PLATE 18.
(Figs. 1 and 2): The ordinary costumes of Norman soldiers. Each is clothed in a military hauberk, which fitted the body very closely, and was probably slit a little before and behind. In the case of these two the hauberk ends in close-fitting trousers to the knee. The heads are protected by conical helmets with nasal pieces, fitting over hoods of mail. In Fig. 1 the warrior is armed with a sword, an axe, and a spear. The shield is of the kite shape. The hauberk is covered with ringed mail, and the sleeves reach to the wrist. In Fig. 2 the sleeves reach to the elbow only, and are covered with rings, but the body is covered with what is known as “trellised” armour, formed of strips of leather fastened on a body of quilted cloth and crossing each other diagonally, with knobs of steel fastened in the angular spaces as an additional protection. He holds in his hand a gonfanon or lance with a small flag—carried only by the leaders of the army. (Fig. 3): A Norman sword. (From the Bayeux Tapestry.) (Fig. 4): Two Norman soldiers, each carrying a decorated shield and spear, one being armed with a sword. Each wears a flat-topped helmet, one only being fitted with a “nasal.” The shield of the right-hand one is curved to the form of the body. The hauberks of mail are shown, and also the tunics worn under them reaching nearly to the knee. (Figs. 5 and 6): Norman axes. (From the Bayeux Tapestry.) (Fig. 7): A Norman archer. (From the Bayeux Tapestry.) Dressed in a close-fitting vest with narrow sleeves, and full breeches, gathered apparently above and below the knee, and ornamented with large red spots. He carries a quiver of arrows slung over his back. Other archers are represented in the Tapestry fully dressed in ringed mail. (Fig. 8): The head of a mounted soldier. (From the Bayeux Tapestry.) A peculiar custom existed among the Normans at the Conquest of shaving the back of the head as well as the face. When spies sent by Harold reconnoitred the Norman camp, they saw the Normans with shaven heads, and they returned with the news that “the Duke had far more priests than knights or other troops.” (Fig. 9): Guy, Count of Ponthieu. (From the Bayeux Tapestry.) He is armed with an axe, and wears a hauberk of scale armour. These scales were either of iron, bronze, or cuir bouilli. (The latter was leather which had been softened by boiling in oil and stamped or moulded into a definite form while in that condition. When it was dry it became very hard and tough.) He also wears a mantle gathered on the right shoulder, but has no head covering.
[THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY.]
The Bayeux Tapestry is a valuable picture of the manners and costumes of the Normans and the English about the time of the Norman Conquest. It is traditionally recorded to have been worked by Queen Matilda (the wife of William the Conqueror) and the ladies of her Court, to commemorate the invasion and conquest of England by her husband.
There is no evidence to prove this, and consequently there is much doubt about it; but it is held on the best authority that though the Tapestry is a contemporary work, Queen Matilda had no part in its manufacture, since it was probably ordered for his cathedral by Bishop Odo (the half-brother of William I.), and made by Norman workers at Bayeux.
It is preserved in the Hotel-de-Ville at Bayeux, and consists of a long band of linen about 231 ft. long and 20 in. wide.
It is divided into 72 scenes or compartments, separated from one another by trees or buildings, worked in the material in a conventional manner. On it are represented 623 people, 202 horses and mules, 55 dogs, 505 other animals, 37 buildings, 41 ships and boats, and 49 trees, making a total of 1,512 objects. It has always been known as “tapestry,” but it is really an enormous piece of woolwork or embroidery, yet it has been known so long by the previous name that it will probably continue to bear it.
No attempt has been made to depict the figures in their natural colours, for we find horses coloured yellow, red, blue, and green, and perspective has been totally disregarded. But “if the drawing be rude, the composition is bold and spirited, and is always rendered with great truth of expression, which is, at times, exaggerated.”
The narrow border which runs along both the top and the bottom of the Tapestry (Pl. [19], Fig. 3) is for the greater part not connected with the thread of the story, and is decorated with animals, real and fabulous, and scenes of husbandry and the chase; but in some parts it contains allegorical allusions to the scenes depicted.