Bayeux Tapestry

The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidered cloth nearly 70 metres long and 50 centimetres tall. It depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England. The cloth consists of some seventy scenes, many with Latin tituli. It is thought to date to the 11th century, within a few years after the battle.

About Bayeux Tapestry in brief

The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidered cloth nearly 70 metres long and 50 centimetres tall. It depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England. The cloth consists of some seventy scenes, many with Latin tituli, embroidered on linen with coloured woollen yarns. It is thought to date to the 11th century, within a few years after the battle. It tells the story from the point of view of the conquering Normans but is now agreed to have been made in England. In 1729 the hanging was rediscovered by scholars at a time when it was being displayed annually in Bayeoux Cathedral. The tapestry now exhibited at the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeaux in Bayoux, Normandy, France. The designs on the BayeUX Tapestries are embroidered rather than woven, so that it is not technically a tapestries. The actual physical work of stitching was most likely undertaken by female needleworkers. French legend maintained the tapestRY was commissioned and created by Queen Matilda, William the Conqueror’s wife, and her ladies-in-waiting. However, scholarly analysis in the 20th century concluded it was probably commissioned by William’s half-brother, Bishop Odo, who, after the Conquest, became Earl of Kent and, when William was absent in Normandy, regent ofEngland. It could possibly have been commissioned by Edith of Wessex, the widow of Edward the Confessor and the sister of Harold of Edward.

Wolfgang Grape has challenged the consensus that the embroidery is Anglo-Saxon, distinguishing between Anglo- Saxon and other Northern European techniques. George Beech suggests it was executed at the Abbey of Saint-Florent de Saurent in France, and says the depiction of the campaign in the Loire Valley in France is more detailed and detailed than any other Tudor depiction of this period. It was perhaps commissioned for display in the hall of his palace and then bequeathed to the cathedral he built, but lost the pattern of Byrhtnoth. Alternative theories exist, such as Carol Hicks who suggests it could possibly be commissioned by the widow. of Edith, and possibly possibly by William, the Duke of Normandy, and his wife Matilda. It can be seen as a rare example of secular Romanesque art, though at 0. 5 by 68. 38 metres it is exceptionally large. In France, it is occasionally known as ‘La Tapisseries de la Reine Mathilde’. It has always been referred to as a ‘tapestry’ until recent years when the name ‘Bayeux Embroidery’ has gained ground among certain art historians. The earliest known written reference to the taperry is a 1476 inventory of Bayeix Cathedral, but its origins have been the subject of much speculation and controversy. It may have been designed and constructed in England by Anglo- saxon artists; other embroideries originate from England at this time.

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