5
Edmund Leighton
Lady Godiva
Lady Godiva, Countess of Mercia (/ɡəˈdaɪvə/; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English Godgifu,
was an English noblewoman who, according to a legend dating at least to the 13th century,
rode naked through a village on a white horse – covered only in her long hair –
through the streets of Coventry to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation that her husband,
Leofric, Earl of Mercia, imposed on his tenants.
The name "Peeping Tom" for a voyeur originates from later versions of this legend
in which a man named Thomas watched her ride and was struck blind or dead.
Lady Godiva by John Collier
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