Lady Godiva statue by Sir William Reid Dick unveiled at midday on 22 October 1949 in Broadgate, Coventry, a £ 20, 000 gift from Mr WH Bassett-Green, a Coventrian.

The Old English name Godgifu or Godgyfu meant " gift of God "; Godiva was the Latinised version.

They are found in the Celtic region ( Dumnorix: " king of the world "; Kennedy: " ugly head "), in Indo-Aryan languages ( Asvaghosa: " tamer of horses "); in Greek ( Socrates: " good ruler ", Hipparchos: " horse master "; Cleopatra: " from famous lineage ") in Slavic languages ( Vladimir: " great ruler "); in the Germanic languages ( Alfred: " elf-counsel "; Godiva: " gift of God "), and in the Anatolian languages ( Piyama-Radu: " gift of the devotee?

In addition to chocolates, Godiva also sells truffles, coffee, cocoa, biscuits, dipped fruits and sweets, chocolate liqueur, shakes, wedding and party favors and other items arranged in gift baskets.

He was also the sculptor of the imposing bronze statue of Stewie Griffin in London's Grosvenor Square ( facing the United States Embassy ), the George V by the House of Lords and another in Jersey, the John Soane statue at the Bank of England, and the equestrian statue of Lady Godiva, which was stolen on 22 October 1949 in Broadgate, Coventry, England, a £ 20, 000 gift from Mr WH Bassett-Green, a Coventrian.

Coventry Climax built two notable engines un-raced in their original form — first the V8 FPE (" Godiva "), which was intended for the start of the 2. 5 L Formula One in 1954.

Connaught designed a new car for the 2½ litre Formula 1 of 1954 which was to have a rear-mounted Coventry Climax V8 engine ( the " Godiva "), but when the engine was not proceded with, a conventionally arranged " B " type was designed using an Alta engine developed into 2½ litre form.

In the same year he also appeared in Lady Godiva Rides Again and The Galloping Major ; in 1956 he had a non-comic supporting role as a journalist in the science-fiction film Quatermass 2.

A male voyeur is commonly labeled " Peeping Tom ", a term which originates from the Lady Godiva legend.

Godwin has been portrayed by Torin Thatcher in the film Lady Godiva of Coventry ( 1955 ) and by Bill Wallis in an episode of the British educational TV series Historyonics entitled " 1066 " ( 2004 ).

On screen he has been portrayed by Eduard Franz in the film Lady Godiva of Coventry ( 1955 ), George Howe in the BBC TV drama series Hereward the Wake ( 1965 ), Donald Eccles in the two-part BBC TV play Conquest ( 1966 ; part of the series Theatre 625 ), Brian Blessed in Macbeth ( 1997 ), based on the Shakespeare play ( although he does not appear in the play itself ), and Adam Woodroffe in an episode of the British TV series Historyonics entitled " 1066 " ( 2004 ).

He then had uncredited bit parts in several other films, such as Lady Godiva of Coventry and Never Say Goodbye ( 1956 ), as well as a small speaking role in Francis in the Navy.

Instead, the number was replaced by one featuring Buster Keaton, though Dressler did pose for stills wearing a Lady Godiva wig.

She made her feature debut as a beauty contest entrant in Lady Godiva Rides Again ( 1951 ) and had a number of other minor film appearances in the UK.

In the painting of Lady Godiva by Jules Joseph Lefebvre, the authentic historical person is fully submerged in the legend, presented in an anachronistic high mediaeval setting.

Eustace has been portrayed on screen by Leslie Bradley in the film Lady Godiva of Coventry ( 1955 ) and by Joby Blanshard in the two-part BBC TV play Conquest ( 1966 ), part of the series Theatre 625.

Alternatively, it has also been argued that Leofric, Earl of Mercia and his wife Lady Godiva were Hereward's real parents.

Lady Godiva was the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia.

Lady Godiva by John Collier ( artist ) | John Collier, c. 1897, Herbert Art Gallery and Museum

According to the popular story, Lady Godiva took pity on the people of Coventry, who were suffering grievously under her husband's oppressive taxation.

Lady Godiva appealed again and again to her husband, who obstinately refused to remit the tolls.

Lady Godiva took him at his word and, after issuing a proclamation that all persons should stay indoors and shut their windows, she rode through the town, clothed only in her long hair.

Lady Godiva: Edmund Blair Leighton depicts the moment of decision ( 1892 )

The later embellished episode of " Peeping Tom ", who alone among the townsfolk peeked at the Lady Godiva riding naked, probably did not originate in literature, but came up through popular lore in the locality of Coventry.

According to an 1826 article submitted by a person well-versed in local history identifying himself as W. Reader, there was already a well-established tradition before his time that there was a certain tailor who had taken a peek at Lady Godiva, and that at the annual Trinity Great Fair ( now called the Godiva Festival ) featuring the Godiva processions " a grotesque figure called Peeping Tom " would be set on display, and it was a wooden statue carved from oak.

W. Reader dates the first Godiva procession to 1677, but other sources date the first parade to 1678, and on that year a lad from the household of James Swinnerton enacted the role of Lady Godiva .</ br >

If she were the same Godiva who appears in the history of Ely Abbey, the Liber Eliensis, written at the end of the 12th century, then she was a widow when Leofric married her.

The manor of Woolhope in Herefordshire, along with four others, was given to the cathedral at Hereford before the Norman Conquest by the benefactresses Wulviva and Godivausually held to be this Godiva and her sister.

The place where Godiva was buried has been a matter of debate.

Dugdale ( 1656 ) says that a window with representations of Leofric and Godiva was placed in Trinity Church, Coventry, about the time of Richard II.

Some historians have discerned elements of Pagan fertility rituals in the Godiva story whereby a young " May Queen " was led to the sacred Cofa's tree perhaps to celebrate the renewal of spring The oldest form of the legend has Godiva passing through Coventry market from one end to the other while the people were assembled, attended only by two knights.

Pennant noted that the person enacting Godiva in the procession was not fully naked of course, but wore " silk, closely fitted to her limbs ", which had a color resembling the skin's complexion.

Colliers ' Lady Godiva ( above ) was bequeathed by social reformer, Thomas Hancock Nunn.

The Domesday Book of 1086, records that Atherstone was held by Countess Godiva.

His treatment of the subject of Lady Godiva was praised by William Gifford and William Wordsworth.

Some folk figures are based on semi or actual historical people whose story has been passed down centuries ; Lady Godiva for instance was said to have ridden naked on horseback through Coventry, the heroic English figure Hereward the Wake resisted the Norman invasion, Herne the Hunter is an equestrian ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park, and Mother Shipton is the archetypal witch.

Contrary to certain reports, the name has nothing to do with Leofric, an 11th-century Earl of Mercia ( most famous for being the miserly husband of Lady Godiva ).

The story is particularly doubtful since Countess Godiva would herself have been responsible for setting taxation in Coventry ; Salic law, which excluded females from the inheritance of a throne or fief, did not apply in Anglo-Saxon society.

There was settlement and possibly a church in Anglo-Saxon times: Domesday Book records Lower Penn as having belonged to Countess Godiva of Mercia and Upper Penn to her son, Earl Algar.

Godiva or Lady Godiva was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry, in England, in order to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation imposed by her husband on his tenants.

Peeping Tom is a character in the legend of Lady Godiva who watched Godiva riding naked.

In the reign of Edward the Confessor Newark belonged to Godiva and her husband Leofric, Earl of Mercia, who granted it to the monastery of Stow in 1055, who retained its incomes even after the Norman Conquest as came under the control of the Norman Bishop Remigius de Fécamp.

It is named after Lady Godiva, the Saxon woman who, legend has it, rode naked through the city of Coventry.

The economic problems of the 1930s hit the business hard and Leonard Pelham Lee, who had taken over from his father, diversified into the production of water-pumping equipment and the " Godiva " was born.

Canute thus acquired Badby and later transferred it to Norman's brother, the Earl Leofric of Mercia, who had supported Canute and was married to the famous Godiva ( or Godgifu ).

Godiva was founded in 1926 in Brussels, Belgium, by Joseph Draps who opened his first boutique in the Grand Place in Brussels under its present name, in honour of the legend of Lady Godiva.

According to the popular story, Godiva took pity on the people of Coventry, who were suffering grievously under her husband's oppressive taxation.

Godiva was a lady who through Coventry did ride --

One plaque, ' Plough and Lady ', depicts Lady Godiva, who owned Highley Manor in the 11th Century.

The first of these was Leofric, husband of Godiva, heroine of the Coventry legend, and the earldom descended through his son Ælfgar to Edwin, his grandson, who was in possession at the time of the Norman conquest.