The Bayeux Tapestry
primary source for the battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror, Harold II and the Norman conquest
Harold Godwinson is crowned as king Harold II
This is a companion Website with, My Battle of Hastings
Stitched on linen, twenty inches wide and 231 feet long, in eight colors of worsted yarn: the Bayeux Tapestry is a fabulous piece of medieval art: created (or at least begun) as early as 1067. Unparalleled as a primary source for the story of William the Conqueror, Harold II and the Norman invasion - climaxing with the battle of Hastings - this century closes in on it's 1,000-year anniversary.
The Tapestry is very "busy" and detailed, containing the depictions of: 24 identifiable dogs (my opinion: the canines can easily be confused with wolves and foxes: I take the majority of those in the borders to be wild animals and not hounds), 32 structures (churches, castles and so forth: it's rather ambiguous because some might count a larger connected structure as more than one), 41 ships, 51 weird looking trees and other flora (I only counted those obviously depicted as such: there are many more ornate "floral" designs throughout the borders; but some might argue for a design being a plant or visa versa), 194 equines (mostly stallions but including 8 mares, a couple of ponies and a few mules/asses: the discrepency with "202" listed elsewhere includes obvious riders without horses: I list only horses that show at least a nose or tail), 553 other fauna (birds, predators, a few other domesticated animals and including some 64 mythical creatures), 626 humans (or pieces-parts: in the battle there are three severed heads without bodies) including a few boys and seven women, but only three women are in the main frieze; and c. 353 Latin words ("2,000 words" given elsewhere - and here previously - is an oft-repeated number referring to - I suspect - total letters, no doubt misquoted along the way for total "words" and taken verbatim by those who followed trustingly: I counted everything using the frieze book, one page at a time: if you want something done right, do it yourself).
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