LADY GODIVA – THE NAKED CRUSADER.

The Coventry Cathedral in England rose like a phoenix from the ruins of the bombed out St. Michael’s Church. In 1940, the Luftwaffe in its ‘Operation Moonlight Sonata,’ reduced to rubble the City of Coventry. The Germans reckoned without the faith and resilience of the people, who on the very next day decided that they would rebuild the Cathedral. Though it took fifteen years for this to happen, the Cathedral today stands proudly as a magnificent modern ‘theatre of worship.’

Beside it stand the ruins of the old church, open to the skies and still considered consecrated ground. Its tower and spire 295 feet high, loom into the skies. The Altar of Reconciliation holds pride of place, but there are many other plaques engraved on the walls. The words “Father Forgive” inscribed on the partially burnt out cross, spell the ethos of the Christian Church.

Most people fail to notice the remnants of very old buildings at the entrance to the Visitors’ Centre. These are the ruins of the earliest church in Coventry, which was dedicated to St. Mary. It was founded as a Benedictine Nunnery by Leofric, Earl of Mercia and his wife Godiva in 1043. With the dissolution of monasteries in 1539, the building fell into decay.

Most of us remember Lady Godiva because of the legend associated with her name. Some women strip for a living; some do it for a lark. Some do it for publicity, but the lovely lady of Coventry did it for a worthy cause. In the 11th century, her husband Leofric levied crippling taxes on the people of Coventry. This saintly woman pleaded with her husband to remit his orders. He agreed to do it on one condition – that she ride naked through the streets of Coventry. A decree was sent out to the people to stay indoors during this time, and bolt their windows and doors. But a tailor who was later called ‘Peeping Tom’ couldn’t contain his curiosity. He drilled a hole in his door to catch a glimpse of the naked lady, but was immediately struck blind.
One wonders why a godly man like Leofric wanted to humiliate his wife. Was it a form of sexual sadism? Or did he want to test whether she was genuinely concerned about her subjects? Her readiness to take up the challenge must have convinced him of her sincerity, and the taxes were promptly withdrawn.
The people of Coventry did not forget the goodness of Godiva. She has been immortalized in black marble. Her naked statue astride a horse, covered only by her cascading hair, stands under a canopy at the Cathedral’s Lane Shopping Centre.
Godiva lived between 997 – 1067 A.D. She was a widow when Leofric married her. Both of them were benefactors of religious houses. After Leofric’s death she was the only woman in England with such major land holdings.

A commemoration of Godiva’s legendary ride was instituted on May 31st 1678, and continued till 1960. But in 1980 after a gap of twenty years, a Coventry resident called Pru Porretta took on the role of present day Godiva. She leads a procession through town on Godiva’s birthday, which culminates in a celebration at the Cathedral ruins. Her aim is to bring various ethnic, cultural and religious communities together, through music, dance and story telling. Her band of helpers, are known as the Godiva Sisters.

Pru breathes the spirit of Godiva. She works with schools and communities, and brings the story of Godiva to life. Her conducted tours through the city are interesting and informative. And for those who would like to explore the darker side of Coventry, she conducts ghost tours too.

Katherine von Bora – Mistress Of The Black Cloister

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A visit to Wittenberg was a pilgrimage long overdue. The town has been immortalized by Martin Luther, the monk who rebelled against the Catholic Church in the 16th century, for selling indulgences to gullible people, as a sacrament of penance. His act of nailing his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg was the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

The entire town pays tribute to its hero through its churches, statues, Theological colleges and various other landmarks. But what struck me when I entered the Luther House where he lived and worked for many years, was the imposing sculpture of Katherine von Bora, a woman who defied tradition and shocked the Christian world of the 16th century with her daring-do. Few applauded her courage. Most thought she was a schemer. Her enemies were many, and friends just a handful. But she proved herself a worthy mistress of the Black Cloister, the house given to Martin Luther by the Elector John, as his permanent residence.

Katherine lost her mother at an early age. Her father, who married again, abdicated his parental responsibilities and admitted her into a Benedictine Convent in Brehna as a boarder. Later, at the age of ten, she was inducted into the convent at Nimbschen for her vocation as a nun. She received a good education, but physical labour and limited quantities of food were part of convent discipline. The child in her must have rebelled against such a difficult and Spartan lifestyle. It was also a cloistered existence with hardly any scope for mingling with the public.

By then, Martin Luther’s Reformation was gaining ground. Based on his deep study of the Bible, he refuted many of the restrictions of the Catholic Church. He realized that sexuality was God’s gift to mankind and was an inseparable part of human nature. Therefore priests should be allowed to marry if they so desired.

Luther’s revolutionary statements made their way through the hitherto impenetrable portals of Katherine’s convent. It incited Katherine and eight other fugitive nuns to flee the convent. They hid themselves in the wagon of a wholesaler Leonard Kopp, who brought goods regularly to the institution. Hidden behind his large fish barrels, they fled to Wittenberg, hoping that the great reformer would take care of their future. They were completely without means or plans, but with a ring leader like Katherine, they were sure that things wouldn’t go wrong.

Luther felt responsible for their resettlement. Some were given in marriage to his friends. Others went back to their parental homes. But Katherine remained, as no one would take her for a wife. She lived as a domestic help in the house of Lucas Cranach the painter.

Luther had no intention of marrying Katherine. He thought she was proud and arrogant. But in the end, because of her growing restlessness and lack of other suitors, he was persuaded to take her as his wife. Critics hollered that Martin had started the Reformation merely to satisfy his sexual needs. Katherine the runaway nun had married her pimp Luther after living in sin for over a year, they said. They predicted that the anti-Christ would be born from the union of a sex-starved nun and a degenerate monk. But these rumours were disproved when the couple had six normal children.

There was nothing passionate about their union. He was forty one and she was twenty six years old. Katherine craved for respectability through marriage to a famous man. The thought of presiding over his home excited her. Practical and down to earth, her management skills overrode Luther’s other-worldliness. His monetary status couldn’t put bread on the table for his family. But when Katherine took over, she initiated many money making schemes such as rearing domestic animals for food and milk, planting kitchen gardens for vegetable and fruit, and providing meals for students of theology.

Luther House is now a museum where one can visit the rooms where he worked and lived. His extensive library of books and manuscripts, photographs, paintings and personal belongings are on all display here.

Katherine’s yearning to possess land and property became an obsession. Though there was much criticism, she had the patronage of the Elector. Most of her economic endeavours were done without Luther’s knowledge. Theirs was not an intellectual partnership, and she had no influence whatsoever over his sermons and writings. But Luther did admire her skills in money management, and always took her side against adverse criticism.
“In domestic duties I defer to Kate,” he said, “Otherwise I am led by the Holy Spirit.”

Katherine was ugly with a long nose and stubborn chin, but she had intelligence and personality. Some biographers describe her as a “quick witted Saxon with a ready tongue.”

After Luther’s death, Katherine lived on at the Black Cloister with her children. But in 1546, when Saxony was in a state of war, she fled to Madgeburg for a while. She lost a lot of her money and property. She returned to Wittenberg in 1548, until the Black Plague threatened the area. Now she fled to Torgau with her family. But her carriage met with an accident, and she suffered injuries. She also suffered a chill from which she never recovered. She died on December 20th, 1552, and was buried at the Church of St. Mary in Torgau.

The marriage of the runaway nun and the rebel monk created history and brought about Luther’s break with monasticism and clericalism. Katherine provided him with the means and the privacy to pursue his writing, teaching and preaching activities.

Katherine loved being wealthy and in total control of her fiefdom the Black Cloister. She was a woman who could shake off animosity and criticism with a decisive shrug of her broad shoulders.