Monday, May 2, 2011

English History - The Legend of Lady Godiva c.AD 1043

Maidstone Museum Kent.


















If you love the chocolates you may know the story already; it's printed inside the box.

Godiva (Old English: Godgifu, "god gift"), often referred to as Lady Godiva (1040–1080), was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry, in England, in order to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation imposed by her husband, the Earl of Leofric, on his tenants.

She had begged her husband to end the taxation to which he made the demand that she ride naked through the town in front of all the people. The pious but determined lady removed all her clothes, let her golden long hair down, covering parts of her body and rode her horse through Coventry. The townsfolk stayed inside behind closed shutters to spare her dignity. Her astonished husband freed the townspeople from the heavy taxes.

The name "Peeping Tom" for a voyeur originates from later versions of this legend in which a man named Tom had watched her ride, through a hole made in a shutter, and he was struck blind.




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