WinkVibe

Lady Godiva
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Godiva (sometimes Godgifu) (c. 980 1067) was an Anglo-Saxon lady, who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in England, in order to gain from her husband a remission of the oppressive toll imposed on his tenants.

Contents [hide]
1 Legend
2 Historical corroboration
3 Popular culture
3.1 Patron Saint of engineers
3.2 Music
3.3 Colloquialisms
4 See also
5 External links

[edit]
Legend
According to the story, Godiva was the beautiful wife of Leofric III (968 1057), Earl of Mercia and lord of Coventry. The people of that city were suffering grievously under the earl's oppressive taxation. Lady Godiva appealed again and again to her husband, who obstinately refused to remit the tolls. At last, weary of her entreaties, he said he would grant her request if she would ride naked through the streets of the town. Lady Godiva took him at his word, and after issuing a proclamation that all persons should keep within doors or shut their windows, she rode through, clothed only in her long hair. One person disobeyed her proclamation, a tailor, ever afterwards known as Peeping Tom. He bored a hole in his shutters that he might see Godiva pass and is said to have been struck blind. Her husband kept his word and abolished the onerous taxes.

The oldest form of the legend has Godiva passing through Coventry market from one end to the other while the people were assembled, attended only by two female (clothed) riders. This version is given in Flores Historiarum by Roger of Wendover (died 1236), a somewhat credulous collector of anecdotes, who quoted from an earlier writer. The still later story, with its episode of Peeping Tom, appeared first among 17th century chroniclers. Whether the Lady Godiva of this story is the Godiva or Godgifu ("gift of God") of history is undecided.

Roger of Wendover may not have understood the power and rights of women in preconquest Great Britain. Godiva was of the second-wealthiest family in Britain at the time--second only to the Godwins--and she ruled Conventry in her own right at the time of the Domesday Book. Though she may have inherited the land from her husband, she did own her land herself. Some scholars speculate that she was also the harsh landlord.

It was customary at that time for penitents to make a public procession in only their shift--a sleeveless white garment similar to a slip today, and one which was certainly considered "underwear." The humiliation of appearing in public in one's underwear is one that modern-day people can certainly appreciate. Godiva may have repented of her harshness, traveled through town as a penitent, and her people may not have felt entirely comfortable watching their feared landlord in her shift. Thus, scholars speculate, Godiva's story may have passed into folk history to be recorded in a rather, but not substantially, romaniticized version.

A statue of Lady Godiva in central CoventryThe claim that Godiva's long hair effectively hid her from sight is generally believed, like the story of Peeping Tom, to have been a later addition, but compare Rapunzel. Certain other thematic elements are familiar in myth and fable: the resistant Lord (Esther and Ahasuerus), the exacted promise, the stringent condition, the test of chastity. Even if Peeping Tom is a late addition, his being struck blind demonstrates the closely knit themes of the violated Mystery and the punished intruder (compare Diana and Actaeon).

It is also thought that Lady Godiva's "nakedness" refers to her riding through the streets without wearing any jewellery, which was a trademark of her upper-class rank.

[edit]
Historical corroboration
Nevertheless, that a lady of this name existed in the early part of the 11th century is certain, as evidenced by several ancient documents, such as the Stow charter, the Spalding charter, and the Domesday survey, though the spelling of the name varies considerably. It would appear from the chronicles of Ely, Liber Eliensis (end of 12th century), that she was a widow when Leofric married her in 1040. In or about that year she aided in the founding of a monastery at Stow, Lincolnshire. In 1043 she persuaded her husband to build and endow a Benedictine monastery at Coventry. Her mark, "di Ego Godiva Comitissa diu istud desideravi", was found on the charter given by her brother, Thorold of Bucknall, sheriff of Lincolnshire, to the Benedictine monastery of Spalding; and she is commemorated as benefactress of other monasteries at Leominster, Chester, Wenlock, Worcester, and Evesham. She is mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1085, as one of the few Anglo-Saxons to retain land after the conquest, and the only woman mentioned as a landholder. She probably died a few years later and was buried in one of the porches of the abbey church. Dugdale (1656) says that a window, with representations of Leofric and Godiva, was placed in Trinity Church, Coventry, about the time of Richard II.

The Godiva processiona commemoration of the legendary ride instituted on May 31, 1678, as part of Coventry fairwas celebrated at intervals until 1826. From 1848 to 1887 it was revived, and continued into the 21st century.

The wooden effigy of Peeping Tom which, since 1812, has looked out on the world from a house at the northwest corner of Hertford Street, Coventry, represents a man in armour, and was probably an image of Saint George. It was removed from another part of the town to its present position.

[edit]
Popular culture
Godiva was immortalized anew in the poem Godiva by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

[edit]
Patron Saint of engineers
In many university engineering faculties, military engineering corps, and other engineering organizations, Lady Godiva is considered to be the patron saint of engineers.

Certain organizations historically staged an annual "Godiva Ride" where a naked female rode a horse across campus. This practice has declined concurrent with modern feminist attitudes and concern for students' safety.

Many engineers' rallying songs make reference to Lady Godiva, particularly Godiva's Hymn.

[edit]
Music
Several popular songs make contemporary usage of the Lady Godiva image. These include The Velvet Underground's "Lady Godiva's Operation" off their 1968 LP White Light/White Heat, referring to a drag queen who had taken on the name Lady Godiva. Peter and Gordon's "Lady Godiva" (1967) is about a woman who becomes involved in a burlesque show. Lady Godiva is also mentioned in the rock band Queen (band)'s "Don't Stop Me Now" (1979): "I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva/I'm gonna go go go, there's no stopping me."

[edit]
Colloquialisms
From the movie Tillie and Gus (1933)

Tom (Clifford Jones): That ferryboat race was the world's biggest gambl
Gus (W.C. Fields): Well, don't forget... Lady Godiva put everything she had on a horse!
[edit]
See also
Asteroid 3018 Godiva, named after Lady Godiva.
Godiva Chocolates, a Chocolate Company named after and featuring artwork of Godiva on their boxes
Godiva's Hymn, a traditional Engineering song
Lady Godiva syndrome
[edit]
External links
Cecilia Parsons, "Countess Godiva", 1999: biography and developing lege
BBC News the unearthing of a stained glass window identified with Lady Godiva
James Grout: Lady Godiva, part of the Encyclopædia Romana
The business arrangements of a Lady Godiva. Also skeptical about her being countess of Mercia.

ncG1vNJzZmifp2O0prrEmqWerF6kv6h7wqikq5mUmn95i8uapaB1laNzr4nCqK2epqSnxme8nKWYnbFbnLyltdWaYqie