It is said that on this day in 1678, Lady Godiva, a local noblewoman, stripped naked and rode her horse through the town of Coventry in England to protest her husbands harsh taxes on the people working his land. 
Artist: John Collier. 1897
He supposedly initiated the naked ride when, tired at her repeated requests, he told if she would ride through town naked he would review the taxes.
The story follows that Lady Godiva asked all of the towns residents to stay indoors and to shutter their windows while she made her ride and all obeyed except for one young man named Tom who peeped through the crack in the shutters when she rode past. He creating the Peeping Tom of today.
According to the fable Lord Godiva was true to his word and reduced the taxes on the villagers making life much easier for them.
A woman of strength and courage. I aspire to that strength and fortitude, though without the public nudity.
What do you aspire to?
I aspire to public nudity, myself. lol. KIDDING. I've always liked that story of Lady Godiva. Didn't know that is where the "Peeping Tom" expression originated, though. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteI aspire to never riding naked in public and pretty much in private too, especially because my husband's name is Tom and I know he would peep.
ReplyDeleteI aspire to live a peaceful life with lots of friends and family. I aspire to learn new stuff all the time to keep my brain working.
I aspire to sticking by your guns, no matter what, just like the lady above.
ReplyDeleteI apire to simply being a good person.
ReplyDeleteIt's an ongoing struggle. =)
I'm inspired by Peeping Tom!
ReplyDeleteI aspire to trust my instincts and then ACT ON THEM. Easier said than done.
ReplyDelete*sigh*
p.s. thanks for the mention on "Blogs I Love". Much appreciated, Lou :)
ReplyDeleteXanadu: lol you're hilarious
ReplyDeleteLori: Peace is a great aspiration
DD: Not something that you have any trouble with I imagine :-)
Bob: Easier said that done.
Lermontov: LMAO
edder: You're welcome. I agree it's hard to trust our instincts - every bad decision I make through my life makes me second guess my instincts more and more.
I remember hearing this story from a teacher when I was about 9-10 years old. She made a point of saying that Lady Godiva was thought to have beautiful long red hair, was envied and loved. And she gave me a wink.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if she ever realised the AMAZING feeling of pride she gave a little girl who had been mercilessly teased about being a ginger.
What a cool memory sas. The painting I posted reflects a flame haired beauty also so your teacher was obviously right.
ReplyDeleteedder said... I aspire to trust my instincts and then ACT ON THEM. Easier said than done.
ReplyDeleteI have been pondering this for a while, why Tom? WTF? Doubting Thomas, Peeping Tom, TomBoy, for girls for crying out loud and finally TomTom, for a native american Drum, or a car thingie.
I have to trust my instincts on this. I think it really was a Doubting Bartholomew, a Peeping George, a FrancisBoy and JoeJoe. Well i could be wrong.
I had forgotten this story! I always liked how courageous she was.
ReplyDelete