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sent to Coventry
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Why is someone who everyone refuses to talk to said to be 'sent to Coventry', what's wrong withCoventry?
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The following are excerpts cut and pasted from Wiki:
The origins of this phrase are not known, although it is quite probable that events in Coventry in the English Civil War in the 1640s play a part.
In The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, by Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, Hyde recounts on how Royalist troops that were captured in Birmingham were taken as prisoners to Coventry, which was a Parliamentarian stronghold. These troops were often not received warmly by the locals.
The origins of this phrase are not known, although it is quite probable that events in Coventry in the English Civil War in the 1640s play a part.
In The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, by Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, Hyde recounts on how Royalist troops that were captured in Birmingham were taken as prisoners to Coventry, which was a Parliamentarian stronghold. These troops were often not received warmly by the locals.
There is another more quaint explanation that it refers to the legend of Lady Godiva. When she rode naked through the streets of Coventry, her husband the Earl Of Mercia had ordered all citizens to stay indoors with the windows shuttered. Everyone obeyed of course with the exception of the Tailor "Peeping Tom". Therefore if you were sent to Coventry no-one would speak to you or or see you because everywhere would be deserted.
Michael Quinion, a well-known etymologist of such phrases, also offers the story given in Panic Button's answer above and then adds...
"Another story, undated but usually taken to refer to events of a similar period, is that Coventry was strongly opposed to having troops billeted on townspeople, and that soldiers sent there were ostracised by the local population. Take your pick. My own feeling is that neither is convincing, not least because of the century-long gap between Civil War events and the first appearance of the idiom — not impossible, though."
As you see, he's not too happy with either tale and the Lady Godiva version sounds even more improbable. Perhaps best to answer, "Nobody's very sure!"
"Another story, undated but usually taken to refer to events of a similar period, is that Coventry was strongly opposed to having troops billeted on townspeople, and that soldiers sent there were ostracised by the local population. Take your pick. My own feeling is that neither is convincing, not least because of the century-long gap between Civil War events and the first appearance of the idiom — not impossible, though."
As you see, he's not too happy with either tale and the Lady Godiva version sounds even more improbable. Perhaps best to answer, "Nobody's very sure!"
extension on the original question- My geography teacher at school told us that Coventry was so called because there was a man whose last name was Covent who used to have a market on the grounds of his estate, which centered around a large tree, therefore Covent's tree- Coventry. At the time I felt no reason to question this but looking back it seems a bit of a strange story?
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