History
The first written record of the Godiva Processions is in the Coventry City Annals of 1678. These celebrate and re-enact Godiva's legendary naked ride through Coventry, undertaken to persuade her husband to free the people of the city from the burden of oppressive tolls. Although Godiva certainly existed, the historicity of the ride itself is debated. Godiva, or Godgifu, meaning 'God's Gift', was the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. Apart from references to her donations of land and gifts, there are no mentions to Godiva in contemporary chronicles. The first mention of the ride was over 150 years after her death, and appeared in Wendover's Flores Historiarum in 1190, though this survives only in a fourteenth century manuscipt.
In 1217/18 Henry III granted the Charter for the Great Fair in Coventry, the event with which the Godiva Procession came to be associated. The charter stated that the fair was to begin on the feast day of the Holy Trinity, and continue for eight days. Such a fair would be of great economic benefit to the city and was usually celebrated with a parade by the civic authorities. However, it was over four centuries later that a representative of Godiva was introduced to this procession.
Read more about this topic: Godiva Procession
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