Legend has it that in the 11th century, Lady Godiva went for a naked ride through the streets of Coventry on a market day. It was supposed to be a protest against the actions of her husband Leofric, who demanded an unimaginable tax from his subjects.
Lady Godiva, wanting to help the citizens, begged him to change his mind. Leofric allegedly said he would do so when she gets "naked on a horse and rides through a market full of people, from one end to the other" . The application says that he did not have to persuade his wife twice.
But was a truly respected medieval lady able to take such a mad and desperate step in the name of her subjects?
A gift from God
While most historians consider the story of the naked ride a myth, Lady Godiva was real. Also known as Godgifu, meaning "gift from God," she lived in the 11th century and became famous for her generosity to the church.
From her first husband, she inherited a considerable fortune, which she "thought she was on her deathbed, bequeathed in her will to the convent of Ely." She did, however, recover and remarry the Lord of Mercia, Leofric . Together with him, she became famous for her charitable activities, helping, among others to establish a Benedictine monastery in Coventry in 1043.
The history of Lady Godiva has become very colorful over time
Contemporary sources note that Godgifu was one of the few landowners of 11th-century England, but do not mention horse riding without clothes.
This story first appeared only 100 years after her death, in a book by the English monk Roger of Wendover. It is possible that this historian clergyman "modeled his story on some chronicle that is lost today." And although no materials suggesting the sources of this story have survived to our times, the myth itself began to live its own life, entering the canon of the most famous English legends.
Coloring the legend
After Roger from Wendover, other creators reached for the theme of Godgif's ride through the streets of Coventry, adding more and more color to this story.
In one version, the body of Lady Godiva is not covered with her long hair, but a cloak sent by God, making her invisible. In another, she orders the people of Coventry to stay home with the shutters closed on the day of her ride, to avoid the insistent stares of the common people.
Over time, in this second version, an additional character of "peeping Tom" appeared. breaking a warrant and watching a woman ride through a crack in the shutter.
Time passed and the myth of Godgif became more and more popular thanks to songs and poems by authors such as Lord Alfred Tennyson, who wrote the famous poem called "Godiva", or Queen singing about a naked lady on horseback in the song "Don't stop me now ”.
A mythical ride has also begun to be recreated in Coventry itself. The first was held on May 31, 1678, and the role of Lady Godiva was entrusted to the boy. The celebrations were repeated "quite regularly until 1907, when the dress, or lack thereof, became the subject of a civil dispute.
Royal Successors
In 1966, Godgifu returned to everyone's lips with a new and unexpected discovery. With the release of the Debrett's Peerage guide, which explores the origins of British aristocratic families, the light has seen a new look at the lineage of Queen Elizabeth II.
Lady Godiva really existed
It has long been believed that the queen's ancestor was William the Conqueror, but she was found to be the thirty-first descendant of Harold II, who was replaced by William.
Harold's daughter Gyth, after her father's death at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, fled to the continent and became the wife of the Grand Duke of Kiev, Vladimir Monomach. The fates of their descendants intertwined with many European dynasties, including the English one. Gytha herself was the descendant of Leofric, whose pious wife reportedly took a naked ride through the city to save his subjects from poverty and hunger.