This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: For many, the Bayeux Tapestry conjures images of clinker-built ships, prancing horses, the Normans feasting on chicken on the eve of the Battle of Hastings, and the arrow in King Harold's eye that ended centuries of Anglo-Saxon rule. But for the architectural historian, it is the 33 buildings represented on the Bayeux Embroidery that catch the eye.
These buildings range from palaces and religious buildings to two-story houses and simple dwellings. They give the beholder some idea of what the 11th-century built environment looked like on either side of the Channel, even though the representations are formulaic, general impressions—as was the normal way to depict buildings in the era. This suggests that the designer of the tapestry was familiar with the work done in certain monastic scriptoria (writing rooms), each of which had its own distinct style.
The same holds true for many of the design elements, such as birds and animals, shown in the borders of the tapestry that reveal parallels with the Romanesque sculpture of Ely cathedral. This familiarity with the scriptorium and the stonemason's yard implies that the Bayeux Tapestry's designs were created by a trained artist and then used by embroiderers, though what we know about them is pure speculation. Some scholars believe the tapestry may have been created in England by nuns from Barking Abbey in Canterbury, as the skillful needlework bears similarities to other works of English embroidery from the 11th century.
The sequence of scenes starts with Edward the Confessor sending his brother-in-law Harold on a mission to Normandy. The king is enthroned in a large hall with turrets on the corners. To show the interior, the outer wall has been removed.
What is more, to the left of the hall, the exterior of the impressive entrance porch is rotated a quarter-turn so the viewer can see it. To tell the story and indicate a palatial setting, it sufficed to show a grand entrance and great hall. In much the same way, the abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel is shown as a building on top of a rock.
Although this typified the monastery's setting, the vignette can in no way be used for reconstructing the 11th-century abbey. The conventions of the time clearly preferred abstraction over naturalism. Most buildings on the tapestry, as in reality, were made of timber.
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