Lady Godiva

Lady Godiva, was an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon noblewoman. She is also, according to legend, responsible for the slang term, "Peeping Tom".

According to legend, Lady Godiva took pity on the people of Coventry, who were suffering under her husband's oppressive taxation. Lady Godiva appealed again and again to her husband who refused to remit the taxation. At last he said he would grant her request if she would strip naked and ride on a horse through the streets of the town. Lady Godiva took him at his word and, after issuing a proclamation that all persons should stay indoors and shut their windows, she rode through the town, clothed only in her long hair. Just one person in the town, a tailor known as Tom, disobeyed her proclamation. Tom bores a hole in his shutters so that he might see Lady Godiva pass, and is struck blind.In the end, Lady Godiva's husband keeps his word and abolishes the taxes.

Lady Godiva was foolish to ride through Coventry naked; however, it made for an interesting story.

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