Lady Godiva and Coventry

The real Godiva

Godgifu, whose name meant gift of God and became Godiva in Latin, was the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. She died between 1066 and 1086 and appears in charters and in Domesday.

She and Leofric gave generously to the church. In 1043 Leofric founded a Benedictine monastery at Coventry and the thirteenth-century chronicler Roger of Wendover credits Godiva as the force behind it. She also gave Coventry works in precious metal by the goldsmith Mannig.

The legend

The story of the ride is first recorded in the thirteenth century and modern historians do not regard it as plausible. In the usual version, Godiva pleaded with her husband to lower the heavy taxes on the people of Coventry. He said he would if she rode naked through the town, so she ordered everyone to stay indoors and rode through the streets covered only by her long hair.

Peeping Tom

Later versions add a tailor who disobeyed and watched her pass. Known ever after as Peeping Tom, he was struck blind or dead. His name became the word for a voyeur. A wooden effigy of Peeping Tom looked out from a hotel on Hertford Street from 1812 until the Second World War and can now be found in Cathedral Lanes.

Processions and pageants

The Godiva Procession was instituted on 31 May 1678 as part of the Coventry fair and ran until the 1960s, often with controversy over the actress playing the part. Since the mid-1980s Pru Porretta has played Lady Godiva at community events and leads a pageant each September for world peace; she was made an MBE in 2010.

Where to see her

In Broadgate, at the heart of the rebuilt city centre, an animated Peeping Tom watches as Lady Godiva makes her hourly ride round the Godiva Clock. She also features on the city council's logo with her horse. The Godiva Festival, the city's summer music festival, is named after her. Humber Hub is about 8 minutes by car from the city centre.