Godiva (Lady). Patroness of Coventry. In 1040, Leofric, Earl of Mercia and Lord of Coventry, imposed
certain exactions on his tenants, which his lady besought him to remove. To escape her importunity, he
said he would do so if she would ride naked through the town. Lady Godiva took him at his word, and
the Earl faithfully kept his promise.
The legend asserts that every inhabitant of Coventry kept indoors at the time, but a certain tailor peeped
through his window to see the lady pass. Some say he was struck blind, others that his eyes were put out
by the indignant townsfolk, and some that he was put to death. Be this as it may, he has ever since been
called "Peeping Tom of Coventry." Tennyson has a poem on the subject.