Lady Godiva

Most of us have heard of Lady Godiva, (she’s the lady who rode naked to protest taxes, right?) however I’m willing to bet many people don’t know the whole story. There is some amazing art that I wanted to share depicting this character, so I did a little digging to get the whole story.

The Lady

Lady Godiva was an Anglo-Saxon woman from Coventry who was the wife of the Earl of Mercia early in the 9th century. The Earl wasn’t a very nice man, he taxed his people heavily & they suffered greatly under his oppression. The lady took pity and appealed to him again and again on the people’s behalf, but to no avail.

Prince Charming

Finally, tired of her repeated requests the Earl threw out a challenge and told Lady Godiva that if she stripped down and rode through the streets naked, he would grant her request. She took him at his word and (after ordering everyone inside with shutters shut) she rode through town with only her long hair to cover her.

The Result

The lady got her way, of course. The Earl double dog dared her and she showed him that she wasn’t interested in playing games, she just wanted results. Having paid his price, the Earl had no choice but to relent and give the people a tax break.

Oh Tom

Interestingly enough, in the process there was supposedly a tailor in the town who took a peek at the lady in all her glory…he was instantly struck blind. While it’s significant because the tailor’s name was Tom and thus the term ‘Peeping Tom’ was coined, it didn’t actually happen. This bit of the story seemed to have mysteriously appeared hundreds of years later, sometime during the 17th century.

Cold Riding

Yes I’m aware how strange it is to be posting a story about a woman riding naked at this time of year. I’m not sure what time of year she made her famous ride, but I’m willing to bet she was a tad chilly. Although perhaps not a great bedtime story for the little ones, it is an interesting one to share nonetheless.