Bayeux Tapestry
The Bayeux Tapestry (French: Tapisserie de Bayeux [tapisʁi də bajø]; English: Bayeux Tapestry), also known as the Queen Mathilde Tapestry, is a large embroidered canvas from the XI, with Latin inscriptions, describing the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England, culminating in the Battle of Hastings.
Since the 1980s, the original has been kept and exhibited at the Museum of the Bayeux Tapestry in the city of Bayeux (Calvados) in Normandy, France. The Bayeux Tapestry has been submitted for inscription in 2007 in the Program Unesco for the Memory of the World.
Description
A large embroidered canvas
Although it is called a tapestry (entirely woven ornamental cloth) it is an embroidery where the added threads follow the designed silhouette of the motifs and figures. The base fabric is linen with a plain weave, made up of nine fragments of various lengths, the largest measuring 13.75 m, joined by edging. The resulting set has dimensions that give it part of its exceptional character: 69.55 m long, 50 cm average height and an approximate weight of 350 kg.
Embroidery was done with two techniques, backstitch for the linear outlines of the figures and «stitch of couchage» for their filling. Wool thread was mainly used in four base colors (red, yellow, green and blue) and eight shades from vegetable dyes of the time such as gold, glitter or indigo, which were mixed with finer linen thread. to give relief to certain figures such as arrows and spears.
Origins, destiny and influences
No documents from the time have been found that allow us to know the master author(s), the person who inspired the work, or the date it was made.
According to French tradition, the piece would have been created by Queen Mathilde, wife of William the Conqueror, and her servants, hence the secondary name "Queen Mathilda tapestry". The most widely accepted historiographical hypothesis is that it was made by order of Odo, Archbishop of Bayeux and William's maternal brother, to serve as an ornament to Bayeux Cathedral on the day of its consecration, July 14, 1077.
The homogeneity of the design suggests that it was supervised by a clergyman, with the necessary knowledge of the Latin language despite the Anglo-Saxon words, and executed in the south of England, possibly in Canterbury or Winchester, Kent, where it is known that there were embroidery workshops with masters of both sexes and that he would have wanted to imbue the work detailing the military victory at the Battle of Hastings with both a religious and secular character.
On the one hand, the events of his time are compared with other biblical accounts, especially the taking of Judea by the Babylonians. This significance can be appreciated in the scene of the oath of Harold the Saxon on a reliquary that is similar to the Ark of the Covenant, the winged lions adopted by William are the symbol of Babylon according to the visions of the prophet Daniel, death by an arrow in a Harold's eye similar to Nebuchadnezzar's blinding[citation needed], etc. The profane aspect of the piece is shown in the exaltation of the epic battle and the valiant warriors.
The author or authors would have been inspired by various sources that are recognizable in the work, especially the spiral accounts of traditional columns such as Trajan's column in Rome, Anglo-Saxon biblical manuscripts such as the Cadmion Genesis or Byzantine manuscripts such as the Joshua scroll from the year 1000, kept in the Vatican Library, and the long popular wall paintings of Scandinavia.
A unique work
According to the report submitted to the Unesco registry, to date no Western textile work from the 11th century similar in size and relevance to the Bayeux Tapestry. The tapestry is also unique because it offers information about details prior to the invasion of England that cannot be found in any text of the time, such as the expedition in Brittany illustrated in scenes 18-23 or the Bayeux oath of the scene 26.
The tapestry is a documentary source on the way of life and customs, military and civil architecture, military art, navigation or agriculture of the Norman and English society of the Middle Ages. In it you can count:
- 626 characters,
- 202 horses and mules,
- 55 dogs,
- 505 animals and beasts,
- 37 fortresses and buildings,
- 41 ships and boats.
The graphic quality of the work, with resources to increase drama and action, as well as the fluidity of the narration, shot by shot, bring it closer to the contemporary technique of the comic strip, for which some consider it "the first comic in history", despite its lack of cartoons and the existence of previous works divided into scenes.
History of the tapestry since the 15th century
The tapestry is first documented in the works inventory of Notre-Dame de Bayeux Cathedral from 1476, but it is late in the century XVII when interest in the work aroused and the first reproductions were made, especially the one from 1724 by N.J. Foucault, Mayor of Normandy, which is currently on display in the Print Cabinet of the National Library in Paris.
During the French Revolution, the tapestry could have been lost forever due to the claim of some to use it as a wrapper for an ammunition wagon. Napoleon had it transported to Paris to be exhibited in 1803 as a propaganda action, while the preparations for the subsequently unsuccessful invasion of the United Kingdom.
In 1812, while in storage in the prefecture of Bayeux, it suffered damage which was inventoried by Charles Stothard, who worked on a color reproduction of the tapestry for the Society of Antiquaries in London.
Back in Bayeux (Calvados), it was subjected during the XIX century to various scientific studies and exposed, protected by a glass panel, after its restoration in 1842. Considered a treasure of France, the tapestry was evacuated in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian war.
At the beginning of World War II, the tapestry was again dismantled and evacuated for protection to Sourches (Vienne), near Poitiers (Vienne). The Nazis of the Ahnenerbe-SS, under the supervision of Count Metternich, studied the work which had been transferred to Juaye-Mondaye Abbey. During the Battle of Normandy, the tapestry was deposited in the storerooms of the Louvre Museum in Paris, evading an attempt to take it away by the Germans in the last days of the occupation.
In 1982, the tapestry was restored under the supervision of the French Ministry of Culture and transferred to the premises of an old seminary in Bayeux transformed for its new mission at the Center William the Conqueror.
The work of art
The Theme
The Bayeux Tapestry recounts the events of the Norman conquest of England between 1064 and 1066 and the decisive battle of Hastings, which changed the course of the history of the French and English nations.
The epic tale begins in 1064 when the aging King Edward of England, with no direct heir, sends his brother-in-law Harold the Saxon to France to offer the crown to his cousin-designate successor, William of Normandy. Despite swearing fidelity to William, Harold takes the crown on his return to England when Edward dies suddenly on January 5, 1066. William prepares a large army for several months and lands with his army in Sussex, defeating and killing finally to Harold and his troops in the fields of Hastings.
Style and composition
Contains 58 scenes that carefully and in detail portray the accession to the throne of William I of England. An example is the presence of one of the first artistic representations of Halley's Comet, which was clearly visible in the sky of England between April 24 and 30, 1066 and was interpreted as a bad omen at the coronation of King Harold II. from England. The final section of the tapestry, showing the surrender of the Saxons at Berkhamsted and the coronation of King William in Westminster Abbey, has been lost.
The scenes: Latin inscriptions and story
Scenes 1-6: Harold's Journey to Normandy
- (1) Edward rex Ubi Harold dux Anglorum...
Old King Edward the Confessor gives instructions to Harold the Saxon, who sets off on horseback.
- (2) ...et sui milites equitant ad Bosham...
Harold rides accompanied by his knights carrying falconry falcons to Bosham.
- (3) ...
Bosham Church next to Harold's Palace, where a banquet is being held on the top floor.
- (4)...Hic Harold mare navigavigavit...
Harold embarks with his men for Normandy.
- (5)-(6)...et velis vento plenis venit in terram Widonis comitis Harold...
The crossing of the English Channel and landing of Harold on the north coast.
Scenes 7-17: Capture of Harold and encounter with William
- (7)...Hic apprehendit Wildo Haroldum...
Guy de Ponthieu and his troop (right) arrest Harold just landed, as seen by his bare feet in the water and unarmed.
- (8)-(9) ...et duxit eum ad Belrem et ibi eum tenuit Ubi Harold et Wido parabolant...
Harold is led by Earl Guy to Beaurain Castle, and upon his arrival Guy parleys with Harold.
- (10)-(13)...Ubi nuntii Willelmi ducis venerunt ad Widonem Turold Nuntii Willelmi Hic venit nuntius ad Wilgelmum ducem...
Earl Guy listens to an emissary from Duke William. The emissary arrives at Guy's castle while a dwarf stable boy, Turold, guards the horses. The emissary sets off on his way to report the news of Harold's presence in the country. Guillermo pays attention to the messengers in his castle of Rouen.
- (14)-(17)...Hic Wildo adduxit Haroldum ad Wilgelmum Normannorum ducem Hic dux Wilgelm cum Haroldo venit ad palatium suum Ubi unus clericus et Ælfgyva...
Guy leads Harold on horseback to meet William halfway. Guillermo and his armed men receive Guy and give them Harold, who is respectfully received and taken to the palace. Upon his arrival, William grants an audience, sword in hand, in a large room of the palace. Ælfgyva (an English woman) and a monk (a scene from Unexplained Scenes).
Scenes 18-24: Campaign against Conan of Britain
Hic Willem dux et exercitus eius venerunt ad montem Michaelis et hic transierunt flumen Cosnonis. Hic Harold dux trahebat eos de arena et venerunt ad Dol et Conan fuga vertit Rednes Hic milites Willelmi ducis pugnant contra Dimantes et Cunan keys porrexit
Scenes 25-32: Harold's oath, return and coronation
Hic Willelm dedit Haroldo arma Hic Willelm venit Bagias Ubi Harold sacramentum fecit Willelmo duci Hic Harold dux reversus est ad Anglicam terram et venit ad Edwardum regem Hic portatur corpus Edwardi regis ad ecclesiam sancti Petri Apostoli Hic Edwardus rex in lecto alloquitur fideles et hic defunctus est Hic dederunt Haroldo coronam regis Hic residet Harold rex Anglorum Stigant achiepiscopus Isti mirant(ur) stellam Harold
Scenes 33-43: Preparations for the invasion and crossing
This fragment means that the invasion
Scenes 44-51: Landing in England
Hic nuntiatum est Willelmo de Harold(o) Hic domus incenditur Hic milites exierunt de Hestenga et venerunt ad prelium contra Haroldum rege(m)
Scenes 51-61: Previous maneuvers and harangue to the troops
Hic Willelm dux interrogat Vital si vidisset exercitum Haroldi Iste nuntiat Haroldum regem de exercitu Wilelmi ducis Hic Willelm dux alloquitur suis militibus ut prepararent se viriliter et sapienter ad prelium contra Anglorum exercitum
Scenes 61-68: The Battle of Hastings
Hic ceciderunt Lewine et Gyrth frates Haroldi regis Hic ceciderunt simul Angli et Franci in prelio Hic Odo episcopus baculum tenens confortat pueros
Scenes 68-73: End of combat and defeat
Hic est dux Wilelmus E(usta)tius Hic Franci pugnant et ceciderunt qui erant cum Haroldo Hic Harold rex interfectus est et fuga verterunt Angli
Controversy
Although the historical facts depicted in it may have been exaggerated by political propaganda, with its emphasis on the victory of the followers of William I, the Bayeux Tapestry represents a unique visual document of this historical period. However, some of their representations are inaccurate, such as that of warriors fighting with bare hands, when it is a known fact, through other sources, that the use of gloves in battles and hunts at the time was general.
A full-size copy, completed in 1886, is on display at the Reading Museum in Reading, Berkshire, England, UK.
In popular culture
- A tribute to it was used in the initial credits of the Walt Disney film The rookie witch (1971), starring Angela Lansbury.
- The initial credits of the film Robin Hood, prince of thieves show various scenes of the tapestry.
- The tapestry inspired a gag of the sofa of the popular television animated comedy The Simpsons. In the gag, developed in the visual style of the tapestry, the avatars of the family are counted to achieve their desired sofa.
Complementary bibliography
- David J. Bernstein, The Mystery of the Bayeux tapestry, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1986 ISBN 0-226-04400-9
- Simone Bertrand, La Tapisserie de Bayeux et la manière de vivre au onzième siècle, Saint-Léger-Vauban, Zodiaque, 1966
- Pierre Bouet, François Neveux, Brian Levy, The Bayeux tapestry: embroidering the facts of historyCaen, Presses universitaires de Caen, 2004 ISBN 2-84133-213-6
- Gerald A. Bond, The Loving Subject: desire, eloquence, and power in Romanesque France, Philadelphie, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995 ISBN 0-8122-3322-0
- Andrew Bridgeford, 1066: the Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry, New York, Walker, 2005 ISBN 0-8027-1450-1
- Shirley Ann Brown, The Bayeux tapestry: history and bibliography, Woodbridge; Wolfeboro, Boydell Press; Boydell & Brewer, 1988 ISBN 0-85115-509-X
- Rouben Charles Cholakian, The Bayeux tapestry and the ethos of war, Delmar, Caravan Books, 1998 ISBN 0-88206-090-2
- Meredith Clermont-Ferrand, Anglo-Saxon propaganda in the Bayeux tapestry, Lewiston, E. Mellen Press, 2004 ISBN 0-7734-6385-2
- Richard Gameson, The Study of the Bayeux tapestry, Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1997 ISBN 0-85115-664-9
- Charles Harvard Gibbs-Smith, The Bayeux Tapestry, London; New York, Phaidon; Praeger, 1973
- Wolfgang Grape, Valérie Agéma, Patrick Maubert, La Tapisserie de Bayeux: Monument à la gloire des Normands, Munich, Prestel, 1994 ISBN 3-7913-1577-3
- (in German) Ulrich Kuder, Der Teppich von Bayeux: oder: Wer hatte die Fäden in der Hand?, Frankfurt-am-Main, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 1994 ISBN 3-596-11485-3
- Suzanne Lewis, The Rhetoric of power in the Bayeux tapestry, Cambridge; New York, Cambridge University Press, 1999 ISBN 0-521-63238-2
- Eric Robert Dalrymple Maclagan, The Bayeux tapestryBaltimore, Penguin Books, 1953
- J Bard McNulty, The Narrative Art of the Bayeux tapestry master, New York, AMS Press, 1989 ISBN 0-404-61443-4
- J Bard McNulty, Visual Meaning in the Bayeux tapestry: problems and solutions in picturing history, Lewiston, Edwin Mellen Press, 2003 ISBN 0-7734-6618-5
- Lucien Musset, The Bayeux tapestry, Woodbridge; New York, Boydell Press, 2005 ISBN 1-84383-163-5
- Lucien Musset, La Tapisserie de Bayeux: œuvre d’art et document historique, Saint-Léger-Vauban, Zodiaque, 1989 ISBN 2-7369-0170-3
- Lucien Musset, La Tapisserie de Bayeux, Paris, Zodiaque, 2002 ISBN 2-7369-0281-5
- François Neveux, The Bayeux tapestry, Paris, Jean-Paul Gisserot, 1995 ISBN 2-87747-178-0
- Gale R Owen-Crocker, King Harold II and the Bayeux Tapestry, Woodbridge; Wolfeboro, Boydell Press; Boydell & Brewer, 2005 ISBN 1-84383-124-4
- Michel Parisse, Jean Thouvenin, La Tapisserie de Bayeux, Paris, Denoël, 1983 ISBN 2-207-22866-5
- Frank Merry Stenton, La Tapisserie de Bayeux, Paris, Flammarion, 1957
- Jean Verrier, The Broderie of Bayeux dite tapisserie de la reine Mathilde, Paris, 1946
- David M. Wilson, The Bayeux tapestry: the complete tapestry in colour, London, Thames and Hudson, 1985 ISBN 0-500-23447-7
- David M. Wilson, The Bayeux tapestry, London: Thames & Hudson, 2004 ISBN 0-500-25122-3
- Richard David Wissolik, The Bayeux tapestry: a critical, annotated bibliography with cross-references and summary outlines of scholarship, 1729-1990Greensburg, Eadmer Press, 1990 ISBN 0-929914-08-2