When someone is deliberately ostracised 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 city of Coventry been picked on?
Where is Coventry?
Coventry is a city near Warwick in the English Midlands. 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 Middle Ages.
It is, of course, famous for being where, according to legend, Lady Godiva is supposed to have ridden naked through the city to protest again the severe taxation that her husband, Leofric, imposed on his tenants.
It is also famed for the devastation left by Luftwaffe bombing raids during the Blitz on Britain during World War II. Photographs of the ruins of Coventry Cathedral became an iconic image of World War II.
Where does 'sent to Coventry' come from?
We don't know exactly where 'sent to Coventry' comes from but one thought is that it stems from the English Civil War, when captured Royalist troops were taken as prisoners to Coventry, which was then a Parliamentarian stronghold. It is thought that the prisoners were not warmly welcomed by locals – therefore starting the meaning of being sent to Coventry as being ignored or ostracised.
By 1811, Grose's The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue defined the term as:
To send one to Coventry; a punishment inflicted by officers of the army on such of their brethren as are testy, or have been guilty of improper behaviour, not worthy the cognizance of a court martial. The person sent to Coventry is considered as absent; no one must speak to or answer any question he asks, except relative to duty, under penalty of being also sent to the same place. On a proper submission, the penitent is recalled, and welcomed by the mess, as just returned from a journey to Coventry
The saying also found its way into popular culture with many fictional books mentioning the saying, particularly children's school stories like Enid Blyton's Malory Towers series.
However it came to be, it seems that the phrase is becoming less common – perhaps as such a bullying punishment has fallen out of step with the modern world. In truth, if someone was literally sent to Coventry today, they would find a modern, bustling cathedral city that serves as home to two universities, and can boast a great heritage and culture. Hardly a punishment!