|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
Godiva
Godiva ( Godgifu) (d. between 1057 and 1086). Wife of Earl Leofric of Mercia. To obtain her request that Coventry be relieved of a heavy toll, she is alleged to have ridden naked through the market. The legend obscures her reputation as founder and benefactress of religious establishments. A number of monasteries were recipients of her own and Leofric's generosity. Together they founded and richly endowed the Benedictine monastery and church at Coventry in 1043, where relics included an arm of St Augustine of Hippo bought by Æthelnoth, archbishop of Canterbury. The church was said to be resplendent with Godiva's gifts of gold and precious stones, and on her death she left a jewelled rosary to be placed on the image of the Virgin Mary, to whom she was especially devoted. She and Leofric were both buried in their Coventry church. Roger of Wendover in the 13th cent. first related her ride; 18th-cent. writers embellished it with picturesque detail like ‘Peeping Tom’.
Audrey MacDonald |
|
|
Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Godiva." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Godiva." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-Godiva.html JOHN CANNON. "Godiva." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-Godiva.html |
|
Godiva
Godiva, the wife of Leofric, ealdorman of Mercia, one of Edward the Confessor's great earls. According to legend, her husband imposed a tax on the inhabitants of Coventry, which he jestingly promised to remit if she would ride naked through the streets at noonday. She directed the people to stay indoors and shut their windows, and complied with his condition. Peeping Tom, who looked out, was struck blind.
The story is told by Drayton in his Poly-Olbion, xiii; by Leigh Hunt; and by Tennyson in ‘Godiva’. |
|
|
Cite this article
MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Godiva." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Godiva." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-Godiva.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Godiva." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-Godiva.html |
|
Godiva
Godiva (Godgifu) (d. between 1057 and 1086). Wife of Earl Leofric of Mercia. To obtain her request that Coventry be relieved of a heavy toll, she is alleged to have ridden naked through the market. The legend obscures her reputation as benefactress of religious establishments. She and Leofric were buried in their Coventry church. Roger of Wendover in the 13th cent. first related her ride; 18th‐cent. writers embellished it with picturesque detail like ‘Peeping Tom’.
|
|
|
Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Godiva." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Godiva." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-Godiva.html JOHN CANNON. "Godiva." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-Godiva.html |
|
Godiva
Godiva ♀ Latinized form of an Old English female personal name composed of the elements god ‘god’ + gyfu ‘gift’. The name was borne most notably by an 11th-century Mercian noblewoman who, according to a famous legend, rode naked on horseback through the streets of Coventry to dissuade her husband Earl Leofric from imposing a heavy tax on the townspeople. It is rarely, if ever, used as a modern given name.
|
|
|
Cite this article
PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Godiva." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Godiva." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Godiva.html PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Godiva." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Godiva.html |
|
Godiva
Godiva
•aquiver, downriver, forgiver, giver, quiver, river, shiver, sliver, upriver
•silver • mitzvah • lawgiver • Oliver
•miniver, Nineveh
•quicksilver
•conniver, contriver, diver, driver, fiver, Godiva, Ivor, jiver, Liver, reviver, saliva, skiver, striver, survivor, viva
•skydiver • slave-driver • piledriver
•screwdriver
•bovver, hover
•Moskva
•revolver, solver
•windhover
•Canova, Casanova, clover, Dover, drover, Grsbover, Jehovah, left-over, Markova, Moldova, moreover, Navrátilová, nova, ova, over, Pavlova, rover, trover, up-and-over
•layover • flyover • handover
•changeover
•makeover, takeover
•walkover • spillover • pullover
•Hanover • turnover • hangover
•wingover • sleepover • slipover
•popover, stopover
•Passover • crossover • once-over
•pushover • leftover
|
|
|
Cite this article
"Godiva." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Godiva." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Godiva.html "Godiva." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Godiva.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
