THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY
The Bayeux Tapestry portrays the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings in 1066, when William, Duke of Normandy, defeated the Saxon King Harold and became King of England. It is arguably the most important contemporary artifact in English history. The Norman Conquest completely changed the way of life in the separate Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, replacing the Anglo-Saxon governing class with Normans. Commissioned by William’s half-brother Bishop Odo of Bayeux to celebrate the new dynasty, it was probably embroidered at Canterbury to hang in Bayeux Cathedral, in Normandy. The final scenes commemorate the Battle of Hastings, when the English King Harold was slain. Bishop Odo can be seen in several places in the tapestry armed with a club, as priests were not permitted to carry swords.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY
The death of King Edward the Confessor on January 6th, 1066, sparked a succession struggle in England. Made famous by the heroic King Alfred the Great, the Wessex monarchy had been in trouble for some time. There had been a short line of Danish kings in England between King Edward the Confessor and his father, King Ethelred the Unready. Ethelred had been defeated by the Danish King Cnut, so Cnut’s two sons, Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut, were kings after him.
Cnut ruled a huge Scandinavian empire. In his absences, he relied on an ambitious Saxon nobleman, Earl Godwin, to administer England. After the Danish Harthacnut’s death, Godwin backed Ethelred’s son, Edward the Confessor, to be king and married Edward to his daughter. The monkish Edward’s death without heirs left the succession wide open. Claiming a national emergency, Godwin got the Witan - the Anglo-Saxon king’s council - to proclaim his son Harold king the very next day.
But there was an obstacle. Edward the Confessor had probably promised the English throne to his cousin, Duke William of Normandy, with whom he was on good terms. Edward had been brought up in Normandy, his mother Queen Emma was Norman, and he admired all things Norman.
When William heard Harold had become King of England, his rage knew no bounds. As the Bayeux Tapestry shows, before he was king, Harold had been kidnapped in France and rescued by William. The tapestry shows Harold swearing on holy relics to William to back his claim to the English throne. For the rest of the year, William sent threats to Harold, reminding him of his broken vow. In the summer of 1066, with the backing of the Pope, who donated a sacred papal banner, William began his preparations to cross the Channel and claim his inheritance.
The Bayeux Tapestry contains the first image of Westminster Abbey, which had been built by Edward the Confessor. The late king’s funeral took place there, followed by Harold’s coronation. In the next sequence, shortly after Halley’s Comet, Duke William’s men are shown lopping down trees for the boats for the invasion fleet.
Harold had never captured the imagination of the nation. The odds against him were increased when his brother Tostig, Earl of Northumbria, and Harald Hardrada, the King of Norway, invaded northern England shortly before the Normans. Harold defeated them at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on September 25th, but three days later the Normans landed at Pevensey on the south coast. A battle-weary Harold had to rush his exhausted army 300 miles south, leaving much of his force in the north. Those that accompanied him were in poor condition when the Battle of Hastings began on October 14th.
The Saxons took up a position at the top of a hill - now the town of Battle - but they were at a disadvantage because their army only had infantry. They faced Norman knights on horseback (the cavalry), archers, and a superior military commander. The famous Anglo-Saxon shield wall was no protection against the Norman archers. The Bayeux Tapestry shows a knight in armour with an arrow through his eye, who may or may not be Harold. However Harold met his end, he was dead by the end of the battle. Two months later, on Christmas Day 1066, his rival Duke William was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.
The Bayeux Tapestry is in England for the next year as a loan from the French government to the British Museum.
