From the death of Harold Godwinson to the equipment of Norman Knights, the Bayeux tapestry has provided huge amounts of historical data.
Within twenty years after the Norman Invasion of England, a team of Norman women completed work on the Bayeux tapestry. This “tapestry” that stretches for over 200 feet is the most important primary source for the events surrounding 1066. Not only that, but unlike the chronicles of the events, the tapestry provides pictorial evidence.
This week, I have two articles that grow directly out of the information that can be gleaned from the tapestry. The first is a discussion of the death of King Harold Godwinson. In school they still teach that Harold died to an arrow in the eye, but a careful examination of the tapestry reveals that may not have been the case.
The second article has to do with the weapons and armor of the Norman knights. I have received a huge response to my article on the Anglo-Saxon Warrior, so I thought it would be appropriate to do an article on his counterpart at the battle of Hastings. Most of the information we have on this topic comes directly from the images in the Bayeux tapestry, and thus we have a much clearer picture of the Norman knight than we do of many other warriors throughout history.
The tapestry still hangs in the small French town of Bayeux, some seventeen miles from Caen. In terms of tourism, it has only one major attraction, a nearly one thousand year-old tapestry. I hope very much that one day I’ll be able to go there and see for myself that most precious of historical documents.
