Posted on 01/03/2015 7:29:13 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Lady Godiva was married to Leofric, the 'grim' Earl of Mercer and Lord of Coventry, a man of great power and importance. The chronicler Florence of Worcester mentions Leofric and Godiva, but does not mention her famous ride, and there is no firm evidence connecting the rider with the historical Godiva.
In 1043 the Earl and Countess founded a Benedictine house for an abbot and 24 monks on the site of St Osburg's Nunnery, which had been destroyed by the Danes in 1016... Earl Leofric laid his founding charter upon the newly consecrated altar, which not only granted the foundation, but also gave him lordship over 24 villages for the maintenance of the house.
Lady Godiva endowed the monastery... supposed to have had all her gold and silver melted down and made into crosses, images of saints and other decorations...
The remains of the subsequent 13th-century church monastery, Coventry's first cathedral, can now be seen in Priory Row...
The earliest surviving source for the legend is the Chronica of Roger of Wendover for the year 1057. He wrote that Godiva pleaded with her husband to relieve the heavy burden of taxes he had imposed on the citizens of Coventry.
Weary of her persistence, Leofric said he would grant her request if she would ride naked through the town...
Her ordeal completed, Godiva returned to her husband, who fulfilled his promise to abolish the heavy taxes. According to Ranulf Higden's Polychronicon, Leofric freed the town from all tolls save those on horses. An inquiry made in the reign of Edward I shows that indeed, at that time, no tolls were paid in Coventry except on horses.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
I sense a family reunion in the offing.
Oh no! I am related to Kings of France also!
OKden!
That would pose a lot of curiosity. Not welcome, either.
Odd. The horse is overdressed.
(ahem) What horse.
“So you finally got some clothes back on. Wonderful!
“If you ever pull that stunt again, I swear I’ll put you in a burka!!!”
That horse is happy
I wish I knew how to post a link to a website. Benny Hill does a version of Lady Godiva, and it’s on youtube.
As long as they’re real, no worries. :’) The last of the Plantagenet kings of England is estimated to have a million descendants in the US; his father is estimated to have ten million. :’o
Victorian-era painters are probably my overall faves, thanks blam!
Hey, we can use it, just not in a post. I’m using it right now. ;’)
wowzo, check out these search results:
http://www.google.com/search?q=genealogy+descent+of+Lady+Godiva
Swingin’ London wouldn’t have gotten off the ground.
Do have a source for that? It is not that I disbelieve you but it is an area I want to find out a couple things especially relating to DNA.
LOL!
For those who didn’t major in engineering:
Godiva was a lady who through Coventry did ride.
Showing all the villagers her lily white hide.
The most observant man of all, an engineer of course
Was the only one who noticed that Godiva rode a horse.
She said, “I’ve come a long, long way, and I will go as far
With the man who takes me from this horse and leads me to a bar
The man who took her from her steed and lead her to a beer
Was a bleary-eyed surveyor and a drunken engineer.
Godiva was a lady well-endowed there is no doubt
She never wore a stitch of clothes, just wound her hair about
The first man who did make her was a Engineer, of course,
But on just one beer an artsie queer had made Godiva’s horse.
Doesn't that sound like just a bit too much? I haven't sat down to go through the massive volumes that she prepared for us. Maybe when I do it will be a bit more believable.
Victorian painters of medieval themes are often referred to as pre-Raphaelite, following an artistic style thought to have existed prior to the Renaissance.
Various 19th Century renditions of “The Birth of Venus” make Lady Godiva look like a prude, especially as done by French painters.
NEHGS.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
