Bayeux Tapestry

Taking a break from the war, we visited the town of Bayeux to see the 11th century tapestry. Sorry no pictures were allowed although that didn’t stop several of the locals from snapping one or two. The tapestry is quite unique in that it is 224′ long and 20″ tall and depicts the story of William the Bastard (it’s just William!), Harold, Earl of Wessex and King Edward, the Confessor.

King Edward is dying and knows that he has no heir to the throne so he calls on Harold to tell William the Bastard (it’s just William!) that he will inherit the throne. Long story short, Harold gets lost and captured, William the Bastard (soon to be Conqueror) rescues Harold and demands that Harold pledge his allegiance to him as king. Harold lies (had his fingers crossed in the tapestry) and proceeds to return to England where he assumes the throne after Edward dies.

William (call me bastard one more time) conquers England at the Battle of Hastings and kills Harold. William assumes the throne as “William the Conqueror” and the rest is history.

Now William doesn’t stop there. He gets in trouble with the Church by marrying his niece. Trying to make amends, in the city of Caen, he builds a massive church, a men’s abbey and a women’s abbey. Things calm down and William the Conqueror checks out in 1087AD.

Today the tapestry is housed in, where else but the Bayeux Tapestry Museum. We were fortunate enough to visit on European Heritage Weekend and it was free! If you want to see the real thing go to Bayeux, France or you can look it up on Google, for free.