Lady Godiva
Late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman and legendary figure who rode naked through Coventry to protest taxation.
Godiva was the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and her Old English name Godgifu meant "gift of God"[1][2] She lived in the 11th century and was a rich landowner in her own right, with Coventry as one of her most valuable properties.[3][4] The legend of her nude ride first appears in the 13th century and is not considered plausible by modern historians.[5]
Quick Facts
- Born
- Possibly Bucknall, Lincolnshire, around 995 AD (charter evidence considered spurious by several historians)
- Died
- Between 1066 and 1086
- Field
- Noblewoman, benefactor
- Nationality
- Anglo-Saxon
- Known for
- Legend of the nude ride through Coventry; patron of religious houses
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
The place of her burial is debated, with the Evesham Chronicle claiming she was buried at Evesham, though the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states there is no reason to doubt she was buried with her husband at Coventry.[2] Godiva, whose Old English name Godgifu meant "gift of God" and was Latinised as "Godiva", was the spouse of Leofric, Earl of Mercia.[1][2] Both Godiva and Leofric were noted for their substantial donations to religious institutions.[6] The 13th-century writer Roger of Wendover attributed the founding of that monastery to Godiva's influence.[7]
A land grant to the monastery of St. Mary, Worcester, from the 1050s, lists Godiva's name alongside her husband's.[7] Godiva gave to Coventry several metalwork pieces created by the goldsmith Mannig, and she left a necklace worth 100 silver marks in her will.[7]
What the cited sources add
A BBC News article from 2001 states that archaeologists in Coventry unearthed part of a 14th century stained glass window bearing the face of a beautiful woman thought to be Lady Godiva.[3] The same article notes that the earliest written record of the ride comes from Roger of Wendover more than a century after Godiva's death.[3] The Historic-UK.com account says that Godiva pleaded with Leofric to stop a hated tax, and he reputedly said she would have to ride naked through Coventry before he would change his ways.[4] That account also states that Leofric underwent a religious conversion after the incident and that he and Godiva funded a Benedictine monastery where they were both buried.[4]
The BBC article reports that by the 17th century the story had been elaborated to include a local boy named Tom who peeked at Godiva.[3] The same source suggests Godiva may have been "naked" in the sense of being unadorned by jewels and the trappings of power.[3]
References
- Wikipedia, "Lady Godiva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Montague-Smith Patrick W. Letters: Godiva's family tree. The Times, 25 January 1983 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lady Godiva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Williams, Ann. 'Godgifu (d. 1067?)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, October 2006, accessed 18 Apr (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Lady Godiva: The naked truth", BBC News, 24 August 2001. facts only, no text reused. news.bbc.co.uk
- Lady Godiva , Historic-UK.com. facts only, no text reused. historic-uk.com
- Wikipedia, "Lady Godiva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The City of Coventry: The legend of Lady Godiva British History Online", British History Online; Coe, "Lady Godiva: The Naked Truth", Harvard Magazine, 1 July 2003 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lady Godiva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Anglo-Saxons.net, S 1226", Anglo-saxons.net, 13 April 1981 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lady Godiva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Anglo-Saxons.net, S 1232", Anglo-saxons.net; "Anglo-Saxons.net, S 1478", Anglo-saxons.net; The Chronicle of John of Worcester ed. and trans. R. R. Darlington, P. McGurk and J. Bray (Clarendon Press: Oxford 1995), pp. 582–583; Dodwell, C. R. (1982) Anglo-Saxon Art: A New Perspective, Manchester UP, (US edn. Cornell, 1985), pp. 25 & 66; Dodwell, 180 & 212; Dodwell, 220, 230 & passim; Lewis, "Cathedrals, Communities and Conflict in the Anglo-Norman World", Boydell Press, 2011 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Lady Godiva (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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