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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Lady Godiva
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Historical figure connected with *Coventry in the 11C, whose fame derives from a legend first appearing in a 13C chronicle. This states that in 1057 her husband, irritated by her complaints that his taxes on the people of Coventry were too harsh, replied provokingly that he would reduce them if she would ride naked through the crowded marketplace. She did so, preserving her modesty with her long hair. The attractive story was much repeated; one 14C version added that the tax on horses was the only one not reduced, presumably as a punishment on Godiva's accomplice. The extra detail of Peeping Tom (who disobeyed an order not to look at her nakedness and was struck blind) first appeared in 1678, the year in which a Godiva procession became part of Coventry's annual fair. The statue of her by Reid Dick (1879–1961) in the centre of Coventry, at Broadgate, was put up in 1949.
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