One can certainly be proud of their lineage descent from our Lady Godiva, (born about 980 – died after 1066) in Mercia, Coventry, England. There are beautiful nude statues of her in the St. Mary’s Old Guildhall of Coventry and another life size statue of her on her horse in the front of Cathedral Lanes Shopping Centre in Coventry, England.
Godgifu (Godiva) was a common name in England, and many daughters were named after princess Godgifu, the sister of King Edward the Confessor and the late Aetheling Alfred. Our Godgifu was the sister of Thorold, the sheriff of Lincolnshire, and was the Lady Godgifu of Mercia who founded a monastery at Coventry. She is remembered as having staged a protest about 1050 on behalf of her own subject-tenants who were overly burdened by the heavy taxation imposed upon Mercia by her husband, the Lord Leofric, III, Earl of Mercia under King Edward. Leofric was the third most powerful man in England, and Mercia, now the Coventry area was just one of many places held by Godiva herself. Without clothing as the legend goes, Godiva rode a horse through the streets of their regional capitol, the town of Coventry, in protest of her husband’s taxation on the people of Coventry.
She brought about a repeal of the onerous taxes and built churches with Leofric, but she also became the mother and ancestor of almost every famous person in Europe, such as Queen Elizabeth II, the Czar of Russia, the King of France, the King of Spain and the King of Bulgaria, among numerous other kings and queens.
Godgifu (Godiva) was a common name in England, and many daughters were named after princess Godgifu, the sister of King Edward the Confessor and the late Aetheling Alfred. Our Godgifu was the sister of Thorold, the sheriff of Lincolnshire, and was the Lady Godgifu of Mercia who founded a monastery at Coventry. She is remembered as having staged a protest about 1050 on behalf of her own subject-tenants who were overly burdened by the heavy taxation imposed upon Mercia by her husband, the Lord Leofric, III, Earl of Mercia under King Edward. Leofric was the third most powerful man in England, and Mercia, now the Coventry area was just one of many places held by Godiva herself. Without clothing as the legend goes, Godiva rode a horse through the streets of their regional capitol, the town of Coventry, in protest of her husband’s taxation on the people of Coventry.
She brought about a repeal of the onerous taxes and built churches with Leofric, but she also became the mother and ancestor of almost every famous person in Europe, such as Queen Elizabeth II, the Czar of Russia, the King of France, the King of Spain and the King of Bulgaria, among numerous other kings and queens.