing his experiences in the "First Fleet", which established the first settlement in Australia in 1788.

• 1759, the Chester "Poor-law Union Workhouse" was established. It was approached by a new road from outside the Watergate - later Paradise Row. Comet Halley revisits.

• 1760, on the morning of 25 October 1760, George II entered his water closet, and after a few minutes, his valet heard a loud crash. He entered the water closet to find the King on the floor. A post mortem revealed that the King died of a ruptured aneurism of the aorta.

[edit] George III (25 October 1760 - 29 January 1820). Grandson of George II and previously Earl of Chester.

George III's long reign was marked by a series of military conflicts involving his kingdom and much of the rest of Europe. Early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, many of its American colonies were soon lost in the American Revolutionary War, which led to the establishment of the United States. Later, the kingdom became involved in a series of wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France, which finally concluded in the defeat of Napoleon in 1815. Later in his reign George III suffered from recurrent and, eventually, permanent mental illness.

• 1761, Chester's Infirmary opens.

• 1762, Isaac Bickerstaffe's play, "Love in a village" first performed. The play contains the song Miller of Dee. Bickerstaffe later fled to France following a homosexual scandal and the play was parodied as "Love in the Suds".

• 1763 a coaching sign giving the distances to London, Worcester, Ludlow, Bristol and Bath is put up outside the Pied Bull - it is still there! "Mary Heald burned at Boughton for poisoning her husband"

• 1766 James Stuart the "Old Pretender" (Earl of Chester) dies. Medieval Eastgate demolished, revealing remains of Roman gateway.

• 1772, New Crane Wharf on the River Dee, with its large warehouses and Harbour Master's house, was completed. On 5th November 1772 an explosion occurred in Watergate Street - "A few minutes before nine o clock in the evening the inhabitants of the city were greatly alarmed by a loud unusual noise attended with a shaking of the ground which every one imagined to proceed from an earthquake But the news soon spread that a large number of people assembled at a puppet show had been blown up by gunpowder placed in a warehouse which was under the room."

• 1773, The Chester theatre was erected by a company of proprietors in 1773 on the site of St Nicholas chapel and opened the same year under the management of Messrs Austin and Heaton.

• 1774, Samuel Johnson visits Chester again and has a walk around the walls.

• 1775, Chester Chronicle established

• 1776, the connection between the canal and the River Dee is opened

• 1777, Chester hatters were involved in a national organization of journeymen and joined with colleagues elsewhere in unsuccessfully petitioning parliament against a Bill promoted by the employers to remove limitations on the number of apprentices which each master might take. Earthquake felt in Chester. "Samuel Thornley a butcher from Congleton was hanged and gibbeted this year for the murder of a young woman a ballad singer The motive that influenced this wretch was simply avarice as it appeared in evidence he had cut up the body after the manner of pork and had ac tually made use of some part of it for food".

• 1778, Linen Hall built by Irish linen merchants as a depot from which their cloth was distributed throughout England, Wales and Scotland. The "New Linenhall", was a large rectangular brick building comprising small shops around a courtyard and was erected on the eastern half of the Greyfriars site. "The Huntsman of the Chester Harriers for a wager rode his horse round tho walls in nine minutes and a half leaping two turn stiles in the circuit".

• 1779, Chester-Nantwich canal cut. James Boswell visits Chester and in a letter to Samuel Johnson writes: "Chester pleases my fancy more than any town I ever saw" The Life of Samuel Johnson. "Two Roman Hypocausts discovered in the Linen Hall field about three feet under ground also a coin of Dioclesian at the same time This year a gold coin of Nero was found in digging a foundation in Foregate street".

• 1780, Chester Castle was largely demolished to make way for County Hall, Courts, and barracks for the Cheshire Regiment. City is illuminated to mark the victory of Rodney at Cape St Vincent

• 1781, Medieval Bridgegate demolished and replaced by present arch.

• 1782, naturalist Thomas Pennant publishes his "Journey from Chester to London". "The following anecdote has been told of him Among other peculiarities he had a great antipathy to a wig which however he could suppress until reason yielded to wine Dining once at Chester with an officer who wore a wig Mr Pennant became half seas over when another friend that was in company carefully placed himself between Pennant and the wig to prevent mischief At length however after much patience and many a wistful look Pennant started up seized the wig and threw it on the fire Down stairs ran Pennant and the officer with hU sword after him through all the streets of Chester but Pennant from his superior knowledge of topography escaped This was whimsically enough called Pennant's Tour through Chester" The Georgian Era (Clarke)

• 1784, John Oakes executed at Boughton for Coining. A Chester to London mail coach set a new record of a 22 hours and 45 minutes.

• 1785, Chester's first hotel, the "Royal Hotel" opens on the site of the current "Grosvenor Hotel". Competition held to re-build the gaol at Chester Castle. There are a number of balloon ascents from Chester as part of the Lunardi "balloon craze"

• 1788, Medieval Watergate demolished and replaced by the present arch

• 1789, Dee Mill destroyed by fire. "A mare belonging to Mr Hodson harnessed to a truck taking fright ran away with great fury down Wall's lane and breaking down the railing leaped over the city wall to the Roodeye without the least injury".

• 1790, "John Dean of Stockport executed for the murder of his wife with a heavy hand brush It appeared that after completing the work of death when the body convulsively moved he exclaimed What damn thy soul arnt thou dead yet He was afterwards hung in chains at Stockport"

• 1791, "Three men executed for a burglary the gallows being for the first time removed to the North side of the road in Boughton"

• 1792, Owen Williams established the Chester Old Bank

• 1793, Thomas & Hesketh's Bank (of Chester) became insolvent. American revolutionary Tom Paine, author of "The Age Of Reason" was burnt in effigy at the Cross.

• 1796, minor earthquake in Chester. "The mail robbed near Dunham on the Hill Jan 19th - T Brown and J Trice executed for the above robbery on May 1st"

• 1798, city is illuminated in celebration the victory of Nelson at the Nile.

• 1800, Walkers, Maltby & Co. set up a leadworks on the banks of the Chester and Nantwich canal. Stocks and pillory are removed from Chester Cross.

• 1801, last execution at Gallows Hill near St Giles Cemetery. "May 9th The execution of Thompson Morgan and Clare at Boughton for burglaries When at the gallows Clare made a spring out of the cart and leaping down the hill precipitated himself into the river beneath where he was drowned The execution of the other miserable men was delayed till the body of Clare was found when it was hung up with the others." Minor earthquake in Chester (June 1).

• 1802, severe storm strikes Chester (Jan 21)

• 1803, Flookersbrook foundry set up by Cole, Whittle & Co. The Pentice, being reduced in size in 1781, was demolished entirely.

• 1805, Thomas Brassey born in Aldford. Parry and Truss coachworks burns down.

• 1806, "King George" of Chester wrecked of Hoylake with many drowned

• 1807, five convicts escaped from the Castle.

• 1808, prior to the building of the present Northgate in 1809, the City Gaol and House of Correction was moved to a new building erected in 1807 near the city walls on the site of what is now the Queen's School. "Sept 27tb The picture of King George III placed in the Council room of the Exchange the likeness painted by Gainsborough the drapery by Sir Joshua Reynolds Given by Earl Grosvenor."

• 1809, The Sugar House in Cuppin Lane destroyed by fire. Execution of Proudlove and Glover at the "New Drop" - both ropes broke leaving them in a state of half-strangulation until new ropes could be obtained. Ludwig van Beethoven writes "The Monks of Bangor's March", WoO. 155 (26 Walisische Lieder) no. 2.

• 1810, Rowton and Morhall's Bank (of Chester) failed

• 1811, St. John Street, previously described as "dark, narrow, and incommodious", was "much improved" after the building of a Wesleyan chapel. Parry and Truss coachworks burns down (again).

• 1812, Luddites imprisoned at Chester Castle

• 1813, "June 17 The city illuminated in commemoration of the Peace In arranging the lamps at the New Bank a cornice stone fell from the top of the building and falling on a young woman beneath caused her death. On this occasion the principal tradesmen gave dinners to their workmen and a Regatta took place on the Dee which had a beautiful effect. The great bells of the Cathedral were RUNG for the first time the last sixty years"

• 1815, August, 1815, when news had just been received of Napoleon’s impending exile to St. Helena, some wag conceived the idea of distributing handbills in Chester, stating that the island chosen for the ex-emperor’s retreat was dreadfully infested with rats, and that the government had decided to clean them out. The advertisement offered liberal prices for cats and kittens to be used for this purpose. These were to be delivered at a specified address, which turned out to be a vacant house, and to which more than three thousand felines were brought on the appointed day. (see Modern Mechanics, 1931)

• 1816, Ann Moore the "fasting woman of Tutbury" imprisoned at Chester Castle (according to Roberts).

• 1817, the "Chester Savings Bank" was established. The pillar, or shaft, with a square base of the original Chester Cross was presented to the famous "Ladies of Llangollen" by the Duke of Westminster (it still remains in the grounds of "Plas Newydd" at Llangollen). First grandstand built at the Roodee.

• 1819, Gas lights introduced in the streets of Chester. Dee Mills burned down.

• 1820, In later life "Mad King George's" health deteriorated, and eventually he became completely blind and increasingly deaf. He never knew that he was declared King of Hanover in 1814, or of the death of his wife in 1818. Over Christmas 1819, he spoke nonsense for 58 hours, and for the last few weeks of his life was unable to walk. On 29 January 1820, he died at Windsor Castle.

[edit] George IV (29 January 1820 — 26 June 1830). Son of George III, previously Earl of Chester.

George was a stubborn monarch, often interfering in politics, especially in the matter of Catholic emancipation, though not as much as his father. For most of George's regency and reign, Lord Liverpool controlled the government as Prime Minister. George is remembered largely for the extravagant lifestyle that he maintained as prince and monarch. By 1797 his weight had reached 17 stone 7 pounds (111 kg or 245 lb), and by 1824 his corset was made for a waist of 50 inches

• 1821, major fire at the Leadworks

• 1822, a steam boiler explodes at Boults tobacco works in Cuppin Street demolishing the works and killing both Boult and employees.

• 1823, Parry's coach works burns down for the third time.

• 1824, Chester Cup first run. Parry's coach works burns down for the fourth time since 1805.

• 1829, Old St. Bridget's, by then very decayed, was demolished

• 1830, Chester Castle precinct was enlarged to the south, demolishing the western part of Skinners Lane and the warehouses and "noxious acid works" sited there. George IV's heavy drinking and indulgent lifestyle had taken its toll on his health by the late 1820s. His taste for huge banquets and copious amounts of alcohol caused him to become obese, making him the target of ridicule on the rare occasions that he did appear in public. Furthermore, he suffered from gout, arteriosclerosis, cataracts and possible porphyria; he would spend whole days in bed and suffered spasms of breathlessness that would leave him half-asphyxiated. He died at about half-past three in the morning of 26 June 1830 at Windsor Castle; he called out "Good God, what is this?" clasped his page's hand and said "my boy, this is death.

[edit] William IV (26 June 1830 — 20 June 1837). Third son of George III. Was never Earl of Chester.

As a result of the deaths and childlessness of his two older brothers, he inherited the throne when he was sixty-four years old. His reign saw several reforms: the poor law was updated, child labour restricted and slavery abolished throughout the British Empire. One of the most important pieces of legislation was the Reform Act 1832, which refashioned the British electoral system. Though William did not engage in politics as much as his brother or his father, he was the most recent monarch to appoint a Prime Minister contrary to the will of Parliament.

• 1830, Abolition of the Great Sessions in Wales and the palatine judicature of Chester.

• 1831, Joseph Hemingway, former editor of both local newspapers, observed in that skindressing and tanning had "greatly declined", while glovemaking had "chiefly migrated to Worcester". History of the City of ChesterVol I and Vol II by Hemingway published. Cholera breaks out.

• 1832, end of outbreak of cholera in Chester. Small earthquake.

• 1833, Grosvenor Bridge completed - at the time, the largest stone arch in the world. Two major storms (Nov 20 and Dec 31) strike Chester causing great damage.

• 1834, Frosts steam mill burns down.

• 1835, the "Municipal Corporation Act" abolishes the admiralty rights of seaport towns - from this time, the Mayor of Chester's title "Admiral of the Dee" is strictly honorary. Comet Halley is back again.

• 1836, tolls at the city gates are abolished, allowing goods to enter without payment.

• 1837, William IV died from heart failure in the early hours of the morning of 20 June 1837 at Windsor Castle, where he was buried

[edit] Victorian Chester

From 1841 to 1871 Chester enjoyed thirty economic boom years following the arrival of the railways. This reasserted Chester's importance for transport and consolidated its function as a service centre for the region. A limited growth in manufacturing, particularly engineering, further diversified the economy.

[edit] Victoria (20 June 1837–22 January 1901). Granddaughter of George III and the niece of her predecessor William IV.

• 1838, Railway opens between Chester and Birkenhead

• 1839, Chester College (then "Chester Diocesan Training College") opens. Cathedral damaged by major storm, gaol wall blown down, nearly all windows at St John's Church shattered.

• 1840, Railway opens between Chester and Crewe. John Romney moves to Chester.

• 1841, Prince Albert becomes Earl of Chester.

• 1843, severe earthquake felt in Chester

• 1845, Chester Improvement Act effectively prohibits the building of "slum courts" (these reflected the surge in the city's population after 1800).

• 1846, Railway opens between Chester and Shrewsbury. Dee railway bridge opened in September. Randolph Caldecott born in Bridge Street.

• 1847, 24 May - Dee Bridge Disaster. Dee mills burn down;

• 1848, Railway opens between Chester and Holyhead;

• 1850, Maypole in Handbridge (as described by Washington Irving) removed;

• 1853, King Charles Tower is converted into an "observatory";

• 1854, George Borrow, author of the travel book "Wild Wales" stayed in Chester, probably at the Pied Bull;

• 1855, railway disaster in the Sutton Tunnel (between Runcorn East and Warrington Bank Quay) on the Chester-Manchester Railway on the Chester Cup day. Serious fire at the racecourse grandstand;

• 1857, The Militia Buildings, designed by Penson of Chester in a '13th century style of architecture'- were erected on the corner of Nicolas Street and Grosvenor Street (known as Castle Esplanade) to provide accomodation for the families of soldiers stationed at the Castle. The Royal Charter was launched - built at the Sandycroft Ironworks on the River Dee she was a new type of ship, a 2719 ton steel-hulled steam clipper, built in the same way as a clipper ship but with auxiliary steam engines which could be used in the absence of suitable winds.

• 1859, Chester ship Royal Charter wrecked (October 26) by a hurricane of rare ferocity off Moelfre on the coast of Anglesey. She was returning from Melbourne with 388 passengers, a crew of 112, and a cargo of gold valued at £300,000. Brunel's steamship the Great Eastern survived the same storm, now known as the "Royal Charter Storm". The storm inspired FitzRoy to develop charts to allow predictions to be made, which he called "forecasting the weather". David Roberts engineer and inventor of the "Caterpillar" track born in Chester.

• 1860, Queen Hotel built, with towers, rather like small versions of Blackpool Tower for a fine view.

• 1861, Queen Hotel burns down. When built a roof joist had been put through a chimney. This caught fire and disaster followed.

• 1862, Queen Hotel rebuilt. Chester Exchange destroyed by fire. The surviving statue of Queen Anne is moved to the section of the walls leading to the Watertower. Mid-Cheshire railway line opens.

• 1864, Competition for new design of Town Hall

• 1865, Chester Grosvenor opens for business.

• 1866, last public execution in Chester - Samuel Griffiths of Dunham. The execution was carried out before a crowd of 2000 during race week at the new City Gaol next to the Infirmary. Above the entrance of the Gaol was a colonnaded niche called ‘The Drop’ which was used for hangings. The site of the gaol is now occupied by the Queens School.

• 1867, The "Operative Stonemasons" were involved in a nine-month strike on the Town Hall building site.

• 1869, Town Hall completed. Edward, Earl of Chester (later Edward VII) opened it and knighted the Mayor, Alderman Thomas Gibbon Frost, "as a gesture to mark the occasion". Charles Kingsley appointed Canon of Chester Cathedral. Artist Louise Rayner known to be living in Chester.

• 1872,The city gaol was closed in and its prisoners were transferred to the county gaols at Chester Castle and Knutsford.

• 1874 Hugh Lupus Grosvenor created Duke of Westminster on 27 February, the most recent person neither born into nor related by marriage to the British Royal Family to be advanced to the highest degree of the peerage. By the time of his elevation the family's London property in Mayfair, Belgravia and Pimlico had made it the richest family in the United Kingdom. He was one of the most successful British race horse owners of all time and it is believed that the character "Colonel Ross" in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story Silver Blaze is modelled on Hugh Grosvenor.

• 1875, Railway station opens at Chester Northgate.

• 1878 "A fire broke out at Chester Castle on Monday evening, beneath the new court, which has recently been erected at a cost of £10,000. As soon as the flames were observed the men stationed at the Castle turned out and manned their engine. A window in the carpenter's store-room, in which the fire was raging, was broken, and volumes of water were poured in. The scene was exciting, for on one side the county prisoners were incarcerated, and on the other, in immediate proximity to Caesar's Tower, separated only from the burning building by a guard's box, immense quantities of ammunition are stored. To prevent the fire from extending to this tower, therefore, was the chief object of the men, as an explosion would have inevitably been terribly destructive to life and property. In a short time the firemen mastered the flames though the fire continued to burn for some time afterwards. The Chester fire brigade was unable to be present in time to render assistance, in consequence of a failure of the telegraphic apparatus. The storage of so large a quantity of ammunition in the city will forthwith be the subject of discussion in the Town Council" (The Times).

• 1879, horse-drawn trams begin to run in Chester.

• 1881, while the north-west tower of St John's Church was being repaired it collapsed (again), destroying the north porch (the porch was rebuilt in 1881-82 by John Douglas).

• 1882, Thomas Hughes (author of Tom Brown's Schooldays) is appointed a Judge and moves to Chester. He had Uffington House built in Dee Hills Park (with the initials of his wife and he in the wrought iron gates). His daughter drowned on the Titanic.

• 1883, Roman (sandstone) tombstone found in the northern part of the walls. Between 1883 and 1892, over 150 such tombstones were found, having been used to repair the walls.

• 1885, toll fees abolished on the Grosvenor Bridge

• 1889, the conductor Adrian Boult born in Liverpool Road.

• 1890, Railway opens between Chester and Connah's Quay.

• 1897, First admission fee charged at the Racecourse.

• 1899, Chester bricklayers' labourers went on strike, gaining support for their demands from the Chester Chronicle.

[edit] The 20th Century

By the beginning of the 20th Century there was very little heavy industry left in Chester and while shipping occasionally used Crane Wharf (until 1946), Chester was at a low ebb. Increasingly, Chester became a centre for residence, tourism and retail. Indeed, plans to open a steelworks in Chester were opposed as this would detract from the placid nature of the city. In the early half of the century the amphitheatre was discovered and the zoo opened. The river front was developed with restoration and improvements to the bridges and clearance of the Mills.

• 1900, Grandstand at the Racecourse burns down.

• 1901, George was created Earl of Chester.

• 1903, Alfred Mond son of the chemist Ludwig Mond elected MP for Chester. His major business achievement was in 1926 working to create the merger of four separate companies to form Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). He became its first chairman. Electrification of tramways in Chester. "Buffalo Bill Cody's" Wild West Show, with Annie Oakley, performs at the Roodee.

• 1907, Chester Vase first run.

• 1909, First cinema in Chester opens in Eastgate Street

• 1910, Mills on the Old Dee Bridge demolished. LTC Rolt (canal and railway writer) born in Chester. Comet Halley passes by. Artist Louise Rayner leaves Chester. Edward (later Edward VIII) becomes Earl of Chester. He remained so until becoming king in 1936.

• 1916, HMS Chester launched and damaged at the battle of Jutland

• 1923, Present Suspension Bridge across the Dee built. The actor Hugh Lloyd born in Chester.

• 1929, Roman amphitheatre discovered

• 1931, Chester Zoo opens. June 24, The American airmen, Wiley Post, and his co-pilot and navigator, Harold Gatty, brought their Lockheed-Vega monoplane down to a safe landing at the Sealand airfield near Chester.

• 1938, Newgate completed. First woman Mayor, Phyllis Brown

• 1939, A strange Elliptical Building was partially uncovered behind Chester's market hall. This building is unique in the Roman Empire

• 1940, Fireman Cyril Dutton became Chester's first wartime casualty when he was killed by falling timbers in Foregate Street during Nov 20th air raid.

• 1941, astronomer Beatrice Tinsley born in Chester.

• 1950, Castle Esplanade Hoard found about 200 metres west of the Grosvenor Museum - a small pot containing hundreds of silver pennies, silver ingots and pieces of 'hacksilber' silver jewellery cut up into small pieces to be used as a form of currency.

• 1951, Gerald Grosvenor Duke of Westminster born on the 22nd December - the winter solstice

• 1955, the film Godiva of Coventry released (with Clint Eastwood as "a saxon"): Edward the Confessor wants Leofric Earl of Chester to marry a despised Norman woman, and has him jailed when he refuses. In jail, he meets Godiva, the sheriff's daughter...

• 1958, Charles becomes Earl of Chester.

• 1959, "Hooligan" compiler of the Chester Timeline born on the 22nd December - St Lucy's day.

• 1966, First section of the Inner Ring Road opened

• 1968, Opening of the Gateway Theatre. The actor Daniel Craig born in Chester.

• 1969, Closure of Northgate Railway Station

• 1974, New City Council established under local government reorganisation; Cathedral Bell Tower opens

• 1975, Chester Heritage Centre opens in former St Michael's Church. The High Cross is restored to it's location after an absence of some 329 years.

• 1976, Actress Emily Booth born in Chester

• 1979, Chester's 1900th Anniversary Celebrations

• 1979, Richard II's revenge: "Duke of Lancaster" beached on the Dee Coast.

• 1986, comet Halley revisits.

• 1992, Grant of Lord Mayoralty by Elizabeth II

• 1995, Rebuilding of the Forum completed

• 24 Oct - Lightfoot Street Fire

• 1996, Ravens nest on Chester Town Hall. Great Comet Hyakutake seen from Chester.

• 1997, Ravens nest on Chester Cathedral. Great Comet Hale-Bopp seen from Chester.

• 1998, 500th anniversary of the Midsummer Watch Parade

[edit] The 21st Century

• 2000, Chester Millennium Festival Trail opens

• 2002, Chester is the first city in the UK to be granted "Fairtrade City" status

• 2007

• 6 Feb - Hilarious discussions in the House of Commons about Chester/Welsh relations (see Shooting the Welsh!)

• 8 Feb - Chesterwiki started!

• 2008

• 3 Apr - A 30-metre section of the walkway, behind The Chester Grosvenor hotel and the Mall shopping centre, is closed after part of the walls collapsed at 5.30pm.

• 19 May - A fire destroys much of the former Abbey Gate School in Victoria Road. It is made a listed building (later) in the same week.

• 2009;

• Nov - parts of the walls near Northgate are briefly closed after movement of the wall following heavy rain.

• 2010;

• Jan - The Big Freeze 2010

• Feb - A portion of the Rows is closed at Bridge Street Row when a wooden support beam was found to be weakened.

---

[edit] History References

See Chester Books for full texts of historical references.

• British History Online
• Lewis's history of Chester from his Topographical Guide
• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: (translated)
• Phil Jones' detailed history - IMPRESSIVE!!!
• more of Mr Jones on History
• Chester City Council's Timeline for Chester
• The "Northvegr" site
• Gordon Emery, Curious Chester (1999) ISBN 1-872265-94-4
• Gordon Emery, Chester Inside Out (1998) ISBN 1-872265-92-8
• Gordon Emery, The Chester Guide (2003) ISBN 1-872265-89-8
• Roy Wilding, Death in Chester (2003) ISBN 1-872265-44-8
• Another time-line at Time Travel Britain

sources (where not linked):

see: Phil Jones for more ..and more (and even more!)

• Roman Chester at British History Online
• Tacitus, "Agricola" at Wikisource
• T. N. Brushfield, “The Roman Remains of Chester,” Journal Chester Arch. Soc. (hereafter CASJ) 3 (1885) 1-126;
• W. T. Watkin, Roman Cheshire (1886); J. P. Earwaker, ed., Roman Remains in Chester (1886);
• P. H. Lawson, “Schedule of the Roman Remains of Chester,” CASJ 27 (1928) 163-89 & “Addenda,” 29 (1932) 69-72 (R. Newstead);
• J. P. Droop & R. Newstead, “Excavations in the Deanery Field, 1928,” Liverpool AAA 18 (1931) 6-18, 80-113;
• W. S. Hanson, Agricola and Conquest of North (1987 edn.)
• R. Newstead & J. P. Droop, “The Roman Amphitheatre at Chester,” CASJ 29 (1932) 1-40;
• G. A. Webster, “Excavations on the legionary defences at Chester, 1949-1952,” ibid. 39 (1952) 21-28; 40 (1953) 1-23;
• G. A. Webster, Short Guide to the Roman Inscriptions and Sculptured Stones in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester (rev. 1970)PI;
• R. P. Wright & I. A. Richmond, Catalogue of the Roman Inscribed and Sculptured Stones in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester (1955);
• K. Branigan, Roman Britain, 43;
• F. H. Thompson, Deva: Roman Chester (1959)MPI;
• D. F. Petch & id., “The Granaries of the Legionary Fortress of Deva,” CASJ 46 (1959) 33-60P;
• D. F. Petch, “The Praetorium at Deva,” ibid. 55 (1968) 1-6P;
• D. F. Petch, “The Legionary Fortress of Chester,” in V. E. Nash-Williams, The Roman Erontier in Wales (2d ed. by M. G. Jarrett, 1969)MP;
• A. J. Church et al Complete Works of Tacitus. New York: Random House, Inc
• D. F. Petch, “Excavations on the site of the Old Market Hall,” ibid., 57 (1970-71) 3-26;
• 'Roman Chester', A History of the County of Chester: Volume 5 part 1: The City of Chester: General History and Topography (2003);
• G. Webster, Boudica (1978 edn.);
• R.G. Collingwood and R. P. Wright, Roman Inscriptions of Britain;
• T. J. Strickland, '1st Cent. Deva', CASJ lxiii. 5-13;
• Princeton Encyl. of Classical Sites
• Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
• Deva Victrix on Wiki

sources:

Phil Jones picks up the narrative

• British History Online
• Anonymous (c.10th century). Annales Cambriae
• Bede. Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, Book II, Chapter II
• Annals of Tigernach(c.10th century)
• The Welsh Triads , R. Bromwich(ed.) (1978).
• Mason, David (2004). Heronbridge excavation and research project. Chester Archaeological Society.
• Monmouth,(1136). The History of the Kings of Britain.
• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: (translated)
• The "Northvegr" site

sources:

• Phil Jones narrative history
• Internet Mediaeval Sourcebook

Sources:

• Haigh, Philip A.: The Military Campaigns of the Wars of the Roses
• Weir, Alison: Lancaster and York
• Kendall, Paul Murray: The Yorkist Age
• Kendall, Paul Murray: Richard III
• Hicks, Michael: The Wars of the Roses 1455-1485

Sources:

• Tudor Place