The Bayeux Tapestry

Not actually a tapestry at all but an embroidery, it illustrates important scenes which led up to the

Norman invasion of England and the Battle at Hastings in 1066 (the famous “Norman Conquest”). It is about 230 feet long. We don’t know for certain who made it,

but it was probably completed about ten years after the conquest, and it is from a totally Norman perspective.

1064: Edward the Confessor (King of England) is 1064: Edward the Confessor (King of England) is talking to his brother-in-law Harold (Earl of Wessex).talking to his brother-in-law Harold (Earl of Wessex).

Harold, Earl of Wessex (in England) sets sail for the southern coast of England.

• Ship is driven by storm across the English channel & into the northern coast of France--Normandy.

• Harold seized by Count Guy & taken to Duke William of Normandy (Guy pointing to Harold).

Box 1 (write small & leave room for more):

• Harold—Earl of Wessex, England—stays in Normandy, France & follows Duke William around. One day, some Norman soldiers sink into quicksand & Harold rescues them!

• As a reward, William honors Harold w/ the gift of arms.

• In the town of Bayeux, Harold swears an oath on holy relics—promising to support William? In France? In England?

• Harold sails back home to England, & King Edward dies.

• Edward was William’s cousin. Years earlier, Edward had promised William he would be next king of England.

• Edward had no right to say that—up to Witan (council)

• Witan crowned Harold King of England.

• William is furious when he hears, so he organizes fleet of warships to attack England.

• Battle of Hastings Oct 14, 1066—Harold was killed.

• William the Conqueror became new king on Christmas Day.

http://10.111.1.51/SafeVideos/Video.aspx?id=bDaB-NNyM8o&redirect=true

Box 2: William as king

• Started the feudal system.

• Granted large areas of land (manors) to his lords.

• Lords granted portions of land to knights.

• Serfs- bottom of scale/belonged to the land.

• William started curfew law.

William as king, cont.

• Started Domesday Book, a great book containing rent roll.

• Had local military or police.

• Had heavy taxes.

• Had people pay tithing to church.

• Had shire (county) unit of government w/ a “shire reeve” or sheriff.

Box 3: Values

• Equality could not exist on earth—predestination.

• Chivalry—French word: cheval – horse; symbol of chivalry—knight on a horse.

• PageSquireKnight:– must do something to deserve honor.– must choose a lady to dedicate his deeds to.

Values cont.

– swore allegiance to God.– pledged loyalty to his liege lord.– vowed to protect the weak & helpless.– followed code of chivalry, or it meant loss of

honor.

Box 4: Life

• upper class – tournaments w/ jousts; banquets (minstrels, food cut w/ a knife, ate from trencher [flat board]); ritual of courtly love; castle was drafty & unsanitary

• poor – crude hut; smoke from fireplace went out hole in roof or window

Life cont.

• Church – unification of social classes through the Church; magnificent cathedrals and high towers (e.g., in Canterbury); Church had charge of education (monks copied by hand, Church started Oxford & Cambridge Universities)

Box 5: Thomas Becket & Henry II

• Church & the king were the “two swords of God”• close friends - Becket had been Henry’s counselor

and the Chancellor of England (the highest rank in the government); Henry appointed Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury

• quarrel began when Becket didn’t do what Henry wanted. Becket refused to have one of his priests tried in the king’s court. He insisted that the priest be tried in the ecclesiastical courts.

Thomas Becket & Henry II, cont.

• 1170: Henry II had enough & said, “Will not one of you avenge me of this turbulent priest?”—so 4 knights ran to cathedral where Becket was praying and killed him!

• Becket’s tomb at Canterbury became favorite place for pilgrimages; cathedral became shrine of the martyred saint (people went there to be cured of various ailments)

http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/medieval/canterbury/becket.htm

Box 6: Wars

• Crusades – take the cross against the crescent of the Infidel; Holy Wars; object to retake Holy Land from Mohammedans; brought England into contact of art and science of Moslems

• Two royal families – 1066-1154: Normans (William the Conqueror & his successors); 1154-1485: Plantagenets (named after broom flower; begins w/ Henry II)

Wars cont.

• Hundred Years’ War – 1337-1453; France became jealous of England’s prosperous wool trade & seized some English ships/got control of Flanders; Edward III retaliated & claimed crown of France belonged to him; England lost

• War of Roses – 1455-1485--between family branches of two sons of Edward III (Duke of York & Duke of Lancaster) over the throne because there was no definite male heir; emblem of York: white rose; emblem of Lancaster: red rose; Earl of Richmond (Lancaster) married Elizabeth (York) & ascended the throne in 1485—he became Henry VII, the first Tudor