Bayeux Tapestry Writing Assignment You Do Not Have to Be A

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Bayeux Tapestry Writing Assignment You Do Not Have to Be A Bayeux Tapestry Writing Assignment You do not have to be a needlepoint enthusiast to appreciate the magnificent Bayeux Tapestry, which chronicles the events leading up to the conquest of England by Duke William of Normandy in the year 1066. Technically speaking it is not a tapestry at all – but an embroidery, stitched with wool on a linen background by a team of needle workers. But the interesting question is: was it made just to celebrate a great victory? To answer this question you have to consider the political situation at the time. Duke William claimed that the King, Edward the Confessor, had promised him the throne of England. However this event had not been properly witnessed or recorded. He also claimed that Harold, the future King of England, had previously sworn allegiance to him. But Harold had been imprisoned in France at that time, and his actions could have been misunderstood. On Edward’s death, William of Normandy had expected to ascend the English throne. But instead Harold disputed his claims, insisting that the Kingdom had been bequeathed to him by the dying monarch, and was duly crowned King. William replied to this by invading England, defeating the English army and killing King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. Now the new King William had to ensure that history told the story his way. What better way to achieve this than with a huge 230 feet long tapestry – a priceless work of art, which would be preserved for centuries, and confirm his right, and that of his successors, to the throne of England. Thus the whole scene of Edward promising his crown to William, and Harold swearing allegiance, was stitched into the tapestry, and recorded for all time. Picture an era when very few people could read, and imagine the visual impact of this story told in vivid images, complete with the mangled bodies of the dead in battle. Even today you can walk along beside the Tapestry, and the whole epic story unfolds before your eyes, just as William the Conqueror intended, a thousand years ago. The Da Vinci Code was an example of a good, but unconvincing attempt to re-write history. But the Bayeaux Tapestry succeeded! Write a multi paragraph composition explaining why you think the Bayeux Tapestry may have been used to re-write history. Make sure you consider why there might have been a need to re-write the truth, or if the Tapestry really does tell us the truth. Even if the Tapestry isn’t completely truthful, what else does it do for us. Be clear, have an opinion, and make your writing interesting for the reader. .
Recommended publications
  • Gale Owen-Crocker (Ed.), the Bayeux Tapestry. Collected Papers, Aldershot, Hampshire (Ashgate Publishing) 2012, 374 P
    Francia-Recensio 2013/1 Mittelalter – Moyen Âge (500–1500) Gale Owen-Crocker (ed.), The Bayeux Tapestry. Collected Papers, Aldershot, Hampshire (Ashgate Publishing) 2012, 374 p. (Variorum Collected Studies Series, CS1016), ISBN 978-1-4094-4663-7, GBP 100,00. rezensiert von/compte rendu rédigé par George Beech, Kalamazoo, MI Scholarly interest in the Bayeux Tapestry has heightened to a remarkable degree in recent years with an increased outpouring of books and articles on the subject. Gale Owen-Crocker has contributed to this perhaps more than anyone else and her publications have made her an outstanding authority on the subject. And the fact that all but three of the seventeen articles published in this collection date from the past ten years shows the degree to which her fascination with the tapestry is alive and active today. Since her own specialty has been the history of textiles and dress one might expect that these articles would deal mainly with the kinds of materials used in the tapestry, the system of stitching, and the like. But this is not so. Although she does indeed treat these questions she also approaches the tapestry from a number of other perspectives. After an eight page introduction to the whole collection the author groups the first three articles under the heading of »Textile«. I. »Behind the Bayeux Tapestry«, 2009. In this article she describes the first examination of the back of the tapestry in 1982–1983 which was accomplished by looking under earlier linings which had previously covered it, and the light which this shed on various aspects of its production – questions of color, type of stitching used, and later repairs.
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