The Vivid Scenes On The Thin, 70-metre-long Linen Strip Of The Bayeux Tapestry Depict The Events Leading Up To The Battle Of Hastings In 1066. A Masterpiece Of Spin, It Is One Of Europe's Greatest Treasures And Its Own History Is Full Of Drama And Surprise. Who Commissioned The Tapestry? Was It Bishop Odo, William's Ruthless Half-brother? Or Was It Harold's Dynamic Sister Edith, Juggling For A Place In The New Court? Carola Hicks Shows Us This World And The Miracle Of The Tapestry's Making: The Stitches And Dyes, The Strange Details In The Margins. For Centuries It Lay Ignored In Bayeux Cathedral Until Its 'discovery' In The Eighteenth Century. It Became A Symbol Of Power As Well As Art: Townsfolk Saved It During The French Revolution; Napoleon Displayed It To Promote His Own Conquest; The Nazis Strove To Make It Their Own. Its Immediately Recognisable Images Have Inspired Films, Novels, Cartoons And Adverts - And Even Today, It Acts As Shorthand For Britain's Long Rivalry With France.--jacket. I. Embroidering History -- 1. The Plot -- 2. The Patron -- 3. The Project -- Ii. Lost And Found -- 4. The Missing Years -- 5. Antiquarian Approaches -- 6. The English Claim -- Iii. Revolutionaries And Romantics -- 7. Escaping The Terror -- 8. The Dictator's Display -- 9. Performing Propaganda -- 10. The Rival Camp -- 11. The Stothards' Story -- Iv. The Gentle Touch -- 12. 'the Queens Of England' -- 13. Visitor's Book -- 14. A South Kensington Scandal -- 15. The Ladies Of Leek -- 16. Victorian Values -- V. The Great Escape -- 17. Yuletide For Himmler -- 18. Codename 'matilda' -- Vi. Global Image -- 19. Literary Life -- 20. The Norman Newsreel -- 21. Spin-offs -- 22. Marketing The Middle Ages -- 23. Mysteries And Histories -- 24. Bayeux Today. Carola Hicks. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 307-343) And Index.

Carola Hicks

London: Chatto & Windus

The Hogarth Press Ltd

Chatto,Boyd & Oliver

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

April 25, 2006

x, 358 pages : 24 cm
"The vivid scenes on the thin, 70-metre-long linen strip of the Bayeux Tapestry depict the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. A masterpiece of spin, it is one of Europe's greatest treasures and its own history is full of drama and surprise." "Who commissioned the tapestry? Was it Bishop Odo, William's ruthless half-brother? Or was it Harold's dynamic sister Edith, juggling for a place in the new court? Carola Hicks shows us this world and the miracle of the tapestry's making: the stitches and dyes, the strange details in the margins. For centuries it lay ignored in Bayeux cathedral until its 'discovery' in the eighteenth century. It became a symbol of power as well as art: townsfolk saved it during the French Revolution; Napoleon displayed it to promote his own conquest; the Nazis strove to make it their own. Its immediately recognisable images have inspired films, novels, cartoons and adverts - and even today, it acts as shorthand for Britain's long rivalry with France."--Jacket
Includes bibliographical references (pages 307-343) and index

2023-06-28