The town prospered under the Árpád dynasty until the 13th century Mongol invasion of Hungary left it in ruins.

During the 1514 György Dózsa peasant uprising, Cegléd was a very important hive for rebellions, and one of the biggest supporters of them.

The Reformation rapidly spread through the town, and the Calvinists owned the old church of the Clarissa-sisters till 1687, when the Turks were forced out.

At the beginning of the 18th century, Cegléd supported the fight for freedom led by Ferenc Rákóczi, although inhabitants were repeatedly forced to flee by Habsburg troops.

During the 1848-1849 war of independence, one battle passed next to Cegléd, in Bede (today one of the outskirts of the town), when the revolutionary troops of Mór Perczel defeated the Habsburgs, led by Ottinger.

In July 1849, due to the political situation, Cegléd was the seat of the Hungarian revolutionary government for a week.

On 29 August 1944, the Cegléd marshalling yard was bombed by 15th AF / 301st BG, which caused damage to the town.

Jews settled in Cegléd in the first half of the 19th Century, forming a Neologist congregation in 1869 and reaching a peak in 1910.

During the 1956 revolution, for a couple of days Cegléd was governed by revolutionary forces, organised mainly by pupils of the local Kossuth Lajos Secondary School.

Cegléd is situated between the Duna and Tisza rivers, north of Kiskunság, at the western part of the Great Hungarian Plain.

The town is surrounded by farmland producing mostly fruit (plums, cherries and apricot) and vegetables (yellow peppers)[2] and has several outskirts with scattered cottages.

Locals traditionally held that the town has the biggest Calvinist church in Central Europe, but this is disputed.

In the downtown, at Szabadság tér (Liberty Square) stands a statue of Lajos Kossuth, the replica of which can be found in New York City.

The town features a direct connection to Budapest via train, also being a junction point of the Nyíregyháza and Szeged lines.