Coventry Halfpenny D&H232 REYNOLDS & Co

On the appointed day, the inhabitants of the city, in respect for her kindness, closed the shutters and doors of their houses, no one went out into the street, and Godiva drove through the whole city unnoticed. Count Leofric had to cut taxes. This legend is not supported by any facts. During the reign of Edward the Confessor (c. 1003 - 1066) in 1043 Earl Leofric built a Benedictine monastery in Coventry, which turned Coventry from a small settlement into the fourth largest medieval English city. The earl endowed the monastery with land and gave possession of 24 villages, and Lady Godiva donated a large amount of gold, silver and precious stones, making the monastery the richest in England. Being very pious, after the death of the count, Godiva transferred all his possessions to the church. Count Leofric and Lady Godiva were buried in this monastery. The first mention of a naked horsewoman was spread by the envious of fame and fortune Roger Wendrover, a monk of the monastery of St. Alban, in 1188. Subsequently, the legend was overgrown with new events. One of these additions is the peeping Tom, who decided to look out of the window at the naked horsewoman and immediately went blind. In fact, in 1586, the city council of Coventry commissioned the artist Adam van Noort (1562-1641) to depict the legend of Lady Godiva in a painting. The population took Leofric, depicted in the picture, looking out the window, for a disobedient citizen. Despite the lack of evidence of the described events, the legend of Lady Godiva has firmly entered the life of the city of Coventry, and since 1678 this event has been annually celebrated with a colorful festival.