Word: leofric
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...revelation also has its embarrassing side: Gytha's great-grandfather was none other than the cruel 11th century Earl Leofric of Coventry, who according to legend agreed to the pleas of his wife-Lady Godiva-that taxes be reduced, but only if she would ride naked through town. In the light of the new British tax hike by a latter-day Harold (Wilson), some Britons may hope that the Godiva instinct is not dead in the breast of her queenly descendant. Elizabeth, after all, is a fine horsewoman...
...public-spirited Lady named Godiva and her husband, Earl Leofric, built Coventry's first great church in 1043; it stood until Henry VIII had it pulled down around 1540. A second-the magnificent Gothic St. Michael's Cathedral-was completed in 1433, and lasted until the night of Nov. 14, 1940, when 500 German planes bombed it in a raid that forever linked the city's name to the destructiveness of modern war. Only the outer walls, tower and spire of St. Michael's were left standing...