Lady Godiva
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Lady Godiva, in Old English Gōdgifu, was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries.
Lady Godiva by John Collier, c. 1897, in the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry.
Lady Godiva: Edmund Blair Leighton depicts her moment of decision (1892)
Lady Godiva, a statue by Sir William Reid Dick unveiled in 1949 in Broadgate, Coventry, a £20,000 gift from W. H. Bassett-Green, a Coventrian. (pictured in 2011)
19th-century equestrian statue of the legendary ride, by John Thomas, Maidstone Museum, Kent
Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia
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Ælfgar was the son of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, by his famous wife Godgifu. He succeeded to his father's title, Earl of Mercia, and responsibilities on the latter's death in 1057. He gained the additio
Lady Godiva
…a man named Thomas watched her ride and was struck blind or dead. Godiva was the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. They had nine children; one son was Ælfgar. Godiva's name occurs in charters and the Domesday survey, though the spelling varies. The Old English name Godgifu or Godgyfu meant "gift of God…
Roundel from the Guthlac Roll depicting various benefactors to St Guthlac's shrine, including King Æthelbald of Mercia, Abbot Thurketel and Earl Ælfgar.