The History of the Bayeux Tapestry
The Bayeux Tapestry probably hung round the nave of Odo’s cathedral at Bayeux, being two narrow to be functional as a wall hanging in a hall, to keep warmth in. It is an amazing survivor. Bayeux cathedral was burned in 1105 during a campaign by the Conqueror’s son, Henry I, and another fire in 1159 destroyed the old building. The inventory of the Cathedral Chapter of 1476 is the first to mention the embroidery, together with the coronation robes of William and Matilda, all having survived the Hundred Years War, when the cathedral changed hands several times. It was there noted that the Tapestry was hung round the nave every year from 1-14 July, which included the anniversary of the consecration of the cathedral, and the Feast of the Relics. The cathedral treasury was looted during the Religious Wars of the 16th century but again the Tapestry escaped.
In 1730 Montfaucon published it in his Monuments de la Monarchie Française, and in 1767 it was noted as hanging round the piers of the nave. However, in 1792 French revolutionaries took it from the sacristy and used it to cover a wagon, only being rescued by the sterling efforts of Lambert Lèonard-Leforestier, a council member. It nearly suffered a similar fate soon after, being earmarked for use on the Chariot of the Goddess of Reason.
In 1803 Napoleon, contemplating an invasion of England, ordered it to Paris but soon returned it. From 1812 it was shown in the Hôtel de Ville in Bayeux, where it was held on a winch and unrolled as necessary. It came to the library in the town in 1842, but was briefly put in a zinc container when threatened by Prussian forces during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). In 1913 it moved to a better building but at the outbreak of World War II in 1939 was placed in an air-raid shelter. The German invaders proposed to bring it again to Paris when another invasion of England was planned, but this was not done. However, during the Allied landings of 1944 the Tapestry was hastily removed to the Louvre, being returned in 1945. In 1948 it was placed in a permanent museum and is now displayed in a special gallery in the former Bishops’ Palace.
Further Reading:
The Hundred Years' War, 1337-1453 (Essential Histories 19), Osprey Publishing
The French Religious Wars 1562-1598 (Essential Histories 47), Osprey Publishing
The Napoleonic Wars, The rise and fall of an empire, Osprey Publishing
The Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871 (Essential Histories 51)
The Second World War - A world in flames, Osprey Publishing