Women Did It Better: The Bayeux Tapestry

By Lindsay Townsend

Men fought and died in England in the battle of Hastings in 1066. The kingdom and crown passed to a foreigner, William of Normandy.

This event is recorded in spectacular detail by the Bayeux Tapestry, made by women. There are only a few women shown on the tapestry in this story of feudal rights and obligations, claims, counter-claims and war, but scholars now agree that women made it.

The 'tapestry' is in fact an embroidery, done on strips of linen joined together to form a huge running narrative of the events leading up to and beyond the decisive battle. The seven joints are done with great skill and are almost invisible. At one time the tapestry was even longer, but the end is now damaged and incomplete. However the rest is a stunning, detailed account, a unique primary source.

Who were the women who embroidered this massive tapestry? Evidence suggests they were English. Earlier French tradition claimed the tapestry had been embroidered by William's wife Matilda, but what seems increasingly likely is that the piece was made in England as a gift for the new queen.

English female embroiderers were famous throughout Europe for their wall-hangings and church garments. Earlier English queens, such as Edith, were acclaimed for their skill as embroiders. A wall hanging made by English embroiders, showing the defeat of the English at the battle of Maldon in 991, was given to the monastery at Ely by the defeated leader's widow, Aelflaed, as a memorial to the English dead.

The Bayeux Tapestry may have partly served as a memorial to the English dead and have even been stitched by some English widows at either Winchester, the seat of the court and government in Anglo-Saxon England, or Canterbury, or the nunnery at the Minster in Sheppey in Kent--all famed centres of English embroidery. In some cases we may even know their names, such as the woman Leofgeat, who in 1086 in the Domesday Book is described as doing gold embroidery for the king.

Gold was not used in the Bayeux Tapestry, but wool thread dyed sage green, blue-green, red, buff and blue were stitched on the linen using an outline and stem stitch, then laid and couched stitches, making the whole stand out in low relief, like a sculptor's frieze. The figures are active and the tumult of the battle is shown. The English warriors with their moustaches and longer hair are picked out, and the Normans with their cropped locks, and several of the key moments of 1066 are there: Halley's comet, as a harbinger of trouble; William, lifting up his helmet to reveal his face and prove he's still alive; and the climax of the battle, where Harold is felled by the arrow.

A woman is also behind a faithful facsimile of the tapestry. In 1885 Elizabeth Wardle saw the original at Bayeux and, along with 35 other women, was inspired to produce a copy, to be housed in England. This is now kept at the museum in Reading, England.

Excerpt Thursday: Margaret Mallory

This week on Excerpt Thursday, one of our new contributors, Margaret Mallory, is back with a selection from KNIGHT OF PLEASURE, the second in her "All the King's Men" trilogy from Grand Central. Stop back on Sunday when Margaret will be answering questions and giving away a copy!

THE GREATEST PASSION...

Lady Isobel Hume is an expert swordswoman who knows how to choose her battles. When the king asks her to wed a French nobleman to form a political alliance, she agrees. But that's before the devilishly charming Sir Stephen Carleton captures her heart-and tempts her to betray her betrothed, her king, and her country.

...IS WORTH THE GREATEST PERIL

Sir Stephen Carleton enjoys his many female admirers--until he dedicates himself to winning the lovely Isobel. When a threat against the king leads Isobel into mortal danger, Stephen must prove that he is more than a knight of pleasure...and that love can conquer all.

***

Set-up: Lady Isobel Hume travels to Normandy to make a political marriage with a French nobleman at her king's behest. Shortly after her arrival at Caen Castle, which serves as Henry V's base for his "re-conquest" of Normandy, she meets Sir Stephen Carleton, an English knight.

***

Caen Castle, Normandy
1417

Whish! Whish! Whish!

The sound interrupted Sir Stephen Carleton's thoughts as he passed the storeroom. Drawing his sword, he eased the low wooden door open to take a look.

"Lady Hume!"

She looked as surprised as he was to catch her alone in a storeroom attacking a sack of grain with a sword.

"The poor thing is defenseless," he said, cocking his head toward the sack. Grain was seeping onto the dirt floor from several small tears.

"Close the door!" she hissed. "I cannot be seen here."

And what a sight she was, with her cheeks flushed and strands of dark hair sticking to her face and neck. God preserve him. He stepped inside and firmly closed the door behind him.

"I meant for you to remain outside when you closed it."

Though she took a step back as she spoke, she kept a firm hand on her sword. As she should. Aye, the lady had every reason to feel nervous at finding herself alone with a man in this secluded place.

"That sack cannot provide much of a challenge," he said, trying to put her at ease.

"You make fun of me." There was resentment in her tone, but he was pleased to see her shoulders relax.

"Now, do you want to continue playing at sword fighting?" he asked, deliberately baiting her. "Or do you want to learn how to protect yourself from someone who intends you harm?"

Green eyes sparking with fire, she raised her sword and said, "Teach me."

Oh, what he would love to teach her! God help him, she was breathtaking like this.

"You should carry a short blade, as well," he instructed as he fended off her attack.

"Why? You think you can knock my sword from my hand?"

"I can, but I will not have to. You will drop it."

He forced her to step back, and back, and back again. Once more, and her heel caught on a sack. She threw her hands up, sending the sword clattering against the wall as she tumbled backward.

The next moment, she was lying back on her elbows, her hair loose about her shoulders, skirts askew, chest heaving.

Stephen could not move, could not even breathe.

She looked like a goddess. A wanton Venus, sprawled on the dirt floor at his feet. Then she threw her head back and laughed. Not a light trill, but a full-throated, joyful laugh that made his heart soar.

"I'm afraid you have the advantage of me," she said, her eyes dancing. She reached her hand up for him to help her to her feet.

He took it and sank to his knees beside her.

"Not true, Isobel," he said in a harsh whisper. "'Tis I who am at your mercy."

His eyes fixed on her lips, full and parted. Well beyond thought now, he gave in to the inexorable pull toward them. The moment their lips touched, fire seared through him.

He tried to hang on to the thin thread of caution tugging at his conscience. But she was kissing him back, mouth open, her tongue seeking his. His ears roared as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him down.

He cushioned the back of her head with his hand before it touched the dirt floor. Leaning over her, he gave himself wholly to kissing her. He splayed his hands into her hair and rained kisses along her jaw and down her throat, then returned to her mouth again.

The sweet taste of her, the smell of her filled his senses. He was mindless of anything except her mouth, her face, her hair, his burning need to touch her.

He ran his hand down her side to the swell of her hip. When she moaned, he knew he had to feel her beneath him. Beneath him, pressed against him. Skin to skin.

Slowly, he lowered his body until he felt the soft fullness of her breasts against his chest. Sweet heaven! Oh God, the little sounds she was making. He let himself sink down further and groaned aloud as his swollen shaft pressed against her hip.

There was a reason he must not do what he wanted to do, but he could not recall it. And did not want to try.

The breath went out of him in a whoosh as he cupped the rounded softness of her breast in his hand. It felt so wondrously good he had to squeeze his eyes shut.

He froze the instant he felt the prick of cold steel against his neck.

"You are right," she said so close to his ear that he could feel her breath, "'tis wise to carry a short blade."

Expansion & Invasion: The Normans

By Lisa Yarde

During the Viking Age, the spirit of conquest and expansion beyond Scandinavia gave birth to a new race of warriors--the Normans. From their base in northern France, a region called Normandy, they expanded their influence and control into the British Isles and the Mediterranean with bloodied swords.

Beginning in 820, Scandinavian raiders penetrated the northern Frankish kingdom, sacking Rouen and besieging Paris. After decades of repeated incursions, a new leader emerged named Hrolfr Ragnvaldsson known as "the Ganger" who set his sights on the Frankish territory. Born on the Norwegian island of Giske to Jarl Rognvald the Wise of More in about 860, Hrolfr descended from lone of the oldest ruling families in Norway, one which would come to control the Earldom of Orkney. Clearly, ambition ran in the family. Hrolfr did not want the usual bribes, loot and plunder; he intended to stay and establish holdings in the beleaguered kingdom.

In 887, he carved out territory and settled his people in the lower Seine region. Twenty-four years later in 911, King Charles the Simple of France concluded a treaty with Hrolfr at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, conceding the territory the Viking leader had held for so long. In return, the Viking leader promised to protect the land against other Scandinavia raiders. Hrolfr, now baptized Rollo / Robert became the first Count of Normandy.

By the custom of hand-fasting he wed Poppa, daughter of the Count of Bayeux after killing her father Berenger and fathered at least fourteen children during his marriage with her. He also married the daughter of Charles the Simple, Giselle but had no heirs by her. He built fortifications at Bayeux, Brionne, Bessin and Maine, and his followers also married Frankish women and took local concubines. When he died in 933, the Normans were in complete control of northern France from the outskirts of Brittany to the coast of Flanders. In 1911, on the thousandth anniversary of the treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, France erected statues of its first Viking leader, like the one shown here at Falaise.

Statue of Hrolfr the Ganger / Count Rollo at Falaise, Normandy
Despite the next two centuries of intermarriage between the native Frankish people and the Scandinavians, and their acceptance of Christianity, their Norman descendants yearned to expand their territory and control. Hrolfr's heirs added the Contentin and Avranchin and Richard II became first to style himself Duke of Normandy. The warlike tendencies of their ancestors led to bitter struggles among the Normans. In 1017, when Richard exiled Osmond for killing one of the Duke's relatives, he raised a band of more than 200 warriors and journeyed to Italy. Osmond's brother Rainulf became the first count of Aversa, north of Naples.

In 1035 Rainulf struggled to hold his land against Byzantine interests and appealed to his fellow Normans. Two of the twelve sons of Tancred de Hauteville, William and Drogo answered the call. William won the nickname "Iron Arm" by killing a Muslim ruler at the siege of Syracuse, in southern Italy. He became Count of Apulia. His brother Drogo succeeded him. From their bases in Italy, the Normans wrested control of Sicily and Malta from the Muslims, and established the kingdom of Sicily which existed until 1194.

Statue of William II, last Norman king of Sicily
In 1066, Hrolfr's great-great-great grandson William the Conqueror set his sights upon an even greater conquest than in the Mediterranean; rule of England. The Vikings had raided along the English coast for at least 50 years before they began terrorizing the Frankish domain. From early on, they also expressed a strong intent to remain in the lands they raided.

After the Battle of Edington in 878, the Danish Viking leader Guthrum the Old wanted to settle peaceably in England. By treaty with King Alfred the Great in 886, Guthrum achieved his wish in the establishment of the Danelaw, territory stretching from Northumbria and East Anglia to the eastern coast. Two centuries later, Duke William of Normandy married Matilda of Flanders, a descendant of the King Alfred and consolidated his power. The English king Edward the Confessor was half-Norman by his mother Emma and he held the Normans at his court in high favor.

When he died, his Anglo-Danish in-laws, the Godwinsons, under Harold seized the throne. William claimed that two years before, Harold had sworn an oath recognizing Edward's offer of the English crown to the Norman Duke. In the autumn of 1066, William sailed to England and his followers ravaged the English coastal towns, daring a response from Harold. The King marched his army south, just after defeated a Viking invasion from the north at Stamford Bridge. So it was that an Anglo-Danish ruler met the Norman Duke, himself descended from a long line of Viking seafarers, but Harold lost England and his life at the Battle of Hastings.

Bayeux Tapestry, depicting Duke William and his Norman retainers
With their rise to power, the Normans imposed feudalism and dynamically changed the political power structure and culture of very domain they conquered.