THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY EXPLAINED
Sally Mabey of Culverhouse Cross WI visited Cowbridge U3A History Group in June 2018 to give a talk on the Bayeux Tapestry. She brought the whole of the amazing creation with her, albeit in the form of a CD-ROM which could be shown publicly for educational purposes.
It’s not actually a tapestry (something woven on a loom), but a hand-stitched embroidery; the name, however, is here to stay. The French appellation translates as ‘The Tapestry of Queen Matilda’.
The work, likened to a medieval strip cartoon, was probably commissioned by Bishop Odo, the half-brother of William the Conqueror, embroidered on linen in Canterbury by groups of Saxon ladies, completed around 1077 and meant to be a wall hanging. The Latin text appears to have been added as an afterthought.
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There are errors; for example, the death of King Edward the Confessor is shown after his funeral has been depicted. Liberties are taken with perspective.
The last section is missing, and there has been water damage and some repair work, which has resulted in colour changes. The whereabouts of the Tapestry for a 400 year period are unknown, but now it is displayed, 232 feet long and 18-20 inches wide, under subdued lighting, in a purpose-built museum in Bayeux. Despite being over 900 years old, the colours are strikingly vivid.
The story of 1066 is well-known; Harold’s capture when his ship is blown off-course in the Channel, how he swore an oath (under duress) to support William of Normandy’s claim to the English throne but subsequently became king himself after the death of the saintly Edward the Confessor, leading William to gather a formidable force together to invade England; how the arrival of Harald Hardrada of Norway and Harold’s treacherous brother Tostig at the head of a marauding Viking fleet in Yorkshire compelled the English army to deal with that threat successfully, before marching south to Hastings to confront the just-landed William and his troops. The already-weakened Saxon army was defeated and Harold was killed (scholars still debate whether or not by an arrow in the eye). William became known as ‘the Conqueror’.
The Tapestry is set to return to the UK on loan in 2022, when the museum in Bayeux undergoes refurbishment.
If you don’t want to wait that long to view it, Reading Museum has a full size copy of the Bayeux Tapestry on display. It was made by 35 women members of the Leek Embroidery Society, under the direction of motivating force Elizabeth Wardle, in 1885. The replica is based on hand-coloured photographs held in the South Kensington Museum, which is probably why the colours are not so vibrant. The photos were apparently also censored, which is why all the little naked figures in the borders of the original work are either very indistinct or have been given woollen shorts in the copy!
Steve Monaghan