An encrypted monument …
If you want to see the tapestry with your own eyes, go to the old Norman town of Bayeux, which is comfortably located in the Orne valley.
From afar, a medieval cathedral catches the eye, the vague contours of towers and spiers, which gradually, as they approach the city, become clearer. The road circles around the old center, like a protective fence, within which lies a web of shady streets and ancient stone buildings; both here and there in the sun the facades of wooden houses in the style of the late Middle Ages shine, as if they penetrated here, into our present, from the past. In the center of the city rises a huge cathedral, a Gothic masterpiece in the Romanesque style. Its western towers, erected during the time of William the Conqueror, still float above the small houses at their foot. However, not this cathedral, no doubt outstanding, but still quite ordinary by French standards, attracts half a million tourists to Bayeux every year. They come to see one of the greatest and most mysterious works of art.
Signs to this masterpiece can be found throughout the city center. They only have one word, in English or French “Tapisserie. Tapestry . Here in Bayeux, the rest of the words are superfluous.
A road marked with signs "Tapestry" leads you along narrow streets, under the shadow of old houses and the cathedral. She walks past shops that sell everything you can decorate with a Bayeux tapestry, from mugs and waffle towels to mouse mats and T-shirts. Under the pale green tent of the Le Buillaume restaurant, you can take a break and remember the feats of arms of the Duke William of Normandy, or his wife, Queen Matilda, if you stay at the La Reine Mathilde hotel.
The path then leads you past these institutions along Rue De Mesmono, all the way to an imposing 17th century building that was converted into a museum in the early 1980s.
You open the door of the museum. Inside there is silence and twilight. You buy a ticket. Then you go along a wide staircase and, passing several doors, step by step you approach the holy of holies of the medieval mystery. Then there will be a long, narrow corridor without windows and with an unexpected bend in the middle. It is here that the Bayeux tapestry is located, carefully hidden under thick glass. It stretches out in front of you like a giant film strip, a beautiful, colorful frieze from the depths of the Middle Ages. Although this work of art is only half a meter wide, it is incredibly long, especially for such an antique piece. It seems that if you take the tapestry in hand, it will crumble. The tapestry stretches along the wall, then curves and stretches further. Its entire length is 70 m, but it would have been even longer by about 60 m if the final part had not been lost in the deep past. Even so, the remaining tapestry can cover a third of Nelson's column.
Yes, it is here, in the very heart of Normandy, that the dramatic story of the Norman invasion of England in 1066 is embroidered by contemporaries. Despite its age and fragility, the tapestry is perfectly preserved. Most of what we see on the tapestry today is original, and the scenes that have been restored have been reproduced with great care and do not alter their original interpretation.
The tapestry is made on plain linen with woolen threads of red, yellow, gray, two shades of green and three shades of blue. Despite its antiquity, it remains so bright and captivating, as if it was completed yesterday and not a thousand years ago. An extraordinary story unfolds as you walk along a dimly lit gallery. The linen scene quickly fills with busy figures who are in castles and halls, on ships and on horses, or are staring somewhere. This is a medieval tale of intrigue, danger and war. It begins with mysterious events that took place a year or two before 1066 - a critical backdrop for all subsequent actions, culminating in the battle of 1066, the most decisive year in English history.
Interestingly, the greatest drama in history and daily affairs are recorded by the artist without ambition, and as if in random order. Some people feast here, eat meat on spits, others drink wine poured into goblets of elephant tusks, others hunt, sow, or go to church; men wade across the river, tunics raised high, load provisions on ships, and then fight. Every time you look at a tapestry, the thought arises that new details appear on it that you have not seen before. This work is understandable because it is obvious, but at the same time it is mysterious and tempting. A Latin commentary running along the upper border of the main frieze sheds light on the content of the canvas, but infuriates it at its brevity and ambiguity. Above and below the main frieze there are two narrow borders filled with strange drawings: real and mythical creatures, ancient legends, astrological symbols, scenes from everyday life, and even individual erotic episodes.
Despite the signature that it is a tapestry, it is actually not a tapestry at all. To be precise, this is embroidery, since the images are embroidered on the fabric, and not done in the typical manner of making tapestries, but this work is perhaps the most famous "tapestry" in the world, so it would be too pedantic to insist on changing it titles. We do not have wall decorations from this time to compare them with this tapestry from Bayeux, and there are no documents describing when, why, and by whom it was made. Everything we can learn about the Bayeux Tapestry can only be gleaned from historical research. For example, the way it appeared in Bayeux, if the first mention of it is dated 1476.
Even after you have seen the Bayeux tapestry many times, the detail, length and complexity of manufacture continue to amaze. So, it depicts 626 human figures, 202 horses, 55 dogs, 505 other animals, 49 trees, 37 buildings, 41 ships. The tapestry tells about men: out of 626 human figures, only 3 on the main frieze and 2 on the borders belong to women. In a few intriguing episodes, even unnamed characters can be recognized, but to identify people, one usually has to resort to Latin signatures.
The comment contains the names of only 15 characters; obviously these are the main characters of the tapestry. The heroes named generally belong to the upper echelon of medieval society, and are mentioned in any account of the events of 1066. They are Edward the Confessor, the old king of England, and the two main contenders for his throne, Earl Harold of Wessex and Duke William of Normandy. However, in addition, 4 unknown figures are mentioned: the dwarf Turold, performing the duties of a groom, the English lady Elfiva, who is in love with a priest, and two junior Norman knights - Vadard and Vital. And here we have the first riddle of the tapestry: why a dwarf, an elegant but disgraceful lady and two junior Norman knights, share glory with kings, dukes, earls, bishops, forcing us to find out who they are and what role they played in the events of 1066 G. Why were they immortalized on the tapestry? Another important character on the tapestry is Bishop Odo of Bayeux, depicted on it with a commander's staff in his hands, more like a gnarled club. Odo was a greedy and ambitious half-brother of William and his main supporter in this conquest, after which he became one of the richest men in England.
According to the popular concept, the Bayeux tapestry is a work of the triumph of William the Conqueror. It undoubtedly has enormous historical significance, but it cannot be taken absolutely straightforwardly. Read any known work, and in it you will find information that the tapestry depicts the story of the childless English king Edward the Confessor, who at the end of his life sent his confidant, Earl Harold on a mission to Normandy. The count's mission is to inform Edward's cousin, Duke William of Normandy, that the old king has chosen him as his heir. After an accident in another part of France, from which Duke Wilhelm kindly saved him, Earl Harold duly swore his oath of oath to him and solemnly vowed to be William's vassal. However, returning to England after Edward's death in January 1066, Harold himself seized the throne. That is, Duke William was deceived by a greedy Englishman, and therefore gathered a huge army of Normans and invaded England to lay claim to the throne. In the end, he certainly defeats the treacherous Englishman at the Battle of Hastings (but not without the support of his half-brother Odo), and Harold gets an arrow in the eye for his betrayal. This story is told "strictly from the point of view of the Normans." This view of the Bayeux tapestry is repeated over and over in guidebooks, brochures and popular history books.
But the truth seems to be different from this version, and it is much more interesting. It has slowly manifested itself in the last 50 years in magazine articles and, obviously, is completely unfamiliar to the general public. Much remains a mystery, and not all experts agree with this version, but there is good reason to believe that the Bayeux tapestry was not embroidered in Normandy at all, but in conquered England. It is possible that within 10 years after 1066, and that the brilliant artist who created the drawing for the team of English seamstresses (Queen Matilda had nothing to do with it!), Created a dangerously multi-layered masterpiece. There was simply a romantic legend, first recorded in the 18th century, that the Bayeux tapestry owes its appearance to William's proud and delightful wife, Queen Matilda. She and her assistants are said to have embroidered a tapestry to celebrate William's success in conquering England. By the way, a plaque with the words "Queen Matilda's Tapestry" still hangs on the wall of the museum in Bayeux, possibly because a large number of French tourists continue to come to the gate, expecting to see the work of Queen Matilda.
In fact, the idea of the canvas was just wonderfully thought out and full of secret meaning. Only at first glance does the tapestry support the Norman version. It seems that the artist's idea was in fact subversive. Working under the rule of the Normans, he came up with embroidery, which, at first glance, should not have disappointed the conquerors. However, with a deeper level of familiarity with the canvas, you begin to understand that it tells a completely different story. At a time when it was impossible to convey the English point of view in writing, the artist did it with the help of drawings. What could not be said can be shown, covertly and artfully; and the work of art that the Normans embraced and admired was in fact a Trojan horse that retained the English point of view. Thus, in these pictures is embroidered the story that we are gradually discovering today. According to her, the claims of the Normans to the throne are rejected. And the Bayeux tapestry itself is more like a lost version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
There is no doubt that the Bayeux tapestry depicts the victory of the Normans, and their very victory cannot be denied. We see how a talented artist proceeds to skillfully present the English version of the events leading to the Norman conquest, but even more he tries to evaluate the conquest in terms of deep religiosity and beliefs of the time. According to the doctrine prevailing in Christianity in the 11th century, all great events took place at the will of the Lord. Therefore, in search of an explanation of the reasons for the conquest of England by the Normans, the artist turned to the Old Testament and comes to the conclusion that the conquest of England was God's punishment for sins. This is how the helpless, subdued people tried to explain what had happened to them; the Normans, for their part, also proclaimed that God was for them. Everything is intertwined here and the full meaning of these connections has never been and, most likely, will not be revealed. However, the artist most likely supported Count Eustace II of Bologna, who, although he joined William's invasion in 1066, intended to fight the Normans for power in northern France. He probably claimed the English throne as well. Count Eustace of Bologna is usually mistakenly called "Norman", although in reality he was not at all their zealous supporter, and Duke William did not trust him. On the tapestry, only three characters: Bishop Odo of Bayeux, Duke William and Count Eustace of Bolon are named among the Normans who participated in the Battle of Hastings. At the same time, it is worth looking at the image on the canvas a little more carefully, as it becomes clear that of these three, the tapestry assigns the main role to Count Eustace, and not at all to William the Conqueror! That is, the tapestry is nothing more than an encrypted monument to those distant events, and if this is really so, then its goal is to tell the truth to the descendants of the defeated English! However, it is not so easy to find it on this tapestry.
A tale of consequences
Today the walls of buildings of the XI century. they look naked and empty, they have nothing left of the glitter and luxury of the old days. But as soon as we travel back in time and enter the confines of the great churches or worldly palaces of the time, we immediately see colorful wall hangings, frescoes and other decorations.
Thus, in the great Anglo-Saxon poem "Beowulf", the hall of a secular building is described as brilliantly decorated with draperies "embroidered with gold", and "many who were honored to see them cannot contain an exclamation of delight." It is known that the widow of the Anglo-Saxon warrior Bertnot, who died in 991 in the battle at Maldon, created an interesting embroidery dedicated to the death of her husband, and transferred her work to the Ely Church. But it has not survived; we can only guess about its size, design and technique. But the tapestry from Bayeux has survived, and even for the XI century. he was an exception because very few people had enough space to exhibit a work of this length and the means to order it. A huge number of fabric ornaments, both large and small, have disappeared. So even the fact that at least one tapestry has survived is a rare success for historians. It is doubly fortunate that the only surviving work of its kind captures the most important event in English history.
In the modern world, it is more honorable to be a defeated people than a nation of victorious warriors. After all, it was said: "Blessed are the meek …". And although from the XI century. England often acted as a conqueror, the defeat that she suffered from the Normans can be considered one of the most severe and crushing in the history of mankind. However, the Normans and French who landed in England constituted only a small part of the total population of the country (1, 5 - 2 million people). But they took all the key positions in power. Within a few years, virtually all of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy was replaced by the French-speaking elite. One by one, the chief bishops and abbots were replaced by the Normans or their henchmen. Wealth as trophies of war flowed into the treasury of the conquerors. By 1086, when King William conducted an inventory of land holdings in the Book of the Last Judgment, a quarter of England belonged to 11 of his closest supporters. Of the 200 aristocrats who owned another quarter of the country, only 4 were English. A huge mass of representatives of the Anglo-Saxon ruling class was destroyed in the battle of 1066, turned into second-class people in their own land, or became exiles. The Normans became the new elite, but their allies from other parts of France and Flanders made up an important minority. To strengthen their power, the Normans began to build castles, first from wood, then from stone, throughout the country. Until 1066 there were few castles in England. Now fortified castles - square fortresses on man-made hills - have become a characteristic feature of the English counties. With the death of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, the only person who could organize opposition in the country left. Therefore, the resistance was sporadic and completely ineffectual. And if the fortresses took away the hope of a successful uprising, then the soul of the people also shrank in the shadow of the magnificent churches and cathedrals erected by the invaders in the continental style. The elegant, floating cathedrals of Winchester and Ely are all prominent legacies of the Norman conquest, as is the Tower, London's famous White Tower, a reminder of the military power that created it.
In cruel times, everyone was cruel, but one cannot fail to note the special cruelty in the character of William the Conqueror. It was she who made the conquest of England possible. He was a man with an iron will. If he thought he was right, then he immediately used all his strength and did not pay attention to the innocent victims. The invasion of 1066, captured so vividly on the Bayeux tapestry, is the story of man's single-minded will to win. Less well known, but no less significant, is how William suppressed a rebellion in the north of England in 1069 and 1070, where he punished all sectors of society with extreme brutality. Dividing the army into small detachments, he ordered to ravage this land. The soldiers burned the harvest, staged a massacre among the peasants, and destroyed the tools of labor.
It was a policy of deliberate terror: for a whole generation the earth did not give birth, famine began - but the revolt was suppressed. Thousands died. Samson of Darkhemsky writes that corpses rotted in the streets and in houses, and the survivors were forced to eat horses, dogs, cats or sell themselves into slavery. All villages from Durham to York were ravaged and abandoned. 50 years later, the already mentioned Oderik Vitalis, a monk of Anglo-Norman origin, recalled with bitterness "helpless children, young people who had just begun their journey, decrepit old people" who died as a result of William's punitive operation in the north. The reputation of a cruel man helped William to impose his rule on England. Few dared to speak out against him, even fewer dared to rebel.
The direct human sacrifice of the Norman conquest is great, but the long-term impact of this invasion is also dramatic and felt to this day. The events of 1066 deeply influenced the further development of British and European history. The country came out of the ranks of the Scandinavian world and turned to face France. Over the centuries that followed, England was ruled by a French-speaking elite whose interests, and at least ambitions, lay on both sides of the English Channel. Over time, England was increasingly drawn into the regional and dynastic intrigues of France. When the Norman dynasty was interrupted with the death of King Stephen in 1154, the French dynasty of Henry Plantagenet, great-grandson of William the Conqueror, took over. The conflict, known as the Hundred Years War, which ended in 1453, is the most striking example of the long and confusing Anglo-French relationship, the reason for which was precisely the victory of William of Norman at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
The Anglo-Saxon system of government was quite complex for its time, so the Normans in England kept it. For example, they left the Anglo-Saxon counties as an administrative unit. And they remain today within the same boundaries. The schoolchildren are told that the Normans brought “feudalism” to England, but historians are no longer sure of this, or that the term “feudalism” itself fits with what took place in England. Longer-term cultural and linguistic changes are also easier to define. In an instant, Old English became the language of powerless plebeians, almost stopped writing, and the development of English literature, previously represented by the Anglo-Saxon poems Beowulf and The Battle of Maldon, actually simply stopped. And if the French and laughed at the Anglo-Saxon poetry, which seemed to them clumsy and rough, then they were also able to bring their significant contribution to the new culture. French ethnic poetry, gripping stories and cautionary tales written to entertain French-speaking lords and ladies in their new English castles, have formed an important part of French literature itself. Some are convinced that the first significant work in French - "The Song of Roland" - was written not just anywhere, but in the conquered England. Be that as it may, the earliest version of The Song of Roland is a copy recorded in 12th century England.
For centuries, two languages have existed in parallel: French for the ruling class, English for the middle and lower classes. As Walter Scott noted in Ivanhoe, this social and linguistic barrier still echoes in modern English. Many animals continue to be called old English terms (sheep - sheep, cow - cow, oh - bull, deer - deer), while dishes made from them, prepared for nobles, received French names (mattock - lamb, beef - beef, beacon - bacon, venison - venison, real - veal). Only in 1362 did French cease to be the language of the English Parliament. When Henry IV ascended the throne in 1399, he became the first English king since Harold Goodwinson, whose mother tongue was English, not French. Even in the 17th century. English lawyers used a degenerated form of French within the walls of the court. The Normans never set out to eradicate the English language. It is said that William the Conqueror tried to learn English, but found it too difficult for himself and gave up. But thanks to the overwhelming majority of English-speaking residents and constant wars with France, French gradually disappeared from colloquial speech, and by the 15th century. modern English became the main language of the country. By this time, Norman and Plantagenet French had enriched English with thousands of new words. A huge number of synonyms in modern English appeared as a result of the "inoculation" of the French language following the Norman conquest. If Harold had won the Battle of Hastings, then the language of modern English would be completely different from the current one.
The construction of the cathedral itself at Bayeux in 1070 may also have been financed by the wealth confiscated from the English aristocrats. Other traces are less material, but no less significant. Among the walled pastures of the Cherbourg Peninsula in the west and the vastness of France in the northeast are many towns and villages, the names of which are closely related to some of the famous families of Britain. It was from such places as Quincy, Montbre, Mormémar, La Pomeras, Secuville and Vere that the famous families of British aristocrats originated - De Quincey, Mobray, Mortimer, Pomeroy, Sackville, De Vere. This is also the legacy of the Norman conquest, and all these names still evoke in the ears of the British the memories of their ancestral French-speaking aristocracy. The ancestors of these aristocrats were influential people who moved to England immediately after the Norman conquest or with the second and subsequent waves of immigration.
In various ways, the events depicted on the Bayeux tapestry influenced English history in ways that can still be heard today. Nine centuries later, we can still experience repercussions that cannot be attributed to conquest as such. The Norman invasion of 1066 was the last time in the history of England that it was conquered by another state. Neither Philip II of Spain in the 1580s, nor Napoleon at the beginning of the 18th century, nor Adolf Hitler in the 1940s could no longer repeat the achievement of William the Conqueror …
So how was it all the same?
It is believed that at the Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066, a cavalry force of Norman knights unsuccessfully attacked the British while they were hiding behind a "wall of shields" on a hill. But, enticing them with a false retreat to an open place, William used his advantage in cavalry and defeated the British. King Harold fell in battle, and Norman rule was established in England. However, why everything happened exactly like that, and not otherwise, English-speaking historians still argue.
At the same time, an increasing number of them are inclined to what really happened at the Battle of Hastings, and there is a big difference in what is actually depicted on the tapestry. So, only one cavalry acts on it from Wilhelm's side, however, according to other sources, large forces of infantry and archers were also involved there, and the Norman horsemen at the beginning of the battle were in the rear and only later they became the first from the very last, although on the tapestry everything is completely wrong …
Interestingly, in the scenes of the battle on the "Bayesque Tapestry" you can see 29 warrior archers. However, 23 of them are depicted on the border, outside the main field, which clearly indicates their secondary role, although many horsemen on the main field are literally stuck with arrows. There you can also see four foot warriors-Normans (the British themselves prefer the name Normans) in protective armor and with bows in their hands, and one Saxon archer, dressed completely unmilitary. There is only one horse archer. He also lacks defensive armor and keeps behind the pursuing Saxon Norman Knights. It is unlikely that this is the forgetfulness of the embroiderers: since all the other details of the weapons are shown on the tapestry in sufficient detail and embroidered very carefully.
From the school history textbook (and, by the way, the university one too!), We know that the main role in this battle was played by the Conqueror's cavalry, which several times attacked the Englishmen standing on the hill, who were hiding there behind the in the end, with a feigned retreat, she lured them to the plain. Well, and there they, of course, upset their ranks, and the cavalry immediately surrounded them and destroyed them all. But how could this even happen, because Harold, the leader of the British, was by no means a novice in military affairs. He literally just won a decisive victory over the Norwegians who landed in England, but for some reason all his army is shown on the tapestry on foot, although the shields of his soldiers for the most part do not differ at all from the equestrian shields of his Norman opponents!
Moreover, Harold himself was first wounded by an arrow in the eye, and only after that he was hacked to death by the swords of the Norman knights. So here it is the secret of the tapestry - in front of us! On the battlefield at Hastings that day, it was not the cavalry army of Duke William who won, but the infantry and archers of Count Eustace of Bologna, who literally bombarded the British with their arrows. Only at the very end did the knightly cavalry of Duke William really hit them, but it was unsuccessful here too! Having barely overcome the steepness of the ascent to the hill, her horsemen were subjected to a fierce counterattack by the huscarls - Harold's elite warriors, who skillfully wielded their two-handed wide-bladed axes. The Norman Knights fled, and a panicky rumor spread that Duke William had been killed. And none other than Count Eustace, who organized an attack on the British infantry from the flank with a banner in his hands. "There he is, William!" - he shouted, while Wilhelm himself at this time lowered the chainmail visor from his face, threw back his helmet, and the soldiers recognized him.
Earl Harold's warriors, in turn, were not infantrymen, but exactly the same horsemen as William's horsemen, with the exception of perhaps his famous housecarls, of whom, however, there were not so many in his army! But Harold himself, apparently not trusting his soldiers and fearing betrayal, ordered them to fight on foot, and hid the horses in the nearest forest behind the hill they occupied. After all, it is on horses that they flee from the Conqueror's warriors pursuing them after their defeat, which is reflected in the 59th episode of the tapestry.
And the characters from Aesop's fables are depicted on the border of the tapestry for a reason! They seem to suggest: “Not everything is so simple here! Everything here, like Aesop's, has a double meaning! However, whether all this is really so, we can, unfortunately, for now only guess!
Reconstruction of the course of the battle, taking into account new readings of the "Bayesian canvas"
First phase: The British stand at the top of the hill in a long, winding line, covering themselves from the front with shields. The Normans attack them from the base of the hill in three lines. Archers ahead, infantry behind them and, finally, behind it are units of knightly cavalry, which, of course, could not have been very much. Duke William is in command on the left flank, and Count Eustace of Bologna is on the right.
A. Sheps's maps
