The story begins in the Royal Palace of Westminster. Edward the Confessor, the King of England, is talking to Harold, Earl of Wessex, his wife's brother. He sends Harold on a mission to Normandy, in France.
The Bayeux Tapestry is not only a pictorial description of the Battle of 1066 at Hastings, but of the events leading up to it as well. According to Bernstein, "little more than half the work is concerned directly with military invasion of England, the rest deals with political events in the years before [the invasion]." (Bernstein 16) The events leading up to the battle have to do with King Edward. Also known as Edward the Confessor, he died childless, leaving no heirs. The dispute will lead to war. On either side of the English Channel is a man with a claim to the throne. On the Saxon side is Harold Godwinson, brother of the Queen. On the Norman side is William, duke of Normandy. William claims heredity by blood, and both claim the throne was promised to them by Edward. (Bernstein, 16-18)
The battle as depicted in the tapestry:
(The following tapestry comments and interpretations are by Norman Denny and Josephine Filmer-Sankey, any changes are inside brackets)
The story begins in the Royal Palace of Westminster. Edward the Confessor, the King of England, is talking to Harold, Earl of Wessex, his wife's brother. He sends Harold on a mission to Normandy, in France.
Harold leaves for the coast with a hawk on his wrist, a pack of hounds, and men-at-arms following behind.
The hawk and hounds indicate that Harold was engaged upon a mission of peace; and the hawk was also a token of nobility.
[After Harold helps him in a battle against Brittany], William "gives arms" to Harold.
The giving of arms was an important matter. William was conferring a high honour on Harold.
Harold swears allegiance to William
The gravity of the situation is manifest in every detail of the scene. This solemn moment is the turning-point of the story, and it depicts an event of great significance in the history of western Europe. [This oath] implied, among many other things, that he would not accept the Throne of England without William's consent.
King Edward the Confessor is Dead. Harold is offered the crown of England.
He does accept, and in so doing breaks his solemn oath to William of Normandy
A boat sails from England with messengers bringing William news of Harold's coronation.
William holds a Council of War. He has been robbed of the English crown by Harold, and he resolves instantly to seize it by force of arms and to exact retribution for Harold's betrayal. He gives orders for a fleet of ships to be built to carry his army across the Channel.
The invasion fleet crosses the English Channel, sailing from Saint Valery to Pevensey, the ships tight-packed with men and horses.
Harold has assembled a powerful fleet off the Isle of Wight with which he planned to attack William from the sea while his ships were still being completed; but the wind failed him. Later William fretted and fumed waiting for a favourable wind to take him to England; but the delay as it turned out was greatly to his advantage, for in the meantime Harold was forced to send his ships to the Thames to refit. The Norman army was able to land unopposed.
William's armada lands on the English coast, at Pevensety in Sussex
[M]en and horses come ashore. Mounted men set out to scour the countryside for possible enemies and for supplies.
On the left of the picture is William receiving an urgent report from one of the scouts who have been sent out to keep watch for Harold. Then we see the Normans burning a house and forcing a mother and a child to flee from their home.
William, on the left, is for the first time holding the Papal Banner with its four points. This had been consecrated and sent to him by Pope Alexander II, and it is inserted here to show that the expedition had the blessing of the Church.
William rides out at the head of his knights, the shock troops that were the most powerful part of his army. From now on he may be recognized by the mace, which he carries throughout the battle. The date was the 14th of October, 1066.
The battle has been joined.
The Tapestry does not attempt to give an exact account for the battle, which lasted for eight hours and developed in seceral stages.
The death of Harold. We see him in the lower picture being struck by a rider with a sword; and since the Latin inscription immediately above him says, "Harold the king is killed," there can be no doubt as to who the falling figure is meant to be. Here there is a great question mark, Many history books say that Harold was killed not by a blow with a sword but by an arrow that pierced his eye.
Yes there are good grounds for supposing that the story is not true and was in fact based at a later date on a misreading of the Tapestry. There are two Englishmen despicted in the group, one at either end of the horse. The one on the left is plucking an arrow from his eye, while the one on the right is falling beneath the sword. It must be said that the left-hand figure looks by far the nobler of the two. We do not know. All this was nine centuries ago, and the truth of the matter is lost in time.
We see the last stages of the battle: the Normans riding on in triumph; and beyond the tree the English, those that were left, scattering over the countryside to return to their cottages and fields. The latin inscription following the death of Harold simply says, "...and the English turned and fled."
Works Cited
25 March 2001
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