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Lady Godiva

The Lady Godgifu, Countess of Mercia by virtue of her marriage to Leofric Earl of Mercia, and now world famous by the Latin version of her name (Godiva) was born into eleventh century England. Her origins are wrapped in mystery although she must have been of noble birth and, in her own right, she owned lands in many English counties. She died in 1067, ten years after the death of Leofric and one year after the Norman Conquest of England.

Although it is impossible to say exactly when the event which gave rise to the story of Lady Godiva's ride through Coventry took place, it is likely to have been in the period 1038 and 1051. The earliest version of the story is that of Roger of Wendover, a monk at the Benedictine Abbey of St Albans, about 100 years after the death of Godiva.

According to Wendover, Godiva desiring to free the town of Coventry from its burdensome and shameful servitude persisted in asking her husband to free the town from this slavery. The Earl, exasperated by her repeated requests, told her to mount your horse naked and ride through the market place of the town from one side to the other and her wishes would be granted. This she did and Earl Leofric freed Coventry from its servitude.

A second version of the story says explicitly that the servitude took the form of a burdensome toll or tax.

Much debate has taken place over the centuries as to whether Godiva really did ride completely naked, her long hair covering her down to her fair white legs. One alternative explanation is that she stripped herself of her jewellery and other finery. Another is that it was the horse which was naked because Godiva rode it denuded of all the usual trappings and marks of her rank.

The story has been told in different versions by many other writers through the centuries, the character of Peeping Tom not appearing until the late 17th century around the time of what is thought to be the first Godiva Procession in Coventry. Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem of 1842 has been the version used by many artists as the basis for their own interpretation of the story.

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