General Notes

One of the most famous early personalities of the early medieval periodwas Lady Godiva (Godwa or Godgifu) who allegedly rode naked the streetsof Coventry in Warwickshire as a protest against her husband's high taxeson the people of the city.

This husband, Earl Leofric, a Saxon Earl of Mercia, died an old man in1057, nine years before the Norman Conquest. They seemingly had issue, atleast one daughter, who married into the Malet family. 29 years after herhusband's death, Lady (Countess) Godiva held many estates inWarwickshire, including Coventry, as revealed by the Domesday Book in1086.

Chronologically, either Leofric had married a child bride, or Lady Godivawas a very old woman at the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086. Theformer is the most likely.

The lordships bestowed on Lady Godiva in Warwickshire by William theConqueror in 1066 were considerable, probably the result of an alliancestruck either with Leofric or Lady Godiva before the Conquest. Since,Lady Godiva was a wealthy woman in 1057, and still wealthy after theConquest, it is not likely she displayed herself in protest after thatdate, since she would have been protesting her own taxation. Sheapparently inherited her lands and titles in 1057.

Therefore, the event in question probably took place, if at all, severalyears before 1057, when, young and innocent, the impatient and passionateLady Godiva, appalled by her aging husband's despotic ways, leapt on hernag and took to the streets of Coventry in all her naked glory, perhapstoo young to realize that within a few short years she would be in fullcontrol of all the taxation of her husband's considerable holdings at thetime of his death, holdings which she carried through to at least 1086.

The Godiva procession was instituted May 31, 1678 as part of the CoventryFair, was celebrated at intervals until 1826.

Their son was Alfgar III who married (2) Elfgifu, daughter of KingEthelred II., and his wife, Elfled. Their daughter Lucia de Mercia becamethe wife of Ivo de Tailbois and the mother of Lucia Tailbois, who was theancestress of several Magna Charta barons through her daughter AdelizaMeschines.

Alfgar and Elfgifu were the parents of Ealgith (Edith or Agatha), who wasmarried about 1057 (1) Griffith, Prince of North Wales and had Nesta,born 1058, who was married to Trahhaern of Arwystle (son of Caradoc andgrandson of Cynfyn and Queen Ankaret) and had Llyarch, Prince of NorthWales, who married Dyddgu and had Gladys, who was married to OwenGwinedh, grandparents of Llewellyn the Great.

Ealgith's second husband was Harold II, born 1022, crowned King ofEngland January 6, 1066, slain in the battle of Hastings October 14,1066.

Lady Godiva was a noblewoman who lived in Coventry, England in the eleventh century. Together with her husband, Leofric III, Earl of Mercia, Lady Godiva founded the monastery at Coventry in 1043. Leofric quickly became active in public affairs, handling financial matters that arose as the town of Coventry grew around the monastery. The tax burden on the peasant populace also grew, as mandated by Leofric, and as a result Lady Godiva began her campaign for a tax reduction. As the story goes, Leofric one day made the comment that he would reduce the local taxes when his wife would ride naked through the market square of Coventry. Once Lady Godiva ensured that she actually had his permission to ride naked through the town, she announced that she would do it. Legend has it that she sent advance word to the townspeople of Coventry, asking them to avert their eyes as she rode naked through the market. Out of respect for her all complied with her wishes, that is, all except one tailor named Tom, who could not help but sneak a peek as she rode by. Immediately after viewing her Tom was struck blind. From this story comes the phrase "Peeping Tom". Historians generally agree that this portion of the story was added on as an embellishment much later. Many of the general events of the story are supported by records such as tax documents etc. Women have used the symbol of this remarkable lady as inspiration to assert their own initiative in order to achieve social reforms even to this day. Hats off to her...but don't peek!

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per Marlyn Lewis

FOSTER, MINOR, NEWLIN LINES

Sister of Thorold the Sheriff; m. Leofric, Earl of Mercia. [Falaise Roll, Table XIII]

Grandmother of William Malet through unnamed dau. who m. Robert (?) Malet; m. Leofric, earl o f Mercia. [Falaise Roll, p. 43]

(fl. 1040-80), Anglo-Saxon noblewoman, wife of Leofric, earl of Mercia. She is known to hav e persuaded her husband to found monasteries at Coventry (1043) and Stow. According to legend , she obtained a reduction in the excessive taxes levied by her husband on the people of Cove ntry by consenting to ride naked through the town on a white horse. Only one person disobeye d her orders to remain indoors behind closed shutters; this man, a tailor known afterward a s Peeping Tom, peered through a window and immediately became blind. The oldest form of the l egend is in the 13th centruy FLORES HISTORIARIUM (Flowers of the Historians). A festival in h er honor was instituted as part of Coventry Fair in 1678. [Funk & Wagnalls, Vol. 12, p. 19]

Gr. gr. granddau. of Duke Oslac. [Hereward, p. 156]

Dau. of Thorold, sheriff of Lincoln; m. Leofric III, Earl of Mercia; mother of Alfgar III an d Hereward. [WFT Vol 11 Ped 4329]

Dau. of Morcar of Northumbria and Ealdgyth; m. Leofric III, Earl of Mercia; mother of Alfga r III, Earl of Mercia, and of Hereward, Lord of Bourne. [More Ratcliff Branches, http://pwl.n etcom.com/~espii/genealogy/ratcliff2.html]

Coventry is associated with Lady Godiva, and for good reason--Lady Godiva was one of its foun ders and earliest rulers. Earl Leofric of Mercia and his wife, the Countess Godgifu (Godiva) , founded a Benedictine priory on a hill overlooking the River Sowe, and the town of Coventr y grew up around it. The priory probably ran a market that would have formed the nucleus of t he trowing town. Such a market would bring fees and taxes to the priory and the Earl while fl ooding the district with goods and money. Godiva may well have ruled the settlement between L eofric's death in 1057 and her own in 1066.
   Certainly, taxation would be an important early issue, and Countess Godiva might have bee n an advocate for the priory and its market. For one thing, she would have had to ride nake d through the farm lane of Coventry, as the settlement had only 50 working men as late as 108 6. The legend of Godiva's ride is probably a folk memory of a Queen of the May pageant--perha ps a particularly basdy one. Godiva processions, complete with naked maiden, were held from e arliest times well into the 20th cntury, and prudish attempts to clothe the maiden were met w ith riots. At any rate, the legend of Godiva's ride is first mentioned nearly two centuries a fter the fact, by Roger of Wendover, whose work "contains many fantastic and distorted storie s," according to the COLUMBIA ENCYCLOPEDIA. The legend of Peeping Tom is even later. It deriv es from a wooden statue of St. George that was salvaged from the dissolved abbey in 1539 an d stuck in a window over the market place as a joke. ("Who is that?" "Why that's Tom. He's pe eping at Godiva.") Peeping Tom may be a legend but the statue still exists, on display downto wn at the Cathedral Lanes Shopping Centre, still peeping at the city's famous statue of Lad y Godiva. ["The City of Lady Godiva", BRITISH HERITAGE, Dec 2000/Jan 2001]

This Gedcom is the collective genealogy of many people who are also researching the same families.  I have researched and verified each entry.  If you have questions please contact me at tablaze@earthlink.net

Grandmother of William Malet through unnamed dau. who m. Robert (?) Malet; m. Leofric, earl of Mercia. [Falaise Roll, p. 43]

(fl. 1040-80), Anglo-Saxon noblewoman, wife of Leofric, earl of Mercia. She is known to have persuaded her husband to found monasteries at Coventry (1043) and Stow. According to legend, she obtained a reduction in the excessive taxes levied by her husband on the people of Coventry by consenting to ride naked through the town on a white horse. Only one person disobeyed her orders to remain indoors behind closed shutters; this man, a tailor known afterward as Peeping Tom, peered through a window and immediately became blind. The oldest form of the legend is in the 13th centruy FLORES HISTORIARIUM (Flowers of the Historians). A festival in her honor was instituted as part of Coventry Fair in 1678. [Funk & Wagnalls, Vol. 12, p. 19]

Dau. of Thorold, sheriff of Lincoln; m. Leofric III, Earl of Mercia; mother of Alfgar III and Hereward. [WFT Vol 11 Ped 4329]

Dau. of Morcar of Northumbria and Ealdgyth; m. Leofric III, Earl of Mercia; mother of Alfgar III, Earl of Mercia, and of Hereward, Lord of Bourne. [More Ratcliff Branches, http://pwl.netcom.com/~espii/genealogy/ratcliff2.html]

Coventry is associated with Lady Godiva, and for good reason--Lady Godiva was one of its founders and earliest rulers. Earl Leofric of Mercia and his wife, the Countess Godgifu (Godiva), founded a Benedictine priory on a hill overlooking the River Sowe, and the town of Coventry grew up around it. The priory probably ran a market that would have formed the nucleus of the trowing town. Such a market would bring fees and taxes to the priory and the Earl while flooding the district with goods and money. Godiva may well have ruled the settlement between Leofric's death in 1057 and her own in 1066.
   Certainly, taxation would be an important early issue, and Countess Godiva might have been an advocate for the priory and its market. For one thing, she would have had to ride naked through the farm lane of Coventry, as the settlement had only 50 working men as late as 1086. The legend of Godiva's ride is probably a folk memory of a Queen of the May pageant--perhaps a particularly basdy one. Godiva processions, complete with naked maiden, were held from earliest times well into the 20th cntury, and prudish attempts to clothe the maiden were met with riots. At any rate, the legend of Godiva's ride is first mentioned nearly two centuries after the fact, by Roger of Wendover, whose work "contains many fantastic and distorted stories," according to the COLUMBIA ENCYCLOPEDIA. The legend of Peeping Tom is even later. It derives from a wooden statue of St. George that was salvaged from the dissolved abbey in 1539 and stuck in a window over the market place as a joke. ("Who is that?" "Why that's Tom. He's peeping at Godiva.") Peeping Tom may be a legend but the statue still exists, on display downtown at the Cathedral Lanes Shopping Centre, still peeping at the city's famous statue of Lady Godiva. ["The City of Lady Godiva", BRITISH HERITAGE, Dec 2000/Jan 2001]