The Bayeux Tapestry: William The Bastard

How could a Norman bastard possibly hope to be hallowed in the annals of time by plummeting into an English beach? The Bayeux Tapestry depicted William of Normandy’s conquest of England and the events leading up to it. While physically collapsing onto an English beach may have seemed like a foolish beginning, William the Conqueror, then known as William the Bastard or Duke William of Normandy, was certainly not a fool in regards to laying the Norman yoke on English soil. Harold Godwinson, the disputed king of England, met the end of his own tapestry in the war; therefore, William the Bastard was crowned king, and became known as William the Conqueror by his supporters. The tapestry survives after nearly a millennium to tell the tale. The tapestry itself is quite large, measuring twenty inches high and two hundred thirty feet long. It had seventy five scenes, with some now missing, depicting the conquest and describing it with Latin inscriptions known as tituli. It is not a true tapestry in a sense, as it is not woven directly into cloth, but instead embroidered with wool yarn sewn into linen cloth.
The tapestry was likely woven in Canterbury circa 1070, presumably by Anglo-Saxon embroiderers due to their renowned skill. Bishop Odo, William’s half brother, commissioned it. Due to
In the first scene, he is meeting with the king and carrying a hawk. Following the meeting, he travelled to his estate with his followers and dogs. During the second scene, he enters a church near his estate with a friend to pray for a safe voyage. He then board his ship and set sail for Ponthieu, hawk still in hand. In the third scene of his journey to Normandy, his ship crossed the English channel and landed in the territories of Count Guy. Count Guy’s soldiers captured Harold immediately after his