Coventry? Have You been sent there?

Question

Why are people being sent to coventry when not spoken to?
How did this frase come about?

Answer 1

Ive never been to Coventry but none of my friends are speaking to me at the moment so cant ask them for help with your question

Answer 2

i was that bad i got sent from coventry


By far the most popularly believed reason is the story about the Civil War. Around 1648 Oliver Cromwell sent many Scottish Royalist prisoners (who had been fighting for Charles I) to be imprisoned in St. Johns Church in Fleet Street. While exercising in the streets, it was said that the soldiers were completely ostracised by the strongly parliamentarian Coventry folk, hence; people who have been shunned in that way were said to have been "sent to Coventry".

It has also been suggested that because Coventry was a place used to carry out executions, for example, the so called 'heretics' brought here to be burned in the 16th century, another theory is that to be "sent to Coventry" had far more serious connotations. Certainly those poor souls would never have been spoken to again!

Answer 3

Further to earlier answers, St Johns Church, commonly known as Bablake Church was completed in 1350.
It became a prison for hundreds of the troops of The Duke of Hamilton during the Civil War -1647. The People of Coventry were strongly Puritan and were loyal to the parliamentary cause. Such was their loyalty indeed that they shunned all forms of fraternisation with the prisoners who were thus completely ignored. And so it was the phrase "sent to Coventry" was born.

Answer 4

This phrase came about during the English Civil War, during that time, Coventry was a very strong Republican supporting city, and any Royalist prisoners that were caught were sent to Coventry as they would have a very hard time trying to fit in and find work.

That's what the phrase means.

Answer 5

Yet another theory states that there was a garrison in Coventry, so hated by the local population that no one spoke to the soldiers stationed there, so anyone posted was never spoken to.

Answer 6

A nasty, but bashful, boss, from the cloth trade, in Leicester, late 19th century. If one of his workers annoyed him, he'd send them on the cloth-delivery run to Coventry, which took several days, even by bus, in those days, rather than say anything to them.

Answer 7

I think so!!