NOT TO BE TAKEN From the Library THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY. Under the SanSlion of the Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education. THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY REPRODUCED IN AUTOTYPE PLATES. WITH HISTORIC NOTES BY FRANK REDE FOWKE. LONDON: \l1 PUBLISHED BY THE ARUNDEL SOCIETY, 24, OLD BOND STREET. 1875. All rights referved. 6:>yf-/ ^J H .52^7 CHISWICK PRESS: PRINTED BY WHITTINGHAM AND WILKINS, TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE. PREFACE. chief OR the following pages I can claim but little originality. The merit of the work is the excellence of its illuftrations, which prefent a more accurate copy of the Bayeux Tapeftry than has hitherto been procurable. I have not endeavoured to theorize nor to decide thofe vexed queftions which have formed bones of contention amongft the erudite for upwards of a century, and upon which they are ftill at variance. Occafionally, if a point has ftruclc me which I failed to difcover in the writings of others, I have preferred to quote from the recorded it for what it is worth ; but I have in general works of thofe whofe pofition in the antiquarian world entitles them to fpeak with authority. If, then, I appear at times to have made too free with the writings of Dr. Bruce, Mr. Freeman, M. Jubinal, Mr. Planchc, and others, it is becaufe there was nothing to be faid on the portion of the fubjedt then under con- fideration which had not been already well faid by them. The bulk of fome, and the rarity of others of the memoirs which have been written upon the tapeftry, together with the drudgery of bringing together fuch fcattered notices as have appeared in newfpapers and periodicals, are difficulties which befet the path of the ftudent. To obviate thefe, as far as poffible, I have condenfed the matter of all the more important defcriptions and elucidations which have come under my the intereft awakened notice during a careful inveftigation ; whilft, convinced that by the tapeftry will be in proportion as we feel that beyond its dired; ftory, it is a record of the manners and cuftoms of our remote anceftors, I have added, in an vj Preface. appendix, fome brief notices vviiich may ferve to introduce this ftudy to thofe who are unverfed in fuch matters. The plan upon which this book is arranged is as follows : — I. A hiftory of the tapeflry from the earlieft times to the prefent date. II. A defcription of the method of its manufafture and of the materials of which it is compofed. III. An account of the ftory which it tells, the events depidted being explained feriatim. IV. An appendix containing fuch notes upon architefture, arrrjs and armour, bibliography, biography, coftume, language and orthography, manners and cuftoms, paleography and topography, as appeared neceflary to its due appreciation. V. A ftatement of the opinions of various writers as to its age and authorfhip. VI. An index. I cannot conclude thefe remarks without recording my indebtednefs to M. Bertot, the mayor-adjoint of Bayeux, for his kindnefs in communicating to me fome interefting fadts concerning the precious relic of which he is a cuftodian. Frank Rede Fowke. CONTENTS. Page History of the Bayeux Tapestry I Description of the Bayeux Tapestry . 15 Appendix. Architefture Arms and Armour Bibliography Biography Coftume Heraldry . Language and Orthography Manners and Cuftoms Paleography Topography Opinions Index .... The Photographs were taken from the Tapejiry at Bayeux under the dire^ion of Mr. J. Cundall ; and have been printed in autotype by Mejfrs. Spencer, Sawyer, &r Bird. w 2 The Hijiory of M. Pezet has conjeftured that the tapeftry was placed for fafety in the Town-hall, and carried thence by the mob. The Bifhop of Bayeux, in his report upon this occafion, 19th Auguft, 1563, mentions the prefervation of fome tapeftry, and the lofs of " line tapijferie de grande valeur^' which M. Pezet conceives to relate to the Bayeux tapeftry miffing from the time of its abftradion by the populace up to that date. This opinion appears erroneous, for the Bifhop ftates that the miffing hangings were ufed to furround the choir on folemn occafions, and that they were compofed of cloths of different colours (lid upon a cord. Whilft the to tapeftry is correftly defcribed in the inventory as toile a broderie, and as ufed decorate the nave. after- Whether or not it was miffing in thefe troublous times, it was foon wards in pofleffion of the ecclefiaftical authorities, being ufed as a feftal decoration for the nave of the cathedral. Here it remained obfcure and forgotten, fave by thofe who lived within the walls of Bayeux, until, in the year 1724, a drawing which had foi^merly belonged to M. Foucault, Ex-intendant of Normandy, and a collector of antiquities, was prefented to M. Lancelot, a member of the Academie des Infcriptions, by the fecretary of that inftitution. On the 2ift July of that year M. Lancelot read a paper upon the drawing, but was ignorant of what it aftually reprefented. He had failed, he faid, to difcover whether the original was a bas-rehef, a fculpture round the choir of a church, upon a tomb, or on a frieze—if a frefco painting, ftained glafs, or even a piece of tapeftry. He faw that it was hiftorical, that it related to William, Duke of Nor- mandy, and the conqueft of England, and conjedured that it formed part of the Conqueror's tomb in the church of St. Etienne de Caen, or of the beautiful pierres pretieufes, et faift tout environ ennobly de fermailles d'or emaillies et de camayeux et autres ou aultres-foiz avoient efte perles, de prefent en y a encore fept vingt, et y a fexante dix places vuides pierres et fermailles d'or emaillies. le due ltem.—\3w% autre mantel duquel, comme Ten dit, la ducefle eftoit veftue quand elle epoufa le bort de bas enrichiz Guillaume, tout femey de petits ymages d'or tire a or fraiz pardevant.et pour tout a encore deus de fermailles d'or emaillies et de camayeux et autres pierres pretieufes, et de prefent en y aultres-foiz pareilles cens quatre-vingt-douze, et y a deus cens quatre places vuides aufquelles eftoient pierres et fermailles d'or emaillies. autels et autres draps de Enfuivent pour le quint chapitre les tentes, tapis, cortines, paremens des de ladifle cglife. faye pour parer le cueur aux feftes folonnelles, trouves et gardes en le veftiaire efcripteaulx faifans repre- Jtem.—lJne tente tres longue et etroite de telle a broderie de ymages et par les oflaves fentation du conqueft d'Angleterre, laquelle eft tendue environ la nef de I'eglife le jour et des Reliques. [At this date the fcaft of the Relics was kept on the 1 ft July.] 'The Bayeux Tapejlry. 3 windows which are faid to have formerly exifted in that abbey. Following up thefe fpeculations, he caufed inveftigations to be made at Caen, but his refearches were entirely without fuccefs. Father Montfaucon, a Benedi(5tine of Saint-Maur, was more fortunate. Upon reading Lancelot's memoir he at once perceived the value of this curious repre- fentation, and determined to leave no ftone unturned till the original was difcovered. In the firft volume of his " Monumens de la Monarchic Francjoife," which appeared in 1729, he gave a redudlion of M. Foucauit's drawing in fourteen double plates, and added a double plate, divided into four parts, with the whole of the then- difcovered work, drawn to a fmall fcale. He faw that this fragment was but the commencement of a long hiftory, and he therefore wrote to the Benedidtines of St. Etienne de Caen and of St. Vigor de Bayeux to inquire if they were acquainted with any fuch monument. The Reverend Father Mathurin I'Archer, Prior of St. Vigor de Bayeux, anfwered that the original was a piece of tapeftry, preferved in the cathedral, about thirty feet in length (nearly thirty-two Englifh feet), and one foot and a-half broad, and that they had another piece of the fame breadth continuing the hiftory, the whole being two hundred and twelve feet long (nearly two hundred and twenty-fix Englifh feet). He copied all the infcriptions, and fent them to Montfaucon, who faw that the entire monument was now difcovered. Montfaucon fent a fkilful draughtfman named Antoine Benoit to copy the tapeftry, with inftru6tions to reduce it to a given fize, but to alter nothing. At the opening of the fecond volume of his " Monumens de la Monarchic Fran^oife," publiftied in 1730, Montfaucon engraved the whole hiftory in this reduced form,' accompanied by a commentary upon the Latin infcriptions which throughout explain the intention of the figures reprefented in the diff"erent compartments, and M. Lancelot now compofed a fecond memoir, which was read in 1730. It will be feen that at the time of its difcovery by Montfaucon the tapeftry was in two pieces, the firft ending at the word Hie of the infcription. Hie venit nuntiiis ad Wilgelmum Dueem, and the join, in fpite of the beautiful manner in which it has been made, may ftill be detefted.^ At this period, too, the extremities began to fuffer, and in order to fave the work from deftrudlion, the chapter caufed it to be lined. ' Thefe plates are, however, lamentably inaccurate. 2 M. Lechaude d'Anify remarks upon the abfence of any fign of a join. ; 4 'The Hijiory of The intereft awakened by the difcovery of the tapeftry was not confined to France. In 1746 Stukeley writes of it as " the nobleft monument in the world, relating to our old Englifh Hiftory." He is followed by the learned antiquary Dr.