Godiva, Countess of Mercia(/ɡəˈdaɪvə/; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old EnglishGodgifu, was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively welldocumented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron ofvarious churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly remembered fora legend dating back at least to the 13th century, in which she rodenaked—covered only in her long hair—through the streets ofCoventry to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation that herhusband, Leofric, imposed on his tenants. The name "PeepingTom" for a voyeur originates from later versions of thislegend, in which a man named Thomas watched her ride and was struckblind or dead.
Historical figure
Godiva was the wife of Leofric, Earl ofMercia. They had nine children; one son was Aelfgar. Godiva's nameoccurs in charters and the Domesday survey, though the spellingvaries. The Old English name Godgifu or Godgyfu meant "giftof God"; Godiva was the Latinized form. Since the name was apopular one, there are contemporaries of the same name.
If she is the same Godiva who appearsin the history of Ely Abbey, the Liber Eliensis, written at the endof the 12th century, then she was a widow when Leofric married her.Both Leofric and Godiva were generous benefactors to religioushouses. In 1043 Leofric founded and endowed a Benedictine monasteryat Coventry on the site of a nunnery destroyed by the Danes in 1016.Writing in the 12th century, Roger of Wendover credits Godiva as thepersuasive force behind this act. In the 1050s, her name is coupledwith that of her husband on a grant of land to the monastery of St.Mary, Worcester and the endowment of the minster at Stow St Mary,Lincolnshire. She and her husband are commemorated as benefactors ofother monasteries at Leominster, Chester, Much Wenlock, and Evesham. She gave Coventry a number of works in precious metal by the famousgoldsmith Mannig and bequeathed a necklace valued at 100 marks ofsilver. Another necklace went to Evesham, to be hung around thefigure of the Virgin accompanying the life-size gold and silver roodshe and her husband gave, and St Paul's Cathedral in the City ofLondon received a gold-fringed chasuble. She and her husband wereamong the most munificent of the several large Anglo-Saxon donors ofthe last decades before the Norman Conquest; the early Norman bishopsmade short work of their gifts, carrying them off to Normandy ormelting them down for bullion.
The manor of Woolhope in Herefordshire,along with four others, was given to the cathedral at Hereford beforethe Norman Conquest by the benefactresses Wulviva and Godiva—usuallyheld to be this Godiva and her sister. The church there has a20th-century stained glass window representing them.
Her signature, Ego Godiva Comitissa diuistud desideravi [I, The Countess Godiva, have desired this for along time], appears on a charter purportedly given by Thorold ofBucknall to the Benedictine monastery of Spalding. However, thischarter is considered spurious by many historians. Even so, it ispossible that Thorold, who appears in the Domesday Book as sheriff ofLincolnshire, was her brother.
After Leofric's death in 1057, hiswidow lived on until sometime between the Norman Conquest of 1066 and1086. She is mentioned in the Domesday survey as one of the fewAnglo-Saxons and the only woman to remain a major landholder shortlyafter the conquest. By the time of this great survey in 1086, Godivahad died, but her former lands are listed, although now held byothers. Thus, Godiva apparently died between 1066 and 1086.
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