Remember the Apocalypse Tapestry from Angers... expanding over 100 meters of cross-stitching... explaining the meaning of Deuteronomy... and the order of events on Judgement Day? In comparison, today's tapestry is a 'piece of cake'. First, it is only 75 meters long. Second, it portrays (reasonably accurately) an historic battle... one we all learnt in high school... the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The Bayeux Tapestry was commissioned in 1070's... relatively soon after the battle (1066)... so it may be reasonably accurate. Of course, the Victors write the history, so the Normans had the last say in which selective facts were remembered... and which selective facts were forgotten. So, Bayeux precedes Apocalypse by some 300 years... doesn't mix religious icons with the facts... no mythical figures floating around to show you whose side God is on... just the straight facts... as selectively recalled.
Interestingly, the tapestry does not characture the historic people... Harold (he is the Saxon... the 'baddy' as far as the Norman French were concerned) is shown doing good deeds... as well as bad... William's troops are shown suffering setbacks in some stages of the battle... burning a house from which is fleeing a mother and small child. Some historians believe the tapestry was designed to be shown to English peasants... and so the message was tailored to keep them on-side... the message was that Harold was a good guy who made a mistake by swearing 'on a stack of bibles' that he would support William's claim to the English throne... but when he told Edward (the Confessor)... who was on his deathbed... there was a big row... and Harold told Edward he would forget about his sworn oath to William... and take the crown himself.
The tapestry places importance on Harold's breaking the oath he had made 'on a stack of bibles'... that was his big mistake... that is why William had to kill him on the battlefield... because Harold had broken an oath made 'on a stack of bibles'... I hope this important point is clear.
It is just as well for William that he won. After the battle, his title was changed to 'William the Conqueror'... before the battle his official title was (I am not making this up) 'William the Bastard'... one can only assume that if he lost the Battle of Hastings, his official title would have been changed to 'William the Losing Bastard'.
The Battle was lost for Harold when he looked up at the wrong time and copped an arrow in his eye. This is a scene in the tapestry. The Norman horsemen swoop on the injured king, cut him down from for horse, take off his armour and clothes and cut off one arm... if the tapestry is to be believed. Perhaps this detail is included to remove the risk of a pretender appearing out of the forest claiming to be Harold... come back to life.
I think if Harold was to have his say, he would emphasise that the Battle of Hastings commenced immediately after his troops had ridden 200 klms from the north of England where he had just won a battle against an invasion from Norway... without any rest days, his troops were not at their best. Also, he could have been more insistent that other earls and dukes show better support with supplies of fresh troops. He would say the appearance of Haley's Comet did not demotivate him or his troops.
It was a closely fought battle that decided the course of history... it probably gave extra speed to England's political and military development. Through the 'Doomsday Book', it probably also gave order to administration and led England to become one nation much quicker than would have been the case if Harold had been left in charge.
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