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Peeping Tom of Coventry
Leofric, Earl of Mercia and Lord of Coventry, imposed some very
severe imposts on the people of Coventry, which his countess, Godiva,
tried to get mitigated. The earl, thinking to silence her importunity,
said he would comply when she had ridden naked from one end of the town
to the other. Godiva took him at his word, actually rode through the
town naked, and Leofric remitted the imposts. Before Godiva started,
all the inhibitants voluntarily confined themselves to their houses,
and resolved that anyone who stirred abroad should be put to death. A
tailor thought to have a peep, but was rewarded with the loss of his
eyes, and has ever since been called Peeping Tom of Coventry. There is
still a figure in a house at Coventry said to represent Peeping Tom.
Matthew of Westminster (1307) is the first to record the story of
Lady Godiva: the addition of Peeping Tom dates from the reign of
Charles II. In Smithfield Wall is a grotesque figure of the inquisitive
tailor in “flowing wig and Stuart cravat.”
In regard to the terms made by Leofric, it may be mentioned that
Rudder, in his History of Gloucester, tells
us that “the privilege of cutting wood in the Herduoles was granted
to the parishioners of St. Briavel's Castle, in Gloucestershire, on
precisely similar terms by the Earl of Hereford, who was at the time
lord of Dean Forest.”
Tennyson, in his Godiva, has reproduced the story.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Peeping Tom of Coventry from Infoplease:
- Peeping Tom of Coventry - Peeping Tom of Coventry Leofric, Earl of Mercia and Lord of Coventry, imposed some very severe ...
- Godiva - Godiva (Lady). Patroness of Coventry. In 1040, Leofric, Earl of Mercia and Lord of Coventry, ...
- Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: P - Definitions, origins, and illustrative excerpts for words, phases, and literary allusions starting with "P"
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