Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interpreting a Fabulous Work of Art, July 28, 2005
For a single day's battle, it is hard to think of any that is greater in consequence than the Battle of Hastings in October 1066. If it had gone the other way, and it was a very near thing, we would, for instance, be using a different language now, the descent of royalty in England would have been decidedly altered, and English and European (and therefore world) history would be unrecognizable from where we are now. The classical depiction of the battle is on a long piece of linen, and the cloth's story is told in _1066: The Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry_ (Walker Books) by Andrew Bridgeford. Everyone who has looked at this extraordinary work of art has tried to see one scene after another, as if it were some epic graphic novel, to tell the story of the invasion. If you don't know much about the history that has been taught from the tapestry, Bridgeford makes this a fascinating introduction, examining each scene and coordinating it with the written histories of the time. He is not, however, a professional historian, but a lawyer, and he has a case to argue. The tapestry has been interpreted the wrong way, he explains, and he means to set the matter straight. There is a good deal of guesswork and supposition in his explanation, but it is generally well-argued, and will make little difference to those who come to the tapestry without having been drilled in the old interpretations. Bridgeford does bring the tapestry to life, with its depictions of valor and brutality, and anyone reading his work is going to want to get to France someday to see the real thing.
The tapestry is not a tapestry at all, really, but an embroidery; the pattern is not in the weave of the fabric, but stitched into the linen. The illustrations consist of hundreds of human figures, plus horses, falcons, and dogs, set within forests, churches, castles, and ships. It is about 75 yards long and one yard wide, and was sewn almost a millennium ago. The battle depicted in the tapestry was brought about by the death of Edward the Confessor in December 1065, an event depicted about a third of the way along the tapestry. William of Normandy expected to be made king, but Harold Godwinson was given the nod by the dying Edward. William set forth to get the throne he thought was his, and of course when Harold fell in the Battle of Hastings, he succeeded. The view of the tapestry ever since has been that because the Normans won, and because victors get to write the histories, the tapestry is "a work of Norman triumphalism," made by Normans who wished to celebrate their just conquest. Bridgeford has taken scholarly works of the latter twentieth century to demonstrate that the tapestry necessarily tells of the Norman victory, but it gives an English version of events. For instance, the tapestry never refers to William's claim to the throne, showing Harold's nomination as lawful; Harold is not the usurper whose actions would have justified invasion. Harold is referred to as King Harold when he is depicted, but he was almost always in other Norman documents referred to by his former title Duke.
There is an enormous amount of evidence for this new hypothesis, attractively arranged and argued with legal skill. Part of the problem is that the tapestry is from so long ago, there are no written documents from its own time that refer to its story or how it was made, and there is an enormous amount of confusing and strange inclusions on the cloth. It thus has many panels that can be interpreted in various ways. Bridgeford knows this, and wisely includes many times a phrase like, "One further piece of intriguing evidence should be mentioned, though its import is unclear." The case, full of suppositions about spears that point to particular letters and animals on the cloth's border that illustrate a fable from Aesop that might apply in some way to the goings-on in the main pictures, is an interesting one, but for most people, the new ideas Bridgeford presents will be secondary. His book primarily serves as an excellent introduction to the tapestry and how mysterious it is, with many large voids of information about and within it. He also has drawn from other sources to describe a strange and turbulent time, and his descriptions of side issues, like the process of becoming a knight, are useful to the main story. The book is illustrated with small pictures to show the whole cloth, and enlargements of the panels to which Bridgeford pays particular attention. As an appreciation of a spectacular work of art, the book is fine guide, particularly in its explanation of symbolism that appealed to the medieval mind.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very nearly a stitch by stitch analysis of the Bayeux Tapestry, July 4, 2005
As Bridgeford carefully explains, of course, the Bayeux Tapestry is really not a tapestry, but instead an embroidery, created something more than 900 years ago to tell the story of, and the story behind, the Battle of Hastings, in which Willaim the Bastard became William the Conqueror of England. Although the Tapestry is certainly famous, its origins and even the meanings of certain of its embroidered scenes are mysterious. In this book Bridgeford provides persuasive, if not necessarily final, answers to many of the old questions, including who was the patron who had the Tapestry created (Bridgeford believes it was Count Eustache of Boulogne, as a sort of peace offering to Bishop Odo, William's half-brother, who might have been just a little unhappy after Eustache had attacked the bishop's castle at Dover), who was Aelfgyva and what was she doing with that cleric (Aelfgyva was a rather popular name at the time, but Bridgeford argues that the Tapestry's Aelfgyva was the mother of Norway's Harold Harefoot, a rival contender for the English throne, and it was a reference to an old scandal, made to undermine the legitimacy of Harold's claim), and who the dwarf Turold was (Bridgeford speculates that the horse-holding Turold may have been the artist-designer of the Tapestry and the author of the famous Chanson de Roland). This is a book worth reading about one of the great art treasures of Europe and about one of the critical turning points of European history.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great piece of time-traveling, May 26, 2005
When I was living in Europe as an army brat in the late 1950s -- a period that cemented a deep interest in history, which became a career -- I had the opportunity to spend an entire day studying the 300-foot-long embroidered panels (miscalled a "tapestry") that is almost our only near-contemporary source documenting the Norman conquest of Anglo-Saxon England. I've been fascinated by it ever since, I read everything published about it, and about the Conquest, and this is one of the best studies I've ever seen. The author is an English attorney, not an academic historian, which means this is not a scholarly publication, but it's nevertheless a very well written, thoroughly judicious, extremely well-informed treatment of a well-trodden subject. He begins at the beginning, with the first scene depicted on the tapestry: King Edward on his throne, followed by Duke Harold (he was actually an earldorman, but this is a French work, after all) and the beginning of his visit to the Continent that would lead to the battle at Hastings. Bridgeford summarizes all the past interpretations of depicted events and weighs each in the light of later discoveries, notes the effect of 19th century repairs to the needlework which "rewrote" some of the tapestry's scenes, and discusses the accuracy (or not) of the later ballads and poems. He also makes an excellent case for the tapestry being in part a piece of pro-French (not pro-Norman) propaganda. Two extensive sets of color plates -- of the tapestry as a continuum and as a series of key scenes -- make the text very easy to follow. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the Conquest.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
