New Interpretation of the Bayeux
Tapestry
I will use https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry_tituli as the source for the Bayeux Tapestry illustrations so as to create a common point of reference. I will use scene numbers to refer the reader to the exact point on the Tapestry where I would like to direct their attention
Structure of the Tapestry
I will be referring to “frames”, "cameos" and referring the reader to the equivalent “scenes” on the Wiki page. Frames,
which are more suggestive of movement in a cartoon, are individual pictures on
the Tapestry that can be viewed in isolation. For instance, one such frame on
the Tapestry starts at the left-hand side of Scene 52b and finishes just to the
left of centre in Scene 53 (black horse and rider facing left). However, a
frame can have one or more “cameo”s depicting events that happened in close
proximity timewise
My
interpretation of the Bayeux Tapestry starts on Scene 48 where it is thought
that picture shows the Norman knights setting off to meet the English. It ends on Scene 58 with the Fyrd running
away from the battle scene.
Scene 48 to 49
This shows the
Norman knights traversing fairly flat terrain finishing with a knight pointing,
with raised arm, to the English. Notice however, that the terrain that the
Normans cross is relatively flat. This
does not match the terrain between the coastal fort and the location of the
muster point. This leads
to one of two conclusions. Either the Tapestry is wrong, or William travelled
to the area from a place other than Hastings. Assuming the Tapestry is right,
where else could William have been? It turns out that the Abbey at Fécamp
(where Edward the Confessor spent time whilst exiled, allegedly), had a manor
in the vicinity of Guestling and Kathleen Tyson asserts in her translation of
the Carmen that William was there just prior to the battle. It seems to me therefore that the Tapestry is
showing the correct terrain and that William was at a location other than Hastings.
Frame "Lauds ( Dawn or about 07:00)
This frame
runs from Scene 49 to Scene 50 and depicts the Normans gathering at the muster
point at Telham and pointing out the English while on the English side it
depicts the Normans being spotted by the English and Harold being informed.
The first
cameo shows two Norman knights on the top of the hill between present day
Battle and Hastings. It omits the hilltop fort which according to experts the
Normans always built on their campaigns in France but if we are to match the
terrain from the Tapestry to the modern landscape, then what we are looking at
in the cameo is a cross section of the ridge that runs from the turning for
Battle Station to the Castle at Hastings. Given in the previous section the
knights where moving along flat ground then I’m assuming that the footpath from
Kent Street to Telham by the Black Horse pub was the route used and that the Normans are assembling in the vicinity of the Black Horse public house.
The next
cameo highlights the English response. The usual explanation of this cameo is
that this is the English “scouts” on Caldbec Hill spotted the Normans to the
south and who then rushed off to tell Harold. Both
Englishmen are depicted as Huscarls dressed in armour – hardly suitable attire
for “scouts”. And yes, the designs on each of the shields are different so this
could be indicating that these are different people.
The location
of the Huscarls is problematic. If the Huscarls were camped on Caldbec
Hill the Normans on the hill opposite would have no reason to use an
alternative path off the Hastings peninsula and should have continued along the
main London to Hastings route and the first encounter would have taken place at
the roundabout at the top of Battle High Street but then there would be no need
for the Huscarls to mount their horses in order to ride the 700 metres to the
encounter as per Orderic Vitalis‘s account.
If the
Huscarls were located at Beechdown Wood, then two possibilities exist for the
site of the first encounter;
The roundabout at the top of Battle High
Street
The Normans, knowing Harold was in the vicinity of Netherfield, struck
out along the modern
A 2100. The Huscarls then rode to the roundabout from their
overnight camp and gave battle.
2
Area of flat ground to the NE of
Catsfield.
The Normans, seeing the Huscarls, struck out along the alternative route
towards Catsfield. The Huscarls then rode to meet the Normans at what they
thought was “a good spot” in a meadow called “Scan- leag”.
There is
also a timing issue. The Sun would not be behind the Normans until after 08:00
if the Huscarls were situated on Caldbec Hill but from Beechdown Wood the Sun
would be behind the Normans between 06:45 and 07:15 and low down necessitating
the shielding of the eyes.
Event Bearing Sun Elevation Time
Caldbec Hill
Sunrise 106° 0° 06:26
GMT
Norman Muster point - 10° 127°
14° 08:13
GMT
Norman Muster Point 137° 19° 08:58
GMT
Norman Muster Point + 10° 147°
23° 09:38
GMT
Beechdown
Wood
Sunrise 106°
0° 06:26
GMT
Norman Muster Point approx 111° 4° 06:57 GMT
Norman Muster Point + 10° approx 121° 10° 07:43
GMT
* Data taken
from https://www.timeanddate.com/
for Hastings UK 21 October 2019 (equates to 14 October 1066 Julien Calendar)
and Google Earth. The first engagement starts at approx. 09:00 GMT (Tierce).
Thus, in my
opinion, the narrative becomes “…. Lead
elements of King Harold’s Army had camped in Beechdown Wood for the evening of
the 13th and on the morning of the 14th October 1066
spotted the Norman Army on the hill to the south east ...”
Frame "Tierce" ( about 09:00)
This includes
Scenes 51, 51b and 52a
We are now
shown the Normans charging the English shield wall on Scenes 51 and 51b. On
Scene 52a we see the English drawn up behind their shields forming their famous
shield wall. This frame continues on Scene 52a where we see the Normans
attacking from the opposite direction. I interpret this as saying that the
Normans advanced until they made contact with the English and subsequently
surrounded them. Notice that all bar one person is wearing armour- the mark of
a Huscarl, the other person is depicted as being an archer. So, the narrative
here, in my opinion, is “The Normans
attacked the Huscarls from all sides …” I estimate that Harold sent about 2500 Huscarls
forward to delay the Norman approach long enough to allow the Fyrd
to dig in and to allow late coming Huscarls time to catch their breath. There is another body of men missing from
this frame, namely the Norman infantry. I think there are two reasons for this.
Reason 1:
The Norman infantry did not acquit themselves well in the first engagement.
Each year there is a re-enactment on the “Official” battlefield and each year
the public outcome is the same. However, in the evening after the public have
gone home the re-enactors have a “private” battle in which the superior
strength and tactics of the Huscarls always win out. So, it is conceivable that
if William had had fewer knights in his army then perhaps the invasion could
have been stopped here.
Reason 2:
The Tapestry was produced as a piece of propaganda to show the inhabitants of
Normandy the prowess of their leaders. Rather like a politically biased
newspaper of modern times, the Bayeux Tapestry only tells the story that the “owners”
want to be told.
That brings
me to the question of where this engagement took place. The Bayeux Tapestry
offers no clues as to where because this was not the main event. It could be
that the Huscarls formed up at the roundabout at the top of Battle High Street
or to the northeast of Catsfield, we may never know for certain. Orderic
Vitalis calls the place where this engagement took place “Senlac”. It has been
suggested that this name comes from the Saxon “Scen-leag” meaning “beautiful
meadow” (Charnock S).
Frame "Sext" ( about 12:00)
This runs
from Scene 52b until the black horse facing left in Scene53 and depicts the
“mopping up” operations after the shield wall collapses.
The Tapestry
makes a point in saying that the kin of Harold - Gyrth and Leofwine, are killed
during this engagement as if to make the point there was no one left to
“inherit” the throne of England.
Frame "None" (about 15:00)
This runs
from beneath the black horse facing left in Scene 53 to whomever is pointing
out William in Scene 55 (Scene 56a seems to be identical). This frame depicts,
in my opinion, the initial assault on
the English Fyrd line, the subsequent rout of the knights and the following
rallying of said knights by William and Odo.
My view of
this frame is that it represents a new attack on troops that had been given
time to prepare stout defences against the Norman knights. We know from earlier
in the Bayeux Tapestry that Harold had spent time as William’s “guest” in
Normandy and so Harold would have been familiar with the tactics of the Norman
knights. Harold, earlier in the day had sacrificed about 2500 Huscarls in order
to give himself time to prepare the defences to protect his lesser able troops
and late arriving Huscarls. And it very nearly worked.
Frame "Vespers" ( about 18:00)
This runs
from Scene 56 to just left of the centre of Scene 58. This frame shows the
English line being overrun, death of King Harold and the subsequent death of
the remaining Huscarls.
This is, maybe, the penultimate frame
on the Tapestry. The narrative has a gap from the Norman knights being rallied
to essentially the extermination of the English Army. There is nothing
controversial in this frame other than the “arrow in the eye” incident. It
looks like King Harold is trying to pull the arrow out but is not shown to be
in distress. The next cameo shows King Harold being slain by a knight. I think
the arrow in the eye is very much a disabling injury and not a fatal one as
evidenced by two members of the rapidly departing Fyrd in Scene 58.
One may notice Huscarls being amongst
the combatants in this frame and start to wonder why they hadn’t joined their
fellows in the first engagement in the morning. The reason could be one of two.
Firstly, these are late arriving Huscarls who arrived after the lead elements
had set off to halt the Normans. Secondly, these Huscarls depicted could be the
personal bodyguard of King Harold II.
Frame "Compline"? (about 21:00)
Again, this
runs from a black horse just to the left of centre in Scene 58 to the end. This
frame could just be part of the previous frame showing how the different parts
of the English Army dealt with defeat (Huscarls fought to the last man while
the Fyrd ran) or it could be portraying the early stages of the Malfosse
incident as a separate frame.
Conclusion of my Interpretation of
the Bayeux Tapestry
Although I have drawn different
conclusions on only 10 scenes of the Bayeux Tapestry, I think that
I have a more coherent understanding of how the battle unfolded and why it is
reputed to have lasted 9 hours instead of the usual 2 to 3 hours.
1. The Normans ride into battle.
2. William leads the Army.
3. Harold prepares for battle.
4. The Normans attack.
5. The English are attacked on all
sides.
6. The Battle continues.
7. The slaughter continues.
8. William’s horse falls.
9. Harold is shot in the eye.
10. The Normans are victorious.
N.B Each statement is supported by one or
more sentences on the website
Lauds
1.
The
Normans spot the English
2.
The
lead elements of the English army spot the Normans and rush to inform King
Harold.
Tierce
3.
The
Normans set off to meet the English.
4.
The
Huscarls have managed to form their shield wall but the Normans attack from all
sides.
Sext
5.
The
Normans prove too strong for the Huscarls but the Huscarls fight and die to the
last man as they are trained to do.
6.
The
Normans dispatch the last of the Huscarls.
None
7.
Norman
knights take casualties due to unseen defences at the new battle line. A few knights manage to launch their spears
/ light lances, but the defences hold.
8.
Eventually
the knights panic and rout due to the number of casualties.
9.
William
rallies his knights by showing his face.
Vespers
10. The English position is overrun and
King Harold II killed.
11. The remaining Huscarls take as many
Norman knights with them for company as the Huscarls follow their leader into
death.
Possibly Compline
12. Some members of the Fyrd escape into the
woods.
One final point to make. If King
Harold II is killed at around Vespers, then my interpretation of the Bayeux
Tapestry would make the second engagement the main engagement and the
engagement with the Huscarls just a preliminary.
