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Lady Godiva was the wife of Leofric, the Earl of Mercia. Earl Leofric was one of the all-powerful lords who ruled England under the Danish King Canute. Lady Godiva was a rich landowner in her own right and one of her most valuable properties was Coventry. Leofric was a tyrant, he mercilessly demanded from the people of Coventry an oppressive tax called the Heregeld.

Lady Godiva pleaded with Leofric to stop this hated tax and he is reputed to have said, “You will have to ride naked through Coventry before I will change my ways”. He was quite sure that his demure, modest wife would never do such a thing. But Lady Godiva took him at his word, and on Market Day in Coventry she rode naked, veiled only by her long golden hair. As her hair was long enough to cover all her body, only her face and legs could be seen.

Leofric was so stunned by the whole incident that he believed it was a miracle that no one had seen his wife’s naked body, and he immediately “freed” the town from paying the hated Heregeld, and at the same time ceased his persecution of the Church.

By the 17th century the story appears to have been altered slightly. The new version of the story said that before her ‘ride’, Godiva sent out messengers to go throughout the town insisting that all the people stay indoors with their windows shuttered on the day. As she was very popular with the people (unlike her husband) and every taxpayer realised that they stood to gain from her ‘heroic act’, everyone complied with her request except for one man who couldn’t resist peeping, a tailor, ‘Peeping Tom’. He was, the story goes, ‘blinded by the wrath of Heaven’ for his temerity in not obeying the order.

Lady Godiva became a heroine that is still remembered in Coventry. and has become a popular figure in art - especially during the Neo-medievalism in 19th Century.

Description
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Lady Godiva was the wife of Leofric, the Earl of Mercia. Earl Leofric was one of the all-powerful lords who ruled England under the Danish King Canute. Lady Godiva was a rich landowner in her own right and one of her most valuable properties was Coventry. Leofric was a tyrant, he mercilessly demanded from the people of Coventry an oppressive tax called the Heregeld.

Lady Godiva pleaded with Leofric to stop this hated tax and he is reputed to have said, “You will have to ride naked through Coventry before I will change my ways”. He was quite sure that his demure, modest wife would never do such a thing. But Lady Godiva took him at his word, and on Market Day in Coventry she rode naked, veiled only by her long golden hair. As her hair was long enough to cover all her body, only her face and legs could be seen.

Leofric was so stunned by the whole incident that he believed it was a miracle that no one had seen his wife’s naked body, and he immediately “freed” the town from paying the hated Heregeld, and at the same time ceased his persecution of the Church.

By the 17th century the story appears to have been altered slightly. The new version of the story said that before her ‘ride’, Godiva sent out messengers to go throughout the town insisting that all the people stay indoors with their windows shuttered on the day. As she was very popular with the people (unlike her husband) and every taxpayer realised that they stood to gain from her ‘heroic act’, everyone complied with her request except for one man who couldn’t resist peeping, a tailor, ‘Peeping Tom’. He was, the story goes, ‘blinded by the wrath of Heaven’ for his temerity in not obeying the order.

Lady Godiva became a heroine that is still remembered in Coventry. and has become a popular figure in art - especially during the Neo-medievalism in 19th Century.