Have you ever wondered about the story of Lady Godiva, the medieval Anglo-Saxon noble, who rode her horse through a town – sans garments! – to get her husband, the vicious duke, to lower taxes for the citizenry? The vicious duke dared her to do this shameless act in exchange for the lowering of taxes, thinking Godiva wouldn’t take the offer. At least, this is what the filthy minded chronicler, Roger of Wendover, tells us.
She was very modest and asked the people to bar their windows and not go outside or look outside during the scheduled ride. Everyone followed her orders, except one peeping Tom who, legend says, went by the name of Doug. Doug, so the legend tells us, was struck blind, only 52 years after he committed this act of Lèse majesté!
Certainly the story has a ring of truth to it – at least the parts about guys named Doug being treasonous subjects, and the part about taxes being too high. Read all about the facts and legends here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/h…/ancient/anglo_saxons/godiva_01.shtml
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