The Bayeux Tapestry Explained

[Music] in an iconic age characterized by great men such as harold godwinson howard hardrada and william the conqueror the whole saga of 1066 and the norman conquest will also be forever linked with its most famous physical legacy the bayer tapestry not technically a tapestry but an embroidery stretching to 70 meters in length the survival of this medieval comic strip of the events leading to duke williams invasion and the battle of hastings dates from the time providing an invaluable if arguably biased source for the time the tapestry depicts the key events of 1064-66 the context is harold's journey from bosom in england to the continent initially harold is captured by a vassal of william gee of pontius but handed over to duke william the two men then campaign together in brittany before harold swears his infamous oath to william and returns home events then accelerate as king edward the last king of the native house of wessex that descended from king alfred the great dies his funeral is depicted but not before another controversial slide shows the dying king nominating harold as his successor the tapestry then shows william's preparations for war and invasion finally the later slides depict duke williams battle to rest the english crown from the perjured king howard traditional french legend holds that the embroidery was commissioned and created by none other than mathilde queen of the conqueror herself and her ladies in waiting however modern 20th century scholarly consensus is that it was in fact commissioned by odo half-brother of duke william and the bishop of bayer an obvious indication of odo's commission is the general pro-odo theme of the work bishop being featured prominently at points as we shall see with his rallying of williams troops at a crucial point of the battle of hastings being particularly emphasized since odo was bishop in bayer and earl of kent in england it is likely he had the embroidery stitched in that region possibly by english seamstresses in canterbury for having it transferred to his seat in normandy where it resides to this day this video is a semi-commentary on this miraculous artifact that depicts arguably the most important events in medieval english history that it has survived the nine and a half centuries to the present day is nothing less than remarkable the coming presentation is a direct narration of the slides in order and translated from the latin with added commentary on selected slides [Music] king edward [Music] where harold and earl of the english and his soldiers ride to bosom [Music] the church bosom was the seat of the godmanson family and a great port of the time the church depicted here actually still stands today [Music] here harold sailed the sea the wind full in his sails the motives for why harold did this are still hotly debated to this day norman's sympathizers maintain that harold was deliberately sailing to normandy to confirm king edward's promise of the throne to william which he allegedly made in around 1052. more likely either harold was simply shipwrecked in the region or his journey was deliberate but diplomatic and with the intention of rescuing two of his relatives a younger brother wolfenoff and a nephew hakon from norman captivity safely assuming harold wasn't stupid he seems to have had no idea that duke william coveted the throne and made the journey to free the hostages taken during a political crisis in 1051-2 he likely had no idea he was walking or sailing in this case into a trap [Music] he came to the country of count gee here ghee seizes harold and led him to borren kept him there [Music] so this chap is gee of pontius who was a count ally to william duke of normandy he initially fought against the rising william at the battle of mortimer in 1054 and was held as a prisoner for two years eventually being freed and becoming a duke or battle harold then was unfortunate to fall into gee's hands in 1064. [Music] [Music] where harold and gee talk [Music] where the messengers of duke william came to gee [Music] [Music] williams messengers [Music] hear the messengers come to duke william [Music] here gee brought harold to william duke of the normans [Music] [Music] here duke william comes to his palace with harold [Music] where there is a cleric and elf gear this slide is intriguing if unfortunately vague the name of the lady is a common anglo-saxon name what is actually going on here is a mystery the cleric touches her face but is this a blessing or even some reference to some kind of norman sex scandal or perhaps even a deeper reason for harold's journey support for the sex scandal take may come from the curious figure in the margin it's also known that harold had a sister of the same name which may indicate she was betrothed to a norman man sadly we just can't know any of this for sure [Music] here duke william and his army came to monsanto and here they crossed the river kusnon here do carol pulled them out of the sand this slide depicts harold as a particularly impressive warrior the earl rescuing two of duke williams knights at once from the quicksands of monsanto as they crossed into brittany and while holding his shield as well so it's no wonder that sources indicate that though williams supposedly let it be known that he would face harold one-on-one if the opportunity arose at hastings when the king was exposed and possibly wounded with the arrow in the eye the duke wisely sent a picked squad of knights to finish off his foe perhaps recalling his feat of strength so he fought better of it in the end and they came to dole and conan fled [Music] wrens [Music] here duke williams soldiers do battle with the men of dinan here duke williams soldiers do battle with the men of dinan and conan surrendered the keys here william gave arms to harold this event is important as another subtle plank of justification for duke williams later conquest the tapestry it must always be recalled was essentially norman propaganda the knighting of harold would have been highly symbolic for william and the normans given harold swore to be william's man and williams swore to protect harold though the later oath is highlighted as the major betrayal it was underlined by this new relationship too hal then didn't just perjure himself by claiming the throne later but also turned on his feudal overlord here william came to bayer where harold swore a sacred oath to duke william [Music] here earl harold returned to the english land [Music] and came to king edward so i've always personally found this slide intriguing and in my opinion highly telling so edward clearly looks indignant looming large in the center his finger pointing accusingly meanwhile harold is bent low as if nervously explaining the circumstances of each trip it's weird isn't it what why the controversial depiction if the whole trip was planned or even ordered by king edward haddad would oppose the journey to begin with did he know very well that william whom he almost certainly knew personally from his time in exile in normandy would use the opportunity to do exactly what he did which was to create a firm basis at least in his and his followers minds to invade england later [Music] here is carried the body of king edward to the church of saint peter the apostle edward's death and funeral really kicks off events but events are rather confusingly mixed in terms of chronology here sir edward's funeral procession heads to westminster abbey which was commissioned by edward the king having fallen ill around christmas 1065 and finally dying on january 5th 1066 here king edward in bed speaks to his faithful and here he is dead faithful is obviously a rather ambiguous term though we can deduce who is who in this important slide the woman here is likely queen edith who survived both her husband's death and william's initial conquest until her own death in 1075. edith was generally devoted to edward though she was resented as the daughter of godwin harold and edith's father whom edward hated for his power and allegedly causing these younger brothers death 1036 before ed would even become king edward and edith's marriage had been a political match in 1045 designed to cement godwin's support of edward's kingship the man is odds on a depiction of harold significantly we can see king edward touching his hand was this a last minute change of heart had edward settled on harold as his preferred successor here they have given the crown of king to harold here sits harold king of the english the king's axe is offered to harold who already holds his own as well as the crown for those unfamiliar with anglo-saxon succession customs edward's designation of harold was not the deciding factor of harold's succession but still important if it even happened traditionally the wittan or council of leading men elected an eifling of the old house of wessex as king but the only available heir a boy named edgar was a teenager at the time and presumably no match for the viking and norman pretenders who would likely soon invade given king edward's death so harold was the logical choice at the time the tapestry depicts this election well two nobles presenting the crown to harold he's a session lawful if dubious considering his oath at least to normanize another point i will make here is the depiction of stigand presiding over proceedings this is almost certainly wrong historically stigand was a very controversial figure created archbishop of canterbury in 1052 but excommunicated by successive popes for holding both canterbury and winchester simultaneously stigand also replaced the scheming norman archbishop robert of jumiege who had been a staunch anti-godwin supporter king edward robert's exile in 1052 with godwin's return caused him to create a huge stink in rome depicting himself as a wrongly deposed archbishop which added to the animosity towards stigand his replacement harold was too astute to politician and diplomat not to know the consequences of allowing this arguably illegitimate archbishop to preside over his own coronation it's almost certain then that the other man capable of crowning him the archbishop of york eldridge actually did so though such a depiction doesn't help to undermine harold's claim does it and so isn't shown to us here these men wander at the star the star depicted is famously hayley's comet yet to the norman medieval mind such an appearance would have presaged doom or some great events which proved true to them we could see this in how harold is depicted not as before as a confident and enthroned king but now as a twisted usurper haunted by thoughts of an invasion fleet which is depicted in the margins there [Music] here an english ship came to the land of duke william here duke william ordered ships to be built [Music] here the ships are dragged to the sea [Music] men carry arms to the ships and here they pull a wagon with wine and weapons [Music] here duke william in a great ship [Music] here duke william in a great ship the sea crossed [Music] the sea crossed and came to pevensey [Music] here the horses leave the boats [Music] and here soldiers hurried to hastings to seize food [Music] here is wadard here meat is cooked [Music] here meat is cooked and here it has been served [Music] here they have made lunch and here the bishop blesses the food and drink here's an overt depiction of odo blessing the food he also had pride of place at his half-brother's right side as william presumably holds council on his next moves bishop odo william and robert this man has ordered that fortifications should be dug at hastings pevensey was the site of an old roman fort and was the first location at which william built a castle slightly around this time that the duke had received news of king howard's victory further north against the norse army of harold hardrada stamford bridge which took place on 25th september hardrada had been surprised by the army of harold who had forced march the distance from london to york in just a few days presumably these depictions show william to be cautiously digging in near his landing point not wanting to repeat the great viking king's mistakes here news of harold is brought to william here a house is burnt here soldiers went from hastings and came to battle against king harold here duke william questions vital if he has seen harold's army this man towels king harold of duke williams army [Music] here duke williams speaks to his soldiers that they prepare themselves manfully and wisely so this is generally a decent depiction of events harold's force was composed of a solid shield wall of infantry against which duke william arrayed a more mixed force of archers as we shall see infantry and knights going forward the importance of the archers is subtly emphasized the small figures in the margins turning the tide perhaps creating the chinks in the shield wall along with the knights mounted charges and vein retreats the drew out king howl's men from their position on the high ground by the way for a more detailed account of the battle of hastings i have a dedicated video on this channel here were killed liathwine and girth brothers king harold who were leah wine and girv for those less familiar with events they were the younger brothers and lieutenants of harold and hastings both brothers ruled eldums in their own right leaf wine a small territory in the south east and girth the eldum of east anglia it is thought that both brothers held key leadership positions on the flanks but were unable to prevent their men from brazenly breaking formation charging off their safe position on high ground the loss of harold's brothers earlier on in the battle likely had a worsening impact on morale and the effectiveness of the english infantry given the vacuum and leadership it created here were killed at the same time english and french in battle [Music] here bishop odo holding a staff rallies the young men this is the point at which odo rides in front and center rallying the fleeing men during the earlier stages of the battle william had his horse killed from underneath him causing a dangerous rumor to spread through the ranks that william himself was dead if true the norman cause was just as dead and the breton left wing of william's army turned in genuine flight odo positioned to the rear had his moment of glory in steadying these lines though he is careful to have his half-brother depicted in similar heroic fashion the duke ripping back his visor to reveal himself as very much alive helping to you steady the lines here the french fight and killed those who were with harold the tapestry jumps from this crucial point to the end quite starkly the battle of hastings in contrast to the common assertions that it saw the normans merely ride over the saxons was in fact very long and hard fought stretching out for nine or ten hours with normal times for medieval battles generally being a couple of hours at most here harold's position is finally surrounded as the knights gain a foothold in the gaps of the shield wall here king harold has been killed now we have perhaps the most iconic slide in the iconic embroidery king harold himself clutches at his wounded eye the account from the carmen de hastings another poetic source on the battle seems to confirm the sequence of the king's death here if we look closely enough harold is both the warrior pulling at the arrow in his eye and the fallen figure having his leg cut a detail confirmed in the carmen harold was attacked by a hit squad of knights led by eustis of bologne he had his head cut off as well as his right leg and part of his left a fallen figure is almost certainly harold as a closer examination shows the stitch marks of the arrow in the eye the fallen figure and the english have turned to flight and the tapestry ends at this point though there has been speculation that the ending has been lost and would have depicted duke williams campaign in the southeast of england immediately after hastings as well as his eventual enthronement christmas day of 1066 these slides shown now by jan massant created in 1997 imagine this ending depicting william and throned although such an ending really existed in reality this is unknown so there we have it the biotapestry explained i love making these videos and appreciate your kind view and support if you love this content then think about dropping it a like and sharing and i shall see you next time

Channel: History Hub

Views: 19,610

Keywords: bayeux tapestry, bayeux, history hub, bayeux stitch, bayeux tapestry explained, the bayeux tapestry explained, the bayeux tapestry, the bayeux tapestry story, the bayeux tapestry who made it, the bayeux tapestry tells the story of, the bayeux tapestry full, the bayeux tapestry harold's death, bayeux tapestry 1066, bayeux tapestry battle of hastings, bayeux tapestry battle of hastings scenes, bayeux tapestry battle, norman conquest, norman conquest of england, 1066, history

Id: -fOInuH-alY

Length: 25min 0sec (1500 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 17 2021