BAYEUX TAPESTRY

The Bayeux Tapestry is not a tapestry; it is a magnificent embroidery sewn using only 4 different type of stitches and 10 thread colors. The Tapestry -- a linen banner about 70 yards long and 3 feet high -- tells a story of the Norman invasion England in 1066:  its origins, its military course with the triumph of William at the Battle of Hastings, and finally, the crowning of William as King of England.  It was directed to a largely illiterate English and Norman peasantry. 

The panels depict the sequence of events in this important bit of history.                           *Edward the Confessor, elderly and without an heir, selects William of Normandy to be his successor as king.

*Edward sends his brother-in-law Harold to Normandy to inform William that Edward has chosen him as his heir

*William extracts an oath from Harold to not become King of England

*Harold returns to England

*When Edward soon dies, Harold violates his oath and is crowned King of England

*William creates an army to remove Harold for violating his solemn oath

As it concludes, the embroidered work depicts the successful Norman invasion of England in 1066, with Harold’s death and William’s ascension to the throne.

The survival of this masterpiece for almost a thousand years is itself a miracle. Beginning in about 1070 after completion of the tapestry, Bishop Odo the brother of William the Conqueror hung it annually for several days in the cathedral at Bayeux.  For the rest of the year, it was stored in a large wooden box in the cathedral crypt.  It was almost destroyed during the French Revolution. During World War II, the Germans shipped it to Paris from where it was to be moved on to Berlin, but it remained, almost forgotten, in the cellars of Louvre.

Why did Bishop Odo want this history of the Norman invasion made and so publicly hung?  Was the Bayeux Tapestry a propaganda piece prepared by Odo to justify the invasion and give William legitimacy?  Did William invade England because the transition to Harold as king presented him with an opportunity to extend the size and scope of his lands?  Was Harold the true heir to the throne?  All this is unclear from the narration based on this great piece of medieval art.

But, as with many ancient conflicts, the winners write the histories.