Lady Godiva - any truth in her

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Q.� Huh

A.� The basic schoolboy-snigger version of the legend is this: Lady Godiva told her husband that the townspeople of Coventry were crippled by excessive taxes, he scornfully offered to cut them if she rode naked through the marketplace. So she got her kit off and did just that.

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Q.� So what sort of toned-down version are you feeding us

A.� For a start, the good citizens were so grateful for the lady's sacrifice that they shuttered their windows and cast away their gaze. (All except one, according to a much later version of the tale. This tailor took a peek and was struck blind - creating the expression 'Peeping Tom'.) And, it seems the original version may be wrong any way. Lady Godiva's husband Leofric probably said 'unadorned' rather than 'naked'. 'Unadorned' would have meant without any head covering, fine clothing or jewellery.

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Q.� But she did exist

A.� Indeed. Her name, in the spelling of her time, was Godgifu. This Anglo-Saxon gentlewoman flourished from 1040-1080. Archaeologists believe that fragments of painted glass found in rubble at Coventry's first cathedral, part of a great Benedictine abbey that was destroyed in the dissolution of the monasteries, may depict the image of her.

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Q.� So is that where they she was buried

A.� Yes. Godiva and Leofric were were both interred in the small church they founded on the hilltop in Coventry. It grew into a huge cathedral, far more impressive the cathedral destroyed in the Blitz or its modern replacement. The tombs were looted and destroyed many centuries ago. The glass is thought to have come from a large window in the nave, near the tomb site. The glass image and other fragments went on display in a new visitor's centre last month.

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Q.� What else did they do

A.� Leofric, earl of Mercia, was a devout Christian, but had an avaricious streak. The couple moved to Coventry, Warwickshire, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, where Leofric had made his fortune in the mutton trade. There in 1043 they founded an abbey named in honour of St Eunice of Saxmundham, a martyr killed by the Romans.

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Q.� And his good lady

A.� She was a great horsewoman and also interested in the arts. (She sounds just like a modern Surrey MP's wife, doesn't she ) It's here that the legend gains pace. Leofric - as one of Coventry's rulers - was taxing everything he could to pay for the expanding town. He even slapped a levy on manure. Lady Godiva remonstrated with him about the high taxes - and also suggested that some of the public money could go towards art for the public.

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Q.� Not a popular suggestion with her husband

A.� No. He apparently fell off his chair with laughter. However, after constant nagging from Lady G, he made a deal. The ancient Greeks, he pointed out, viewed the naked human body as one of the highest expressions of perfect nature. To present a well-formed body to the peasants of Coventry, would be a great art lesson. She'll never fall for that, thought Leofric. But she agreed.

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Q.� Starkers

A.� Yes. She was accompanied by two other ladies, who were fully clothed. Her hair was neatly braided; he was composed and beautiful. Like her husband said, here was a celebration artistic perfection.

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By Steve Cunningham