The Story of Lady Godiva

1956 was a good year. It was the year I left the Navy and took up my first (and only) civilian job. To do this I had to move to Coventry, which at that time was still recovering from the war. At that time, Coventry, to me, was the place where people were sent to. And the home town of Lady Godiva, of course. But who was this special Lady.

According to the legend, Lady Godiva, or Godgifu in the Anglo-Saxon spelling, moved to Coventry with her second husband, Leofric Earl of Mercia, a religious man and an entrepreneur with an avaricious streak, sometime about 1043. They had been living in Shrewsbury, and it was there that Leofric had earned his fortune and his title from the mutton trade. It wasn't long before they noted the lack of proper facilities for training and housing clergymen around the little district of Coventry. Little indeed - its population in that time was just over six thousand. They also seemed anxious to make their mark in local 'genteel society'. So they decided to apply some of their available funds to a 'good cause'.

Near the centre of Coventry, Leofric and Godiva founded an abbey, which they named in honour of St. Eunice of Saxmundham, an early martyr who had been flayed alive by the Romans. It was a simple wattle and daub affair with a thatched roof. Even so, it must have been quite imposing for its day, as it was the biggest building in Coventry. And before long, this building became the social centre of the area. While its primary function was as a place for the education and housing of the clergy, it also became a meeting place where festivities could be celebrated and popular events indulged in. Leofric and Godiva got the attention and respect they sought and their generosity served the purposes of the church as well. As the village of Coventry grew, so did Leofric's role in its public affairs. He took over the job of looking after the town's financial matters, and started to initiate grand public works. This, of course, required money, and so Leofric introduced taxes to raise the necessary finance. The tax burden on the peasant population quickly grew and they were having to work very hard, night and day to survive.

This did not please Godiva, who had a soft spot for the poor people of Coventry. She held the opinion that the taxes must be reduced or even abolished. So she went to have a talk with Leofric. He was amused by the idea of abolishing taxes; it is said he laughed so much that he actually fell off a stool and broke a wrist. Reduce taxes in order to help the peasants? Was she mad? There would be no tax reduction. As a matter of fact, he even introduced a new tax - a tax on pictures. Not a very nice gesture, since the only person who would have to pay it was Godiva. She and the church were the only ones who owned any pictures, and the church was exempt from taxes. Theirs was a war of wills, but eventually Leofric finally capitulated and agreed to reduce taxation on one condition - that Godiva should ride through Coventry naked on a horse. He was convinced that she would decline - she would say 'no'. However, Godiva said 'yes'.

A time and day were chosen for the event - noon on 10 July (or a Thursday in late August, depending on which version you believe is correct) in the year 1057 - and, while no particular effort had been expended on publicising the ride, talk of it spread throughout the whole of Coventry. As 12 o'clock approached, so did Lady Godiva. She was not alone. She was accompanied by two female maids, also on horseback but wearing clothes, one on each side and slightly to her rear. She herself sat straight and properly in the saddle, with a look of composure on her face; relaxed, confident, unashamed. Her hair was done in two large braids, which were curled snugly behind her ears, one on each side. She wore no jewellery or other adornment. How do we know? Because people watched her as she rode along, and they do gossip about things like this. As soon as she returned home to her husband he was so surprised that she had done it that he rescinded the taxes immediately.

Regrettably, though, this whole story of Lady Godiva's ride through Coventry is almost certainly a myth.

The ride happened prior to the Norman invasion and, at the time, women were allowed to own property in their own right. Godiva owned the village of Coventry outright and she did not need to ask Leofric to suspend or repeal any tax imposed upon it, since she controlled the collection of taxes herself. The earliest written record of the ride comes from one Roger of Wendover more than a century after Godiva's death, which occurred in 1080. This medieval scribe is renowned mainly for two things - exaggeration and politically biased embellishment. He wasn't a true historian. He was more a collector of stories and legends which he then embellished. And it wasn't until much later, when people had become more prudish, that the statement that the people of Coventry covered their eyes as she passed first appeared. By the 17th Century the story had been elaborated to include a local boy named Tom who took a peek at Lady Godiva in all her natural glory. The expression Peeping Tom comes from this version of the story. Tom was a bit of a voyeur, and as Godiva rode past his house he opened the shutters and peeped out. He was immediately struck blind (one narrative says he was struck dead). It was at this time that other details in the story, such as Godiva being completely covered except for her legs by her hair, were added.

In spite of this, the legend of Lady Godiva is very special to Coventry. Everyone loves the tale of this proud Lady, who rode naked through the streets in protest at the high taxes that her husband Earl Leofric had imposed on the town. Tourists from all over the world visit the statue of Lady Godiva situated in Broadgate adjacent to the Cathedral Quarter, and see the fascinating Coventry Clock where Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom (the only person apart from her maids supposedly to have seen the naked Lady Godiva on her horse) once again go on parade every hour on the hour.

But what of the expression to be "sent to Coventry", used of someone when they are ostracised. This came about during the civil war when Royalist soldiers were held prisoner in the church of St John the Baptist at the junction of Corporation Street, Hill Street, and Spon Street. The people of Coventry would not speak to the prisoners, would have nothing to do with them. When Charles II returned to the throne he ordered that the city walls, built about 1385, should be demolished as punishment for the city's support of the Parliamentarians. And since no one has done any rebuilding, very little of the walls exist today.

Bill Hutchings