Burning Questions

A: THERE are two main theories, one which connects the phrase with the time of the Civil War when Coventry was a Puritan stronghold and another which claims that Coventry had an apparent dislike for soldiers - the two theories may be connected.

The most general explanation of the phrase Sent to Coventry is that Coventry was simply an anti-military town and that any soldier stationed there was ignored by the townspeople. So anti-military in their outlook were the Coventry people, that a Coventry woman who once spoke to a soldier is said to have been outlawed.

The first written record of the phrase Sent to Coventry dates to 1647 when it appeared in a publication by Edward Hyde, the Earl of Clarendon, entitled The History of the Great Rebellion. This describes how Royalist prisoners captured at Birmingham were sent to Coventry. However, the phrase is used here in its literal sense.

The Civil War was closely tied to the religion of the time and Coventry was not only a Parliamentarian town but also had a strong Puritan population. A record of 1696 hints at how the phrase Sent to Coventry might be more directly connected with religion. The account states that a particularly religious family at Kidderminster had to move to Coventry so their beliefs would be more widely accepted.

Religious people of a Puritan ilk in other parts of the Midlands may have moved to Coventry for similar reasons. Hostility to Puritans in other towns literally forced Puritans to flee to Coventry. This seems to be the most likely explanation for the phrase.

Q: I THINK that Joanne Rowden, the local actress who played Gary Mallett's girlfriend in Coronation Street, is also a member of the group Bjorn Again, the Abba lookalikes. Am I right? - Joan Keennan, Spennymoor.

A: YOU are right. Joanne, who played Paula Shipley in Coronation Street, is a member of Bjorn Again. Joanne also appeared in the short-lived Newcastle based soap Quayside.

Q: WHO were the Ostrogoths and Visigoths and where did they settle? - Jeff Wilkinson, South Moor.

A: THE Ostrogoths were the eastern Goths as opposed to the western Goths who were called Visigoths. The Goths were an eastern Germanic people who settled near the Black Sea around the 2nd Century AD.

The Ostrogoth's territory corresponded to the present day Crimea and Ukraine, while the Visigoths were found in Dacia (Romania). Both groups were conquered by the Mongol Huns around 370AD. After the fall of the Huns in 455, the Goths rose to power again but many moved west. Most Goths were absorbed by other cultures, but an Ostrogothic culture survived in the Crimea during the later medieval period. The Visigoths conquered Gaul and Spain and held on to southern France and Spain until 711AD when they were defeated by the muslims. The Ostrogoths conquered Italy during the 5th Century.

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