In May 1645, just weeks before Naseby, the Royalist army stormed Leicester. The assault cost the garrison dearly and civilians suffered in the subsequent sack. The brutality of the storming outraged Parliament and the nation, and played into the New Model Army's recruitment and motivation. Parliament was galvanised to bring the king to battle — which happened at Naseby on 14 June, just three weeks later. The storming of Leicester was thus a strategic blunder as much as a tactical success.
c.700-1,000 killed in the storming; civilian deaths
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
Research a location near Leicestershire