Lady Godiva
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**Blake noted that "If the references to Abbot Leofric and Cnut are correct the bequest must have been made between c.1022 and c.1029 and this cannot be the famous Godgifu, the wife of Earl Leofric of Mercia, as he did not die before 1057, nor the Godgifu, wife of Earl Siward". However, _Liber Eliensis_ was composed late in the 12th century, so that accuracy of chronological detail long before is hardly to be expected. | **Blake noted that "If the references to Abbot Leofric and Cnut are correct the bequest must have been made between c.1022 and c.1029 and this cannot be the famous Godgifu, the wife of Earl Leofric of Mercia, as he did not die before 1057, nor the Godgifu, wife of Earl Siward". However, _Liber Eliensis_ was composed late in the 12th century, so that accuracy of chronological detail long before is hardly to be expected. | ||
| − | **There is no other reference to | + | **There is no other reference to an earl's widow named Godiva in the text, and none at all to Earl Leofric. However see next |
| − | *Note: that | + | Peter Stewart posting to Gen-Med 25 Aug 2007 states : "...the same woman with a devotion to the nun Ætheldreth is clearly the subject of a second chapter, no. 83 in book 2 (page 151), as follows: |
| + | |||
| + | <blockquote>"Tunc restat edicere, qualiter fidelis Domini Godiva Ælfricum episcopum et | ||
| + | Leofricum abbatem de Ely per scripta salutavit et quod de salute sua eis | ||
| + | ostendere voluit. Sic quoque ait: O domini mei, ego infelix mulier, quamvis | ||
| + | circa salutem anime mee minus provide intenderim et tempus exitus mei | ||
| + | instat, cum adhuc licet operari, beatitudini vestre insinuo, quid ad dominam | ||
| + | meam sacratissimam virginem Æðeldreðam in Ely constituo fieri de bonis meis | ||
| + | atque concedo. Hoc est, terram de Berchinges, que mihi iuris est parentum | ||
| + | hereditate, illic perpetualiter impertior, ut apud eos mei iugiter memoria | ||
| + | sit." </blockquote> | ||
| + | |||
| + | <blockquote>(Then it remains to establish how the Lord's faithful Godiva greeted Bishop | ||
| + | Ælfric and Abbot Leofric of Ely in writing, and what she determined to lay | ||
| + | before them with regard to her salvation. She expressed herself thus: O my | ||
| + | lords, I, an unhappy woman, with however little prescience I have exerted | ||
| + | myself to save my soul, now that the time of my death is near, since making | ||
| + | amends is allowed me, I put to your reverences what I am arranging to be | ||
| + | done with my possessions and what I am bequeathing to my lady the most holy | ||
| + | virgin Ætheldreth in Ely. This is, the estate of Barking, which is mine by | ||
| + | right of parental inheritance, is granted in perpetuity, in order that my | ||
| + | memory may be held amongst them always). </blockquote> | ||
| + | |||
| + | *"Blake noted to this passage, "Perhaps the same as the Godgifu of ch. 81" - | ||
| + | this seems more than likely to me - "The bishop is probably Ælfric II of | ||
| + | Elmham who succeeded sometime after 1022 and died in 1038...and the outer | ||
| + | limits for the date of this bequest are no more closely defined than by the | ||
| + | probable dates of Leofric's tenure of the abbacy 1022 x 1029". | ||
| + | |||
| + | *"Given the specific indications twice over that this Godiva lived in the time | ||
| + | of Abbot Leofric, and the account that she wrote to him and to a named | ||
| + | bishop who was dead in 1038, it appears that Godiva the countess of Earl | ||
| + | Leofric of Mercia cannot be the woman in question. The late 12th-century | ||
| + | monk was probably taking his information from records, copies or originals, | ||
| + | held in the abbey, including this lady's will that he mentioned as written | ||
| + | in English and perhaps her letter that if quoted directly was a separate | ||
| + | document, or maybe a translation prepared for her in Latin because it was | ||
| + | intended for important churchmen and not for her family. | ||
| + | |||
| + | *"It's also possible that this Godiva was childless, since "infelix" used by | ||
| + | women can mean "barren" as well as "unhappy", and that might make sense in | ||
| + | the context of her testament, although describing oneself as miserable over | ||
| + | not being better prepared spiritually for the afterlife was conventional. " | ||
| + | |||
| + | *Note: that the combination : Easter, Fambridge and Terling is also represented in that same sequence on the spurious charter S1051 [http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=find&type=charter&page=&archive=&kingdom=&king=&sawyer=&text=Terling&display=JUST_BLURB here] (wsj) | ||
*Terry Booth, in a posting to Gen-Med 2 Sep 2007 states : "The person referred to in the Godgifu 'Liber Eliensis' record may be [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Etheldreda St. Æthelthryth of Ely], from whose worship apparently derives the word 'tawdry'. The following Domesday record also suggests that Godgifu of Ely may have survived to the time of King Edward, since she would seem a match to this Rendlesham, Suffolk property owned by Hervey de Bourges TRW. | *Terry Booth, in a posting to Gen-Med 2 Sep 2007 states : "The person referred to in the Godgifu 'Liber Eliensis' record may be [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Etheldreda St. Æthelthryth of Ely], from whose worship apparently derives the word 'tawdry'. The following Domesday record also suggests that Godgifu of Ely may have survived to the time of King Edward, since she would seem a match to this Rendlesham, Suffolk property owned by Hervey de Bourges TRW. | ||
