Bayeux Stitch Job Online Trivia | Art

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Bon jour mes amis! Habrok the hawk here! I come and I go, comme ci, comme ca, in and out of the pictures, embroidered with blue, green, gold and brown wool yarn on a 70 metre strip of woven linen. The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of Britain in 1066. What region in France is "home" to the Bayeux Tapestry?

Answer: Normandy

The Bayeux Tapestry is in Bayeux, in Normandy, France. Nothing is known for certain about the tapestry's origins. In 1476 it was recorded in the cathedral treasury at Bayeux as "a very long and narrow hanging on which are embroidered figures and inscriptions comprising a representation of the conquest of England." It was probably commissioned in the 1070s by Bishop Odo of Bayeux, half-brother of William the Conqueror, though there are other less plausible theories extant. Assuming Odo commissioned the tapestry, it was probably designed and constructed in England by Anglo-Saxon artists. It is not in fact a tapestry since the design is embroidered on, not woven into, the fabric.

Who made the Bayeux tapestry? There is a romantic story in which the wife of King William the Conqueror, Queen Matilda, made the tapestry with the help of her ladies in honor of her husband. The truth is that the tapestry was made in England. The style of the needlework is similar to that of English needlework and the fine quality of English needlework was renowned throughout France. Bishop Odo would have chosen the most skilled embroiderers for the task. The most talented embroiderers of the period were the noble Saxon women who had chosen to spend their lives in a nunnery, or convent. Nuns of noble backgrounds spent much of their time on embroidery - menial tasks in the convent were given to lower class women. It is highly probable that these talented nuns, from various convents, made the Bayeux tapestry.

2. Bon jour again! Il fait beau, n'est pas? I'd better bring you up to date with my news, oui? In the first scene in the tapestry, I'm sitting on Harold's hand as he talks to his brother-in-law the king. Am I not a fine bird? You'll see in the next scene how after a feast we went to church to pray for a good voyage and then, still sitting on his hand, I accompanied him across La Manche to Normandy. By the way, I keep mentioning the king. Who is this king of England depicted in the first scenes of the tapestry ?

Answer: Edward the Confessor

Edward was the Son of the Saxon King Ethelred the Unready and Emma, sister of Duke Richard II of Normandy. Emma later married Cnut, King of Denmark. Cnut became King of England and Edward went to live in exile in Normandy.

When Cnut's son Harthacnut died without leaving an heir, Edward became King in 1042 and was crowned at Winchester in 1043. He ruled with the help of the powerful Saxon earls and married Edith, daughter of Godwin, earl of Wessex.

3. What a day yesterday was! I did meet Ethelfleda though. She's a fast little bird with bright black eyes and you can see her on the tapestry sitting on Count Robert's hand. Count Robert? Oh, he's the fierce Count of Mortmain, William the Conqueror's half brother, and he guards the southern border of Normandy. You can see him on the tapestry between William and Odo. (I'm hiding in the border!) Robert took us prisoner when we landed but William sent messengers demanding our release. So it's "Au revoir, Ethelfleda! Je suis desole!" Wouldn't we have made a wonderful pair? What two main stitches do these clever ladies use to make us all so charming?

Answer: laid stitch and stemstitch

The use of only two main embroidery stitches gives the work its wonderful character. Laid stitch, also known as couching work, or "Bayeux stitch" is used to fill in the coloured areas. It is outlined with stem stitch and is worked in three stages.
Straight stitches are laid across the area. Then bars are used to maintain the straight stitches in place. They are spaced approximately 3 to 4 mm apart.
A bar is placed at the intersection of two areas of couching work.
Picots, small stitches, then fixed the bars. They go from one line to the other, and are repeated every 3 to 5mm.

4. Now we come to a rather strange section. It begins well. How could it not, for I am there on the hand of William himself travelling with Harold to William's Palace at Rouen. But look at the right side of the section. What's going on there? Oh, ma foi! It seems to be a mysterious lady who seems to be being molested. I wonder what that's all about? Just as I was about to fly into the border I saw something that made my feathers curl. There's a man down there with no clothes on. I feel quite faint. Someone else had better ask the question. When Victorian embroiderers made a copy of the tapestry in 1885 what change did they make to this scene?

Answer: They stitched shorts on the naked man

This Victorian copy, complete with its typically prudish Victorian addition, can be seen in the town museum in Reading. It was the idea of Elizabeth Wardle to make the replica Bayeux Tapestry now on display in the Museum of Reading. She was a skilled embroiderer and a member of the Leek Embroidery Society in Staffordshire.

Her husband, Thomas Wardle, was a leading silk industrialist. Elizabeth Wardle researched the Bayeux Tapestry by visiting Bayeux in 1885. The Society also based the replica on hand-coloured photographs of the tapestry held by the South Kensington Museum, now called the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

In fact the clothing of the naked man may have been the work of this group. The Leek ladies copied their photographs. The aim of the project was to make a full-sized and accurate replica of the Bayeux Tapestry "so that England should have a copy of its own".

5. Brr-rr-rr! I'm not too keen on water and I've just had quite a narrow escape. Il fait froid! In the next three scenes, Harold and the Norman soldiers are going with William to fight Conan of Brittany. They have to cross a river and you can see Harold pulling out some soldiers who have slipped - two at a time! You can't see me. I don't like wet feathers! As they pursue and finally defeat Conan they have to pass by his capital which can be clearly seen atop a mound. What is the Brittany capital, seen on the tapestry?

Answer: Rennes

The representation of Rennes is in scene 18 of the tapestry and around the motif is the word REDNES a contemporary spelling. Hawks and other birds are shown in the borders above and below it.

The town stands at the confluence of The Ille and The Vilaine rivers and the ancient town centre is built on a hill.

6. The next tapestry section is the Oath of Allegiance. This infamous oath to Duke William was described by the Anglo-Norman historian Orderic Vitalis - "Harold himself had taken an oath of fealty to Duke William at Rouen in the presence of the Norman nobles, and, after becoming his man, had sworn ... to carry out all that was required of him. After that, the Duke had taken Harold on an expedition against Conan, Count of Brittany, and had given him splendid arms and horses and heaped other tokens upon him and his companions." The Bayeux Tapestry depicts this critical event. William is illustrated as calling upon Harold to swear an oath of allegiance to him and to his right to the throne. The Tapestry shows Harold swearing his oath as William looks on. Why does Harold have his hands on what appears to be two large box-like containers?

Answer: He is swearing on holy relics in their reliquaries

A close examination of the Bayeux Tapestry tends to suggest that Harold was being honoured after heroics on the Brittany campaign, given arms and armour, and in return swearing an oath of fealty. Some sources tend to suggest that there was an element of trickery about the whole occasion. Harold is said to have sworn a hollow oath, after which William whipped away the covering on the table, revealing the most holy of relics which bound it. So it seems likely that Harold did not believe he was swearing away the kingdom.

7. Bonjour again mes amis. Comment ca va? I haven't seen you lately but I've been keeping an eye on things. I don't trust that William. I think he makes Harold a bit of a stool pigeon. But things are sad just now. The king looks very sick. The titulus or sentence above the scene says that Harold has come back to see the king. What language is the wording on the tapestry written in?

Answer: Latin

The content of the tapestry is primarily pictorial but tituli are included on many scenes of the action to point out names of people and places or to explain briefly the event being depicted. The Latin is not very classical and is sometimes rather anglicised.

8. The king is dead! Edward died on the 5th January 1066. The Tapestry reverses the scenes of his death and his burial. First we see his funeral procession to his great new Church. Edward had been too ill to attend its consecration on 28th December 1065. In the upper chamber King Edward is in his bed talking to his faithful followers, including Harold and Queen Edith - below he is shown dead with a priest in attendance. Two noblemen offer Harold the crown and axe, symbols of royal authority, that will make him King. He accepts the offer. What is the great new Church, consecrated in December 1065, where Edward was buried?

Answer: Westminster Abbey

Early in his reign Edward had been in exile in Normandy. He made a solemn vow that if he ever regained his throne he would make a pilgrimage to Rome in gratitude. He did indeed regain his throne but the politically uncertain climate made it unwise for him to leave for Rome. Pope Leo excused Edward from his vow - on condition that the king re-endow the monastery of Westminster. So Edward rebuilt the old Saxon church in the new Romanesque style and began his palace nearby.

9. Hello, friends. I, Habrok the Hawk, devourer of the unwary, have a confession to make. I have been hiding. I have been very scared. At Harold's coronation a wondrous thing happened. Maybe it was an omen ... What strange phenomenon is depicted in the tapestry?

Answer: Halley's comet

Harold is crowned King of England on 6th January 1066. The new king sits on a throne with nobles to the left and Archbishop Stigand to the right. At the far side people cheer him. On the far right Halley's comet appears. People think it is an evil omen and are terrified. News of the comet is brought to Harold. Beneath him a ghostly fleet of ships appears in the lower border - a hint of the Norman invasion to come.

10. News of Edward's death and Harold's coronation is carried across the channel to William who is furious. He decides to attack England and organises a fleet of warships. To his left sits Bishop Odo of Bayeux, his half-brother. What do we see his men doing to prepare for war?

Answer: Cutting down trees to build ships

Construction of the Norman invasion fleet had been completed in July and all was ready for the Channel crossing. Unfortunately, William's ships could not cope with a north wind and for six weeks he waited on the Norman shore. Finally, on September 27, after a parading of the relics of St. Valery at the water's edge, the winds shifted to the south and the fleet set sail.

11. In the two scenes representing the crossing William is seen leading his army to the boats and setting sail. The sea is crowded with ships, full of soldiers and horses. William sails in the ship, Mora, bought for him by his wife Matilda. For a figurehead it has the image of a child with its right hand pointing towards England and with a silver trumpet in its mouth. In the embroidered scene the Papal banner can be seen at the masthead. What colour and design is the Papal banner?

Answer: White ground, blue border, gold cross

Since only the horses' heads are visible in the ships they could not have had the shallow draft usually preferred, and must have been designed to carry horses. The gunwales of the troopships are lined with shields. When the men disembarked the ships would then be free to be deployed in any way needed.

12. There would be no English army to oppose William's landing at Pevensey and later Hastings, since Harold was in the North at Stamford Bridge roundly defeating Norwegian Harald and Harold's own brother Tosti. The Normans prepare a feast in the open air - chickens on skewers, a stew cooked over an open fire and food from an outdoor oven. William sits down to a feast with his nobles and Bishop Odo says grace. What are the servants depicted as using shields for?

Answer: As trays to carry food

After William arrived in Pevenesey his army sheltered for the night in a temporary fortification which is believed to have been situated within the abandoned Roman fort. The Normans dug a ditch across the causeway linking the fort with the mainland and made repairs to the Roman walls to strengthen them. Thus they had a secure base.

13. The battle rages on. Men and horses crash to the ground and the lower border is strewn with slaughtered troops and animals. Bishop Odo appears in the thick of the fighting waving a club and encouraging his followers. Odo uses a club rather than a sword. Why is Odo shown using a club?

Answer: Bishops were forbidden to shed blood.

When Odo was only nineteen years old, William made him Bishop of Bayeux. He built a cathedral there.

When William was planning to invade England, Odo went with the Norman army to England, and as well as leading the prayers for victory he fought in the battle carrying a mace rather than a sword, because although men of the church were not allowed to spill blood, they were permitted to batter their opponents with a club.

Odo was made Earl of Kent and often ruled England when William was in Normandy. He was given great areas of land and he granted some of these areas to his knights. The tapestry may have been made in England to record the Norman victory and the part Odo played in it. The tapestry was later hung in his cathedral at Bayeux.

14. The battle is over! There is no room for me, Habrok the Hawk, to hide in the borders of this horrible penultimate scene. It is Harold's death scene and the borders are full of dead, dying or dismembered men. What was supposedly the cause of Harold's death, as shown here?

Answer: An arrow in the eye

With Harold dead, the battle is over. The victorious Normans chase the remaining English from the battlefield. The final scene from the tapestry has been lost. It may have shown William being crowned King of England. This would match the scene at the very beginning of the tapestry which shows King Edward, secure on the throne just two years earlier.

The scene is penultimate in that, as the work is now, the original last scene is missing.

15. Au revoir, mes amis, We shall not hunt together again I think! I shall be fine. I turn my feathers easily! We may meet again. Look for me in William's court. I may not always be beautifully stitched. I may be painted or engraved. Who knows? In this rather heavily restored final scene we see Normans pursuing rustics far into the night. The pursued are carrying maces. Why is this strange?

Answer: Maces were borne by mounted knights, not by infantrymen.

William gave lands to the Church after his victory because the Pope had supported him in his claim to the English throne. One of the first promises William kept was to build an Abbey to celebrate his victory. He chose the site of the Battle of Hastings and the abbey became known as Battle Abbey. It is said that the high altar was built at the place where King Harold lost his life.

Restoration of stitchwork has meant that some fine detail has been lost.

Source: Author balaton

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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Bayeux Stitch Job Trivia Quiz

Introducing Habrok the hawk a purely fictitious anthropomorphic bird who swoops in and out of the decorative borders of a famous tapestry or sits on a royal wrist to tell his tale.

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