History Hunters home Coventry home Chapelfields team Rotherham's team Adkins team Coventry history watchmaking Spon Street [Lady Godiva] Godiva clock Princess Charlotte Parliamentary report workshop rules maps evidence and finds timeline glossary Coventry resources	Lady Godiva   statue of Lady Godiva by W C Marshall 1854 in the Guildhall of St Mary Godiva (Godgifu, d. c. 1080) was an English noblewoman and religious benefactor, wife of Leofric, Earl of Chester (d. 1057). According to the 13th-century chronicler Roger of Wendover in his Flores Historiarum, she rode naked through the market-place of Coventry to persuade her husband to reduce the taxes he had imposed. A later embellishment of the legend suggests that she requested the townspeople to remain indoors, which they all did except for 'Peeping Tom', who was struck blind. Little is known of the historical Godiva except that she had built and endowed monasteries at Coventry and Stowe.   oil painting of Lady Godiva by John Collier c.1898 in the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum Back to history