Editing Lady Godiva (section)

== Degree of nudity ==
While most iterations of the legend describe Godiva riding completely nude, there is much dispute as to the historical authenticity of this notion.<ref>{{cite web|last=Simcox|first=Georgia|title=The Truth Behind The Legend of Lady Godiva|url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/england/articles/the-truth-behind-the-legend-of-lady-godiva/|access-date=21 October 2020|website=Culture Trip|date=21 March 2018|archive-date=20 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020112400/https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/england/articles/the-truth-behind-the-legend-of-lady-godiva/|url-status=live}}</ref>

A more plausible rationale for the legend includes one based on the custom at the time for penitents to make a public procession in their [[Chemise|shift]], a sleeveless white garment similar to a [[Slip (clothing)|slip]] today and one which was certainly considered "underwear" in Godiva's time. If this were the case, Godiva might have actually travelled through town as a penitent in her shift, likely [[Barefoot|unshod]] and stripped of her jewellery which was the hallmark of her [[upper class]] rank. It would have been highly unusual to see a noblewoman present herself publicly in such an unadorned state, possibly bringing about the legend which would later be romanticised in folk history.<ref name="Lady Godiva: The naked truth">{{cite news|date=24 August 2001|title=Lady Godiva: The naked truth|website=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/newsmakers/1507606.stm|access-date=21 October 2020|archive-date=30 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130055209/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/newsmakers/1507606.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Her 'naked' ride has also been considered to provide an insight into how women used their sensuality and bodies to wield power in twelfth century England,<ref>Archer, Allison. (2015) "[https://saberandscroll.scholasticahq.com/article/28449.pdf Finding Truth in the Myth of Lady Godiva: Femininity, Sex, and Power in Twelfth Century England]." In ''The Saber and Scroll Journal'' '''1'''(2).</ref> as well as how her protest formed Coventry's civic identity.<ref>{{cite journal |last=French |first=Katherine L |date=January 1992 |title=The legend of Lady Godiva and the image of the female body |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1016/0304-4181%2892%2990015-Q |journal=Journal of Medieval History |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=3–19 |doi=10.1016/0304-4181(92)90015-Q |issn=0304-4181}}</ref>

Some suggest that the nudity myth originated in [[Puritans|Puritan]] propaganda, designed to blacken the reputation of the notably pious Lady Godiva. Chroniclers of the 11th and 12th centuries mention Godiva as a respectable religious woman of some beauty and do not allude to nude excursions in public.<ref name="Lady Godiva: The naked truth"/> It has also been argued that the story was made up about the pious Lady Godiva in order to attract pilgrims, and therefore, revenue, to Coventry.<ref name="Lady Godiva: The naked truth" />