In the footsteps of King Harold
Bayeux
Normandy
Bayeux is 6 miles from Arromanches on the coast and about 14 miles to the west of Caen.
Exterior of the cathedral
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Exterior of the cathedral
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Interior of the cathedral
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A great deal of what we know about the conquest of England by William of Normandy – and of Saxon life – comes from the Bayeux Tapestry, known in France as the Telle du Conquest (the Conquest Cloth). It is, in fact, not a tapestry but an embroidered cartoon.
It is constructed of eight separate pieces of linen about 0.5 metre (1.6 feet) wide, which were joined to make up a length of about 70m (230ft). Once, it was even longer – as much as 7-8m (23-26ft) are missing. It is believed that the missing part would have shown the subsequent career of William the Conqueror.
Its 58 scenes vividly depict the Norman version of what happened from the time that Edward the Confessor reputedly promised the throne of England to William to the moment of Harold's death on the battlefield at Senlac Hill. It contains:
• 623 people
• 500+ creatures (mythical and non-mythical) such as birds and dragons
• 202 horses
• 55 dogs
• 49 trees
• 41 ships
• almost 2,000 Latin words.
The tapestry is also an incomparable document of medieval warfare, costume and social organisation.
It is generally agreed that Odo – archbishop of Bayeux, William's half-brother, veteran of the Battle of Hastings and later earl of Kent – commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry. It was designed and constructed relatively soon after the battle. Once thought to have been embroidered by William's consort Matilda of Flanders, it is now believed to have been created by expert English seamstresses in Canterbury.
The Bayeux Tapestry can be seen in the Centre Culturel Guillaume le Conquérant, near the cathedral.
The Cathedral Notre-Dame de Bayeux, built in the latter part of the 11th century on the site of previous sanctuaries, is one of the most beautiful in France. It was here (but in a much different building) that William compelled Harold to swear an oath of allegiance to him over some sacred relics.
Odo of Bayeux is responsible for the structure we see today. However, only the crypt and the parts of the west towers truly survive from 14 July 1077, the day that the cathedral was dedicated and the Bayeux Tapestry was first displayed.
The cathedral's choir was rebuilt a century later, and the chapels were added in the 14th. The bulk of the stonework is in magnificent Gothic, although the central tower was erected in the 15th century and capped with a 19th-century dome, highly disapproved of by critics. It has a beautiful façade with five sculpted portals, and the work of successive centuries is clearly visible in the vast nave – 102m/335ft long!
Bayeux Tapestry Scene 24
http://rubens.anu.edu.au/htdocs/
laserdisk/0214/21431.JPG
Image from the tapestry showing Harold swearing fealty to William on reliquaries
in Bayeux Cathedral.
The Bayeux Tapestry
http://hastings1066.com/
Enthusiast's site that reproduces the tapestry in its entirety, giving
the Latin text and an English translation. Beware: the site can take a
while to download.
Britain's Bayeux Tapestry at the Museum of Reading
www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/
This tapestry is actually a replica, created by 35 women of the Leek Embroidery Society in Staffordshire in 1885/6. 'The Leek-Reading tapestry is a near replica – but Victorian modesty defeated historical accuracy. When it came to the little naked figures among the wounded and dead in the borders of the scenes of the Battle of Hastings, the ladies of the Leek Embroidery Society felt obliged to give them woollen shorts' (Guardian, 26 March 2001, reporting that Leek wants its tapestry back: '"This is our equivalent of the Elgin Marbles," says Leek councillor Sybil Ralph.')
Medieval Bayeux
http://vrcoll.fa.pitt.edu/medart/
image/France/bayeaux/baymain.html
Part of the Images of Medieval Art and Architecture website, this
has pictures, a floor plan, elevation and section of the Cathedral Notre-Dame
de Bayeux.
