1066 and All That: The Bayeux Tapestry

Stories of Art

In this episode of 'Stories of Art,' hosts Alastair Souk and James Fox explore the Bayeux Tapestry—a monumental 11th-century embroidery that

Key takeaways

• The Bayeux Tapestry is not just a historical record but a powerful work of art that shapes collective memory.
• Despite being often viewed as a 'medieval comic strip,' the tapestry portrays battle with intense brutality and narrative sophistication.

Main topics

• The historical context of the Norman Conquest and the Battle of Hastings
• The artistic and narrative techniques used in the Bayeux Tapestry

Notable quotes

"Hic Harold Rex Interfectus Est" – 'Here King Harold has been killed.'

"It's not a monument carved into stone. It is a fragile strip of fabric... miraculous that it has survived."

Conclusion

The Bayeux Tapestry stands as a testament to how art can define historical memory more

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:01) Welcome to Stories of Art. I'm Alistair Souk. And I'm James Fox. Speaker 1 (0:09) A helmeted warrior in a chainmail shirt stands tall and proud in the middle of a battlefield. In one hand, he holds a kite-shaped patterned shield studded with enemy arrows like darts around a bullseye. With the other, he tugs at another fatal shaft, which seems to have dodged this protective strip of metal attached to his helmet covering his nose and penetrated his eye. Moments later, it seems we encounter this hero again, tumbling to the ground, grimacing, weaponless, as a mounted opponent wielding a massive sword. Hax at his leg, and above there's a Latin inscription. Hic Harold Rex Interfectus Est. Or here King Harold... has been killed. And it's alerting us to the significance of this grisly scene because we are looking at a depiction of the demise of the last Anglo-Saxon King of England, Harold II, who died almost a thousand years ago on the 14th of October 1066 at the Battle of Hastings, which was the main event of what's been described as the most traumatic episode in English history, the Norman Conquest. Now, James, this is such a famous historical moment, isn't it? And a lot of its fame, I think, derives from the artefact that I've been describing, which is this monumental medieval embroidery, almost as long as a football pitch is wide, known as the bio-tapestry. And it's so familiar, definitely, for people like us who've been brought up in Britain, maybe less so for listeners elsewhere. And I think partly because of that, it's easy to forget that as well as being this very important primary historical source, it is also a work of art. Speaker 2 (2:03) Can Speaker 1 (2:03) you recall even when it first registered on your radar? I Speaker 2 (2:07) don't Speaker 1 (2:08) think Speaker 2 (2:08) I can. You know what? I don't think any English person can. Because in this country, the bio-tapestry is so entrenched in our culture. that it's become part of the mental wallpaper, hasn't it? It's become part of the, to pardon the pun, the fabric of what it means to be English. And, you know, as I was cycling over here this morning, Alistair, to record this episode, I was thinking, what are the equivalents in other countries? And the only things I could come up with were maybe Trajan's Column in Rome, maybe the Parthenon in Athens, maybe the Great Wall of China. But unlike those things, Alistair... The bio-tapestry is not some great monument carved into stone. It is a fragile Speaker 1 (2:44) strip of fabric, and Speaker 2 (2:47) it's miraculous, really, that it has survived, and in such good condition, for the best part of 1,000 years. It is essentially unique in terms of its survival. Speaker 1 (2:57) It's that remarkable. And it is vast. As we're recording this, and we'll talk about this later, there's been a much-hyped, much-publicised, there will be a much-hyped, much-publicised exhibition at the British Museum where the biotapestry is coming to England via Kent, where probably it was made, we'll get into all of that later, for the first time in a thousand years. Another Norman invasion. Another Norman invasion. I suspect that the revelation... of that show is going to be the size of this as an artefact. You know, I'm sort of describing it, comparing it to the width of a football pitch, but it's, what is it? It's like about 223, 224 feet in length. You know, it's a continuous strip. There's the main narrative, which runs all the way through, but then above and below, you have these borders, mostly ornamental, sometimes lots of strange little moments, lovely. passages which suggest commentary perhaps on the main action. And I think in the sources there are lots of descriptions of these wondrous, ornate tapestries, embroideries, wall hangings in the medieval era, Speaker 2 (4:06) but Speaker 1 (4:06) none have survived. So to have one that's this big that has survived is totally mind Speaker 2 (4:12) -blowing. And there are also just so many myths, I think, that still surround the biotapestry. It's an object that is surrounded by so many... mysteries, so many questions, the question of who commissioned it, who made it, who designed it, where was it made, when was it made, how historically accurate is it? And over the course of our discussion, we're going to try to answer some of those questions. But one thing I did want to relate back to something you said earlier, I think because of its historical importance, and it does depict a moment that is a serious turning point in English history, there's no question about that, because of its historical importance and because of its over-familiarity, we rarely actually look at it as an artwork. We rarely think of it as a thing that someone invented, someone designed, people made. And I hope that in the course of this conversation, we're going to discuss it. as an artwork, an artwork that has very significant strengths, but also, I will say, some very significant weaknesses. Speaker 1 (5:09) Ah, interesting. OK, well, tee that up. It's a bit of fisticuffs later, the Battle of Hastings Mark II. I mean, you compare it to... Parthenon's a very interesting analogy. I was sort of thinking that familiarity... I don't know why this image came into my head. You know when you're travelling by train, and we both live in London, you're travelling somewhere outside of London, and you just look out the window, and it's a beautiful day, and there's just gorgeous, verdant, rolling English countryside. For some reason, it feels like that. It's as familiar and reassuring and, I think, beautiful. And one of the clichés about it is, of course, that it's the equivalent of a comic strip. It's this sort of 11th century comic strip. And there is an element of truth to that. But it also belies aspects of the tapestry. And I think even though it is technically an embroidery, we can describe that in a moment, we probably will refer to it as a tapestry. I think it belies, for example, the brutality of its depiction of battle. I suddenly thought this is like a sort of 11th century Guernica. Yes, yeah. And it belies, as you're saying, the subtlety of its storytelling and its artistic invention. Speaker 1 (6:17) And so, yes, I mean, I'm totally on side with approaching this as a work of art rather than necessarily a historical document, to be like. Well, Alistair, so much to get through. Let's get started. This is then the story of the bio-tapestry. Speaker 2 (6:39) Alistair, before we get to the object itself, can I do some scene setting? Of course. You know I love a bit of scene Speaker 1 (6:44) setting. Speaker 2 (6:44) Absolutely, yeah, yeah. So I would like to bring our listeners, our viewers, back to the 11th century, back to the 1060s, to Anglo-Saxon England. Now, there is a sense nowadays that Anglo-Saxon England was a... a dark, primitive place. This isn't true at all. Anglo-Saxon England at the time, in the 1060s, was one of the richest and most sophisticated societies in Europe. It was very well governed, very well administrated, and it had a king who had ruled for 20 years or so called Edward the Confessor. Now, I really like Edward. I think he's, by the standards of the day, he's a really... gentle, humane, pious individual. He tries to avoid war. He builds Westminster Abbey, so what's not to like? This is why he's known as the confessor, his piety. Very, very religious individual. But he makes one catastrophic mistake, and that is that he doesn't have any children. Now, we don't quite know why. He is married. It's possible they were trying and failing to have children. It's also possible he was celibate, that he was, you know, too busy confessing. to get his end away. But anyway, regardless of the reason, they do not have children, and so he does not have a natural successor. And so when Edward the Confessor dies on the 5th of January 1066, he is succeeded. by a man called Harold Godwinson, who is the most powerful aristocrat in England. He's the Earl of Wessex. He's very different to Edward. I mean, Edward is a kind of Dumbledore figure with white beard, that kind of person. Whereas Harold is much younger. He's our age. And like us, he's a brute, strong man Speaker 1 (8:19) of action. Absolutely right. He has an Speaker 2 (8:21) enormous handlebar moustache. So he becomes king straight afterwards. But there are lots of people in England and beyond England who are not happy about the new king. And one of them lives across the Channel in modern-day France, and that is William, Duke of Normandy. William is also a very formidable figure. He's younger, I think, than Harold. He's in his 30s. He's a real street fighter. I mean, he's someone who grew up in a war-torn environment, really knows how to survive, incredibly strong. There are these legends that go around that he can jump onto a horse in full armour without any assistance. One of the things I find interesting about Speaker 1 (8:57) his depiction in the tapestry is he's often wielding just a club. Yes. I think it speaks to that. Yes, it does. Everyone else has sort of... proper weapons, but he just is bashing people to death, Speaker 2 (9:07) seemingly, the implication with this club. This is classic William. Anyway, William is not happy that Harold is king, and he wants to become the king of England. And so these two protagonists will soon find themselves on a collision course. And their, I suppose, their duel, their game of thrones, to coin a phrase, is really the subject of Speaker 1 (9:27) the tapestry, isn't it? It's so interesting because you've offered a really lovely synopsis there of the situation before. One of the great myths about the bio tapestry is that I think there's this perception it only really depicts the Battle of Hastings. I mean, almost I think it's around two thirds of its length is describing some of the events that lead up. to the Battle of Hastings, probably starting in 1064 to the battle itself, 1066, and covering much of the ground that you've described. Speaker 2 (9:57) But Speaker 1 (9:58) it does edit out, of course, a lot of the complexity of the history. As we go through, I'm sure we'll talk about some of the other contenders for the throne after Edward the Confessor's death, who are essentially... edited out of the tapestry altogether. And I think you're right. I think part of that decision making on the part of the, let's assume that the artist designer who's conceiving the whole plan of the tapestry is to simplify that narrative and make it this binary conflict between these two protagonists, Harold and William. who is, of course, eventually William the Conqueror. And the thing about that is that Harold, in many ways, and this is another myth, the tapestry isn't just straightforward Norman propaganda. No, it isn't. Harold comes across quite well at points in the tapestry. And perhaps that's a deliberate artistic decision as well, to make him a sort of equal antagonist, if you like, for William. So look, I mean, this is called Stories of Art. And this is a rare moment where the work of art we're talking about It is telling a story. An incredible story. An amazing story. So, I mean, in a sense, we could just start telling that story. Let's do it. So it begins with a building, probably a palace. And I can't remember how you just described Edward the Confessor. Dumbledore, right? Dumbledore. With the beard. Yeah. You can see Edward. There he is sitting, I guess, on a throne. He's crowned and he's having some sort of conversation with our main man, Harold. And you can often tell the English in the tapestry because they always have moustaches. Later, we will come on to this. I don't know why I find it so funny, but the Normans have just an utterly absurd hairstyle. But we should maybe part that. So here they are. Now, one of the things about this is that there's a lot of immediately scholars are sort of debating, what are they talking about, Edward and Harold? And there are all sorts of theories. One is that Edward has... promised the kingdom of England to William. And he's saying to Harold as his kind of main man, Earl, can you go over and confirm this succession with William? It's some Speaker 2 (12:06) important conversation, isn't it? Because when you look closely, they're almost having a thumb war. Their fingers are intertwined. So that suggests some agreement is Speaker 1 (12:14) being made. Yes. Edward Speaker 2 (12:17) is asking for something or telling Harold to do something. Harold, I presume, is agreeing to it. Speaker 1 (12:22) Or is Harold, because another alternative theory is that Harold had some kinsmen who were being held hostage in Normandy and possibly he's asking Edward's permission to go and get them back. I can't remember what they have some extraordinary, they're amazing names in the tapestry, things like Wulfnoth. Well, actually, no, these are the kinsmen. Wulfnoth and Hackon, I think, were the potential hostages. Anyway. The thing about the tapestry is that in some ways it's very factual. What we know is not the tenor, the subject of the conversation, but the having a conversation. And immediately afterwards you see Harold riding on a horse. He has a hawk on his hand. There's his moustache. He has some stirrups. And there are... hounds who are hunting animals and they start riding off him and his retinue and there's a big tree. It's quite hard to tell that it's a tree, a sort of interlaced design that maybe picks up a bit of manuscript illumination from the time. And often through the tapestry you have these things like trees or buildings used as punctuation marks. And then they arrive at a religious building with crosses up on the roof and you can see Harold with this slightly odd... physicality as he's approaching in a position of humility, I think is how scholars see it, to go inside this religious building, probably at Bosham, his estate in Bosham. And then you see him and his men feasting. And there are all these wonderful details. They're drinking from horns. One man is holding a knife. And so I think one of the things that particularly social historians love about the tapestry, isn't it, is that they can get all of this detail about the material culture of 11th century England. And it's filled with details about carpentry, shipbuilding, armour, you know, so on. And then you have this beginning of a voyage, which is the main... central sort of motor of the first part of the narrative. There's a wonderful scene here. It's my Speaker 2 (14:07) first Speaker 1 (14:08) favourite scene. When you Speaker 2 (14:10) see Harold and his companion, they pull up their tunics, they take off their shoes and they wade with their skinny white Anglo-Saxon legs into Speaker 1 (14:18) the water. So they are heading off to France, aren't they? They're going to France. I love that part because you can see ahead of their skinny white legs, you can see the ripple of water. So there's actually a bizarre, and this is quite clever in terms of embroidery, a sense of transparency. You're seeing through the water and actually seeing a sense of their legs. Harold's still clutching his falcon. And then, yes, they're on their way somewhere, a voyage, we assume intentionally to France. It may not be the case. But what happens is that probably accidentally, they seem to get blown off course. Yes. And they land in completely the wrong place. I mean, we say comic book. This is quite comical. This is. So they end up in the wrong place. They end up, you can see, and it's rather unfortunate because Harold steps off the boat, he's still barefoot, and a man is riding up to him and his henchmen possibly Speaker 2 (15:12) are arresting him. Speaker 1 (15:14) Yes. It's not a very... Friendly welcome. They're not actually in the Duchy of Normandy. They're nearby. And these are the men of a character who was called Guy, the Count of Pontieux, which is this relatively small duchy, I guess, next to Normandy, I think north of Normandy. And for the next section, Speaker 2 (15:32) Harold is Guy's prisoner. And very quickly, I think William catches wind of this, doesn't he? There is a spy hiding behind a column, probably one of William's spies, and finds out that... Harold is in the country. And he reports back to William. And then so William sends these two emissaries to pick. Harold up. This is an incredible, incredible scene. One of the most brilliant parts of the tapestry where we see these two riders riding at full gallop Speaker 1 (16:03) to Speaker 2 (16:04) Harold. Their legs are outstretched. The tails are streaming. My favourite thing about it is the way the men's hair is actually being swept back in the wind. Very, very dynamic image. Again, fantastic observation. Speaker 1 (16:15) Very vividly depicted. Interestingly, it seems that the sort of left to right progress of the tapestry is reverse. Yes. This is where you can see many of these Normans with this completely bizarre hairstyle where they seem to shave the back of their head, but leave a kind of very... It's like an opposite of a mullet, actually, isn't it? I Speaker 2 (16:33) was Speaker 1 (16:33) thinking Speaker 2 (16:33) there's a lot very tufty at the front. So we've got mullets versus handlebar Speaker 1 (16:37) moustache. Yeah, yeah. Speaker 2 (16:38) That's the real battle lines. Very 70s. Speaker 1 (16:41) But there's another detail just around this moment where the messengers are coming to, the emissaries are coming to get Harold from Guy. Have you seen this character called Tirold? No. So there is a person of very small stature who seems to be holding a horse. And there's one of these inscriptions which is saying his name, which is just above him, his bearded character. And the name is Tirold. And this is just a little detail that I love. There is this theory that the inscription could relate to someone else. But if the inscription relates to this very small person, it's possible, and there's obviously no evidence for this whatsoever, that this could be a portrait even of the artist of the tapestry. Speaker 2 (17:22) Oh, I didn't... This could be Tirold, the man Speaker 1 (17:24) responsible for the bio-tapestry. Right. I've not heard that one before. That's fascinating. Can't really back it up. Speaker 2 (17:30) No. Anyway, it's only now really, about a sixth of the way through the tapestry, that we finally see William himself. Harold is brought to him on horseback. And the two of them meet in one of William's many castles. I find this very, very exciting. Have you seen, Alistair, that Michael Mann film, Heat? Oh, Speaker 1 (17:51) yes. Speaker 2 (17:51) When right towards the end of the film, you finally get the scene with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. They share a table together. It's Speaker 1 (17:58) an Speaker