The Bayeux Tapestry
Eyewitness Account of the Norman Conquest

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle has surprisingly little to say about so life-changing an event as William the Conqueror's invasion of England.



That we know so much about the events before and during 1066 is due to William's half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, who commissioned a tapestry to commemorate the conquest of England.

Two hundred and thirty feet long and twenty inches wide, embroidered with coloured woollen threads on linen, the Bayeux Tapestry tells the story of Edward the Confessor, Harold and William of Normandy in pictures and text. 

Here Duke William of Normandy Crosses the Channel Photographic copy available from Art.com

How William built his ships, how he dressed, what horses he rode, what he ate and how the battle between Normans and Anglo-Saxons played out is all depicted in vivid detail.

From the style and the sympathetic treatment of the English in the displays, it is thought that the tapestry was made in Canterbury, but we first hear of it in the 15th century, when it is listed as part of the inventory of Bayeux cathedral. It was almost lost during the French revolution, but was rescued and survived more or less intact to the present day.

An English Copy

She recruited other members from the Leek Embroidery Society, as well as women from Derbyshire, Birmingham, Macclesfield and London to work on the project. And in little over a year, it was complete.

Today, this copy is kept at the Bayeux Gallery of the Reading Museum.

Combatants, Detail from the Bayeux Tapestry Available From Art.com