Where does the saying ‘sent to Coventry’ come from? We take a look at its possible roots <\/p>
When someone is deliberately\u00a0ostracised and treated as if they are not there we often say they have been ‘sent to Coventry’. But where does this saying come from? Why has the Warwickshire<\/a> city of Coventry been picked on?<\/strong><\/p> Coventry is a city near Warwick<\/a> in the English Midlands<\/a>. Thanks to its place at the centre of the cloth and textiles trade, the city was one of the most important cities in England during the\u00a0Middle Ages.\u00a0<\/p> It is, of course, famous for being where, according to legend, Lady Godiva<\/a> is supposed to have ridden naked through the city to protest again the severe taxation that her husband, Leofric, imposed on his tenants.<\/p> It is also famed for the devastation left by Luftwaffe bombing raids during the Blitz<\/a> on Britain during World War II. Photographs of the ruins of Coventry Cathedral became an iconic image of World War II. <\/p> We don’t know exactly where ‘sent to Coventry’ comes from but one thought is that it stems from the English Civil War, when\u00a0captured Royalist\u00a0troops\u00a0were taken as prisoners to Coventry, which was then a\u00a0Parliamentarian\u00a0stronghold. It is thought that the prisoners were not warmly welcomed by locals \u2013 therefore starting the meaning of being sent to Coventry as being ignored or ostracised.<\/p>Where is Coventry?<\/h2>
Where does ‘sent to Coventry’ come from?<\/h2>