Bayeux II - William in England

The Bayeux Tapestry
Part II: William in England
Monday, 12 October at 6pm

This will be the second of my two talks about the Bayeux 'Tapestry', celebrating its return to England for the first time in roughly 1000 years. I've wanted to see it for years, so I don't know why I've never been to Normandy: it's not that far. However, coming to the British Museum it is, and see it I will. And then, I'd like to give you my take on it. 

Apparently, in the exhibition, we won't get a huge amount of time to look at the tapestry detail, so that is precisely what I want to do online.  In the first week I will have looked at the first 'half' of the tapestry - covering Harold's expedition to Normandy. In this, the second talk, we will think about William's journey to England, and the Battle of Hastings which ensued. As we move through the 68m of fantastic storytelling, we will discuss the characters as we meet them, think about their place in history, and especially, the attitude that the 'tapestry' has towards them. We will also look carefully at marginal details, thinking about how the story is told, how the 'tapestry' was made (as I'm sure you know, it's not a tapestry), and who the makers were - including whether or not they had an opinion about what they had been asked to do! 

My aim is to provide the perfect introduction for a visit to see the real thing: you will know already what you are looking at, so you will be able to concentrate on the looking! 

Please remember, I do not record my talks.