Battle of Hastings - The Narrative I Derive From the Bayeux Tapestry Part 2

 The Narrative I Derive From the Bayeux Tapestry 

 Introduction

The first book I was given on the Battle of Hastings was D. M. Wilson's " The Bayeux Tapestry". It's a book that shows the Bayeux Tapestry on a 1:1 scale so it's very good at showing what is actually depicted on the Tapestry rather than what you are told it depicts. However, for the purposes of this article I will be using public domain images of the Tapestry ( from Images on web site of Ulrich Harsh. - http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lspost11/Bayeux/bay_tama.html via Wikipedia_ tituli ) to illustrate my argument. 

The Tapestry sits in a weird place in the scheme of things. It is not allowed to sit wholly in the Art scene as there seems to be only one interpretation allowed of it. But the Tapestry is also mistrusted as a source of historical record. A classic case of 'Heads you lose, tails I win'.

Frame “Tierce” (about 9 a.m.)

This includes Scenes 51a, 51b and 52 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/BayeuxTapestryScene51a.jpg

Scene 51a

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/BayeuxTapestryScene51b.jpg

Scene 51b

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/BayeuxTapestryScene52a.jpg

Scene 52a

 

We are now shown the Normans charging the English shield wall on Scenes 51a 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. However, in the Chronicle of Battle Abbey, the monks assert that Eustace attacked the Huscarls from the rear. Whatever the truth,  and I think the monks may be right, it seems that the problem was dealt with by the last rank just turning around and forming another shield wall. 

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[1] to dig in and to allow late coming Huscarls time to catch their breath.  There is a 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.

Looking at the Tapestry and reading some other sources fills out the picture. The Carmen describes an ambush sort of scenario while Orderic Vitalis tells us that all rode up to the fight making it a Huscarl only event. William of Poitiers also tells us that all were killed before the main body was sighted. For me, this a cross between a skirmish and a minor battle even if the word 'skirmish' didn't enter the English language until the 12th cent. 

 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).

[1] The Fyrd are the Light infantry of Saxon England being made up of less able troops

Frame “Sext” (about 12:00 noon)

Scene 52b

Scene 53

This runs from Scene 52b until the black horse facing left in Scene 53 and depicts the “mopping up” operations after the shield wall collapses.

 

The Tapestry makes a point in saying 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.

 What makes me think that this is 3 hours on from the first encounter is that the horses are in the same orientation as the horses in the previous frame ( See 51b-52a and compare with 52b). The only difference being the state of the Huscarls between the horses. In the Tierce frame the Huscarls are depicted being steadfast in their shield wall. Now, in this frame, only a few stragglers are seen. This also ties in with "battles " being two to three hours long and it was the excess clergy taking notes according to Wace.

Here endeth the first encounter that lasted from the third hour to the sixth. and because it was the Huscarls taking part, all the English died where they fought ( according to William of Poitiers!)

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