1066
The Hidden History of the Bayeux Tapestry
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
A brilliant new reading of the Bayeux Tapestry that radically alters our understanding of the events of 1066 and reveals the astonishing story of the survival of early medieval Europe’s greatest treasure.
This edition does not include illustrations.
The Bayeux Tapestry was embroidered (it’s not really a tapestry) in the late eleventh century. As an artefact, it is priceless, incomparable – nothing of it’s delicacy and texture, let alone wit, survives from the period. As a pictorial story it is delightful: the first feature-length cartoon. As history it is essential: it represents the moment of Britain’s last conquest by a foreign army and celebrates the Norman victory over the blinded Saxon Harold. Or does it?
In this brilliant piece of detective interpretation, Andrew Bridgeford looks at the narrative contained within the tapestry and has discovered a wealth of new information. Who commissioned it? Who made it? Who is the singular dwarf named as Turold? Why, in a work that celebrates a Norman conquest is the defeated Harold treated so nobly? Is Harold indeed the victim of the arrow from the sky? And who is the figure depicted in the tapestry who, at the moment of crisis for the Normans rallies the army just at the point when it mistakenly believes William is dead and it will be defeated?
Using the tapestry, the book retells with vivid characterisation the story of the remaking of England in and after 1066. It is a compelling story, as is the tale of the extraordinary survival of the tapestry itself: history has rarely been writ so large, with such fine detail and yet been so veiled in mystery.
Reviews
‘Here is an author who could easily make a living writing thrillers because it is precisely this technique he has applied to this highly readable book. We are left chapter after chapter on the edge of our seat wondering what unexpected rabbit will next be pulled out of the Tapestry's hat, if one can
use the expression. . . . a haunting book.’ Roy Strong, Daily Mail
'An often gripping yarn … Bridgeford gives an exciting account of the tapestry's busy drama and engaging realism.' Daily Telegraph
'The quality of Bridgeford's research, and the originality of his suggestions, is delightful.' Independent
'Bridgeford marshals the battalions of his argument with all the analytical force, lucidity and panache of a counsel from the golden age of advocacy.' Sunday Times
About the author
Andrew Bridgeford is a lawyer and historian who has been published in the Journal of Medieval History. This is his first book.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The simple linen background and bright woolen colors of the Bayeux Tapestry have always been interpreted as a French tribute to William the Conqueror, celebrating his victory over England in 1066 with its depiction of soldiers, archers, ships and battles. In an often riveting but ultimately unconvincing revisionist account drawing on the work of other scholars as well as on contemporary accounts of events, Bridgeford, a British lawyer, argues that the tapestry was more likely designed by English monks at St. Augustine's abbey in Canterbury under the direction of Count Eustace of Boulogne. English women, more famous for their embroidery skills than the French, stitched a tapestry containing a covert anti-Norman message. Bridgeford also provides details on minor characters in the tapestry, such as the dwarf Turold who Bridgeford thinks might have written the medieval French epic poem Chanson de Roland and been the tapestry's patron and Aelfgyva, the only woman named on the tapestry. While Bridgeford offers a fascinating look into the tapestry and the events it depicts, his language and method are so tentative ("Could it be that...?") that one is left doubting his interpretation. 16 pages of color illus., one map.
