How much you know about Godiva Chocolatier

Many people enjoy eating Godiva chocolates, and send them as festive gifts to friends or families during holiday seasons. We believe a lot of you are familiar with Godiva’s logo- a naked long-hair woman on the horse back. But why did Godiva Chocolatier use this image as their trademark?

Godiva Chocolatier first appeared in Brussels, Belgium. It was founded in 1926 by the master of chocolate, Joseph Draps, and was named after the legendary Lady Godiva. It is said that in about the year 1040, the Earl of Leofric the Dane, who ruled Coventry (Coventry: a city in the middle of England), decided to impose heavy taxes on the people in order to support the army, makes people's lives miserable. The Earl's kind and beautiful wife Mrs. Godiva couldn’t bear to see the people suffer and decided to plea the Earl to cut taxes and reduce the burden of the people. Earl Leofric was very angry because he thought that Mrs. Godiva’s act was making him ashamed. But Mrs. Godiva didn’t give up; she tried to convince the Earl that these people are respectful good people, so she made a bet with him- she will ride a horse through all the streets in the city without any clothes, only to cover herself with her long hairs; if the people all stay in their house and no one tries to take a peek on her naked body, she wins, and the Earl has to cut the taxes. The next day, she does what she said, and all the people from Coventry stay indoors and Mrs. Godiva kept her integrity. After this, Earl Leofric kept his promise and announced to reduce taxes for all the people in the city. This is the famous legend of Godiva. Until this day, many European works of art such as tapestries, oil paintings, sculptures and literatures also contain portraits of Mrs. Godiva to praise her for her kindness.