Lady Godiva — the Anglo-Saxon noblewoman Godgifu, wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia — was a real and pious landowner of the 11th century, but it is a legend first recorded long after her death that made her immortal. The story tells that the people of Coventry groaned under the heavy taxes Leofric laid upon them, and that Godiva, moved by their suffering, begged her husband again and again to lift the burden. Wearied by her pleading, the Earl made a mocking bargain: he would remit the taxes if she would ride naked through the crowded marketplace of the town.
The story
Taking him at his word, Godiva loosed her long hair to cover her body, mounted her horse, and rode through the streets of Coventry seen by none — for she had commanded the townsfolk to shut their windows and stay indoors, and out of love and respect they obeyed. When the ride was done, Leofric kept his word and freed Coventry from its taxes. The most famous embellishment came later: one man, a tailor remembered as Peeping Tom, could not resist boring a hole to watch her pass, and was struck blind (or dead) for his impudence — giving the English language its byword for a furtive watcher.
Though historians doubt the ride ever happened, the legend became the defining myth of Coventry, commemorated in civic processions from the 17th century onward, in the watching figure of 'Peeping Tom' displayed in the city, and in the equestrian statue that stands in the centre today. It endures as a rare medieval tale in which a woman's courage and self-sacrifice, not a warrior's strength, wins the day for the common people.