14 October: The Bayeux Tapestry

On this day in 1066 The Battle of Hastings took place. I’ve already covered that, so today I present 10 things you might not know about the Bayeux tapestry, which told the story of the battle from the point of view of the conquering Normans.

1. It wasn’t a tapestry. It’s actually more of an embroidery – the figures are embroidered onto linen rather than woven into the fabric. Nor was it made in Bayeux. It’s called the Bayeux Tapestry because that’s where it has been for most of the time. There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that it wasn’t even made in France, but in England. The Latin text on it uses Old English letter forms, and the style is similar to Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscripts. Some scenes appear to be based on designs in manuscripts held in the library of a monastery in Canterbury – so some historians believe it was made in Canterbury.
2. As for who commissioned it, the generally accepted theory was that it was Bishop Odo of Bayeux, who, after the Conquest, became Earl of Kent and was regent of England when William was away in Normandy. Odo built Bayeux Cathedral, where the tapestry was found. In fact the earliest known written reference to the tapestry is in a 1476 inventory of Bayeux Cathedral.
3. According to French legend, it was commissioned and created by Queen Matilda,  William the Conqueror's wife, and her ladies-in-waiting. This theory has been popular in France, where they sometimes referred to it as "La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde" (Tapestry of Queen Matilda). Another theory suggests the creator was Edward the Confessor’s widow, Queen Edith, who would have wanted to get into William’s good books after the conquest.
4. The tapestry is 70 metres/231 feet long, about the length of three average-sized swimming pools, but only 50 centimetres/20-inches tall. It consists of 70 scenes, which were made separately and then sewn together – somewhat inexpertly, as it happens, since not all the marginal lines line up exactly.
5. It’s actually a bit rude in places. In one scene, a priest is shown, either touching or striking a woman’s face. Nobody knows why this was included but the caption above suggests the woman’s name was Ælfgyva, a common name of the time, meaning “Elf Gift”. Below this scene are depicted two naked men. One of them mirrors the position of the priest and displays his genitals. There are other depictions of naked men throughout, with no apparent connection to the story being told. Not surprisingly, a replica of the tapestry made by Victorian women, kept in a museum in Reading, Berkshire, gave the naked figures underwear, because the garments had been added to the drawings they were working from.
6. It has been removed from Bayeux a couple of times. During the French Revolution, in 1792, the tapestry was confiscated as public property to be used for covering military wagons. However, it was saved from that fate by a lawyer who took it and stored it in his house until the troubles were over, whereupon it was removed to Paris for display at the Musée Napoléon. He wanted to use it as propaganda to gain support for his invasion of England but when he abandoned that idea, he sent the tapestry home. In 1944 it was taken to Paris again, this time by the Gestapo who put it in The Louvre and as the Liberation of Paris approached, were planning to send it to "a place of safety", thought to be Berlin. However, the Liberation happened and the tapestry was returned to Bayeux again where it is on display at the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux. Britain asked to borrow it in 1953 for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II but France refused. There were plans for it to be loaned to Britain sometime after 2020, announced in 2018 but whether that will happen remains to be seen. Perhaps France will decide they don’t want our plague-ridden, Brex-shitty hands on it. It would have been the first time it left France in 950 years.
7. The tapestry includes the first known depiction of Halley's Comet, complete with a bunch of people pointing at it.
8. The final panel, believed to depict William’s coronation, has been missing for centuries. However, in 2013 a bunch of people in the Channel Islands got together and researched and made some educated guesses as to what the final 1.5m would have looked like and re-created it. 416 people contributed at least one stitch to it.
9. The arrow in King Harold’s eye is thought to have been a later addition as well. It’s where we get the idea that Harold was killed by an arrow in his eye but it may not be accurate. We can’t even know for certain that the knight with the arrow in his eye was Harold. It has been assumed to be because he happens to be beneath the words “Harold Rex” in the text. However, death by something being jabbed in the eye was common in illustrations of the time as a punishment for oath breakers. The Normans certainly believed Harold was that. Studies of the scene have suggested that although the arrow was added later, there had been something else in the knight’s eye in the original, possibly a lance.
10. Some historians have claimed that the Bayeux Tapestry is the world’s first British comic strip, designed to tell the Battle of Hastings story to the public, most of whom were illiterate. Hence a lot of violent battle scenes. The naked figures may have been added to make it racier.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

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