Which Historical Figure Inspired The Name of A Popular Chocolate Brand?
Hi, Good People. How are you today? Hopefully, you enjoy your time at home. Speaking of which, let’s have a little bit of history lesson today.
Among many chocolate brands around the world, there is one that stands
out. This chocolate brand is inspired by a real historical figure. Nope, we are
not talking about a baseball legend here. We are going way back more than his
era.
Photo by Susanne Jutzeler |
Which historical
figure inspired the name of a popular chocolate brand? Check out these interesting facts.
Meet Lady Godiva
Yes, Godiva is a chocolate brand from Belgium. However, that name is
inspired by Lady Godiva, a 900-year-old English legend. She was a noble lady
who lived in the 11th century. She was married to Earl Leofric of
Mercia. Earl Leofric was also known as the Lord of Coventry.
The problem started when Leofric gave such crippling taxes to the
Coventry citizens. Feeling seriously troubled by her husband’s greed and the
people’s suffering from it, Lady Godiva had repeatedly asked him to reduce the
taxes.
Leofric was adamant, so he challenged his wife with this: He would only
reduce the taxes if she dared ride a horse through the center of the town
without wearing anything. Since Lady Godiva was a noble lady, The Lord had
assumed that she would never have done so.
Out of his expectation, Lady Godiva accepted the challenge. She had been
determined to help her people, so she stripped herself naked. Then, she rode on
a horse and started her horse galloping through the market square. The only
thing that had covered herself back then was just her long, flowing hair.
Of course, before doing so, Lady Godiva had ordered the Coventry
citizens to stay home and not have a peek. Unfortunately, a man named Tom could
not help himself and give in to his curiosity. Because of that, he was struck
blind. This is also how the term ‘Peeping
Tom’ came from.
However, that story was considered a myth by many. The real Lady Godiva
was known to be very generous with the church, alongside her husband, Lord Earl
Leofric. The myth was apparently a stretch of a fact popularized by a monk
named Roger of Wendover.
Godiva Chocolate was founded in 1926. This Belgian company sells
chocolate in many flavors, truffles, cocoa, shakes, chocolate liqueur, coffee,
and snacks.
Now you know which historical
figure inspired the name of a popular chocolate brand is from. Not only
that, though. Good People, you can also buy and share Godiva chocolate products
with your loved ones too, since the lady herself was also generous.
Thank you for sticking around.