Today, the Bayeux Tapestry. The University of
Houston's College of Engineering presents this
series about the machines that make our
civilization run, and the people whose ingenuity
created them.
The Bayeux Tapestry is not a
tapestry, but a huge piece of embroidery. It's
displayed in the Museum of Queen Matilda, in the
Norman city of Bayeux. It's only twenty inches
high, but it extends 231 feet. It wraps around the
inside walls of a huge otherwise-empty room. It
tells the story of how, in 1066, the Normans conquered
England. And it does so entirely in comic book
form.
The Bayeux Tapestry is reminiscent of a Medieval
stained glass window, but it's simpler to read. The
windows of Chartres
Cathedral, for example, tell Bible stories in a
series of pictures that begin in the lower left and
read, panel by panel, to the upper right corner.
This account simply moves left to right. Some three
hundred pictures tell the story, beginning with
political machina-tions, and ending in the Norman
victory at Hastings.
The very end of the tapestry is lost. It probably
showed the coronation of William as King of
England. But what remains, is a stunning
achievement -- both primitive and wonderfully
sophisticated. Simple angular figures unfold with
astonishing detail.
From the tapestry, we learn just what armor and
horse tack were used. We're shown the form of
Norman ships and how they moved men and horses. But
first, come scenes of ship-building in preparation
for the invasion. They tell us about
eleventh-century carpentry. We also learn about
English and Norman hairstyles and dress --
furniture and falconry, the whole tapestry (dare I
say) of life in the French aristocracy.
One
astonishing detail is a picture of six men pointing
up at a very strange star. Isti Mirant
Stella, the tapestry intones -- They
marvel at the star. Actually, this had to be
Halley's comet. It passed six months before King
Harold's defeat and death, and it's being presented
as an omen.
We see the Normans loading their ships with weapons
and wine. We learn that William used spies -- that
he killed off enemy wounded, and butchered their
dead. Remember, this is history told by the victor.
We see Harold trying to pull an arrow out of his
eye; then a Norman soldier hacks at him while he
lies dying. And all the while, the borders run
along, merrily filled with figures from medieval
fables.
As best we can tell, William's half-brother Odo,
the Bishop of Bayeux, commissioned the tapestry. It
was finished within seventeen years of the Battle
and undoubtedly included plenty of eyewitness
input. One reason we know Odo was behind it is that
we keep finding him and his retainers in the story.
As a history of kingly conflict this is, no doubt,
slanted. But hasn't that always been so? Yet here
is also the history of how people lived and managed
a millennium ago -- a theme of life, not
of slaughter. And that is exactly why the Bayeux
Tapestry is such a marvel among historical
documents.
I'm John Lienhard, at the University of Houston,
where we're interested in the way inventive minds
work.
(Theme music)
The best full representation of the tapestry is to be
found in: The Bayeux Tapestry (Introduction
and commentary, by David Wilson), New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 1985. You may also find the full tapestry
online at
http://hastings1066.com/
and
http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/BayeuxContents.htm
See also the various encyclopedia articles on the
Bayeux Tapestry.
And a number of articles on various aspects of the
Tapestry may be read in The Study of the Bayeux
Tapestry (Richard Gameson, ed.) Suffolk: The
Boydell Press, 1997.
Details from the Tapestry showing how William's
shipbuilder's prepared his transport vessels for
the invasion
The Engines of Our Ingenuity is
Copyright © 1988-2003 by John H.
Lienhard.
