{"id":426,"date":"2014-08-24T21:37:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-24T21:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/24\/the-bayeux-tapestry-pictorial-history-2\/"},"modified":"2014-08-24T21:37:00","modified_gmt":"2014-08-24T21:37:00","slug":"the-bayeux-tapestry-pictorial-history-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/the-bayeux-tapestry-pictorial-history-2.html","title":{"rendered":"The Bayeux Tapestry – Pictorial History"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nBayeux Tapestry<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nEver learn a fact when you were young and still remember but
\nhave no idea why you were supposed to know that piece of information?  For me, it was in elementary school that I
\nmemorized \u201cWilliam the Conqueror..Battle of Hastings..1066\u201d.  Big whoopee!!!  I never remembered anything else about this morsel of
\nknowledge.  It was years and years later
\nthat I encountered the Bayeux Tapestry. 
\nSeveral weeks ago I found two books about the history of this textile,
\nand felt I should do a bit of research about William and his battle.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nA Needle in the Right Hand of God, R. Howard Block, Random House, NY, 2001<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nThe Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry, Andrew Bridgeford, Walker & Co., NY, 2005<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nWilliam of Normandy defeated Harold and the Anglo-Saxons at
\nHastings in the year of 1066.  This was
\none of the most important battles fought in the Middle Ages and marked the
\nbeginning of Britain\u2019s role in Europe.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nThe story of this battle is told in this special
\ntextile.  The history of this piece is
\nquite remarkable.  Firstly, the Bayeux
\nTapestry is not a tapestry, it is a very, very large embroidery.  Considering its age, (nearly 1,000 years) it
\nis unbelievable that it has survived and is in good enough condition to be
\ndisplayed now as it had been over the past centuries. There had always been
\ncontroversy about who had actually created the embroidery and who were the
\nexpert stitchers.  Now, many historians
\nbelieve that it was commissioned by the Norman contingent but actually designed
\nand stitched by Anglo-Saxon workers between 1066 and early 1080\u2019s.  It can be seen in the Abbey of Bayeux in
\nFrance. <\/span><\/div>\n
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\nThe embroidery details the events leading up to the battle
\nand the battle itself.  The textile is
\n230 feet long by 20 inches high.   The
\ndetails tell of life in the Middle Ages and remains an excellent source for costumes
\nand home furnishings of the period.  The
\nfirst description of the tapestry is found in an inventory for the Bayeux
\nCathedral (1476).  The Cathedral used it
\nto decorate the nave on special days of celebration.  Scholars began their study of the work in the early 18thC. <\/span><\/div>\n
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\nWorked on linen ground with eight shades of wool threads in
\nlaid and couched work, chain, stem and split stitches.  There are a total of nine sections (the
\nlast, estimated to be three to seven feet in length, had been somehow destroyed
\nso there are eight remaining sections) measuring between 14 meters and 2.5
\nmeters.  The main central frieze depicts
\nthe scenario of the battle and its history. 
\nThere are ships, buildings, animals, including horses and dogs and 626
\nhuman figures, of which only 5 are female. Above and below are borders
\ncontaining mythological and real creatures, astrological symbols and ancient
\nfolklore. There is also Latin commentary running along the top of the main
\nfrieze, presumably to add description of the scenes.  Much of our current knowledge of this work was gained in analysis
\nand some restoration done in 1982-1983.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nOne story about the history of The Bayeux Tapestry concerns
\nthe interest of Hitler during WWII.  The
\nNazis had acquired works of art throughout Europe and Hitler had sent several
\ngroups of experts to study the tapestry but, for some reason, had made no move
\nto remove it from France.  Then, one day
\na contingent of soldiers and scholars appeared to take it from the Louvre,
\nwhere it was stored.  As they were
\napproaching the museum the allies liberated Paris and the textile was spared.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nSo thanks to William the Conqueror\u2026Battle of Hastings\u20261066 a
\nremarkable piece of textile art and history remains.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bayeux Tapestry Ever learn a fact when you were young and still remember but have no idea why you were supposed to know that piece of information?  For me, it was in elementary school that I memorized \u201cWilliam the Conqueror..Battle of Hastings..1066\u201d.  Big whoopee!!!  I never remembered anything else about this morsel of knowledge.  It…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}