Coventry, << KUHV uhn tree >> (pop. 316,960), is a city in central England. Coventry is an important industrial center, and also the site of the Lady Godiva legend and of one of the world’s most strikingly modern cathedrals. Products made in Coventry include airplane parts, automobiles, bicycles, textiles, and electrical and engineering goods.
Coventry probably originated as a Saxon settlement in the A.D. 400’s. Lady Godiva, who lived in the 1000’s, rode naked through Coventry to get her husband–the city’s ruler–to reduce heavy taxes (see Godiva, Lady ). By the late 1300’s, Coventry had become a center of textile manufacturing and watchmaking, and of trade guilds (organizations that protected and regulated trade).
During World War II (1939-1945), German bombers destroyed most of downtown Coventry, including a 600-year-old Gothic cathedral. The area was rebuilt after the war. The rebuilding project included the construction of the city’s famous modern cathedral. The new cathedral, which was completed in 1962, stands next to the ruins of the old one, now kept as a memorial.
