What is the Bayeux Tapestry?
The Bayeux Tapestry, despite its name, is not actually a tapestry, it is eight pieces of embroidered linen, which have been sewn together. It tells the story of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. The original measures 231 feet in length and includes more than 70 scenes with 623 humans, 55 dogs, 202 horses, 41 ships, 49 trees, almost 200 Latin words and more than 500 other creatures such as birds and dragons. We don’t know the exact length of the original tapestry, because the final strip is tattered, although its present length fits pretty closely around the nave of Bayeux Cathedral, in France . It is kept on permanent public display in the city of Bayeaux in Normandy, France. There is also a victorian era replica which is on display in Reading, in Berkshire in the South of England.
Who made it? The Bayeux Tapestry tells the tale of William the Conqueror’s invasion of England through pictorial panels. We do not know for certain who commissioned the tapestry, though the likeliest candidate is William’s half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux from 1050-1097, or one of Odo’s followers.
Nobody is 100% sure where the tapestry was made, a very likely theory put forward was that it was done by women in Canterbury, Kent, where there was a famous school of tapestry who used a style of work very similar to that found on the tapestry itself. The tapestry being overseen by The Normans would ovbiously be giving a Norman prospective of events. It would be good to see this tapestry back in England
A Section of the Bayeux Tapestry