Lady Godiva

Godiva was the wife of Leofric (968–1057), Earl of Mercia. was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in England in order to gain a remission of the oppressive toll imposed by her husband on his tenants. (People of Coventry, who were suffering grievously under her husband’s oppressive taxation.) Lady Godiva appealed again and again to her husband, who obstinately refused to remit the tolls. At last, weary of her entreaties, he said he would grant her request if she would ride naked through the streets of the town. Lady Godiva took him at his word. Another theory has it that Lady Godiva’s “nakedness” may refer to her riding through the streets stripped of her jewellery, the trademark of her upper class rank.