I started taking an interest a few years ago in my genealogy when my Dad started doing research into his family history. So far it seems that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. There have been many weavers, embroiderers, knitters etc... it seems in my family history. Dad was able to trace our family tree back as far as the time of William the Conqueror when one of my ancestors came across from Normandy with William the Conqueror as one of thousands of supporters and was finally made a knight under the the new reign. I really can't say a whole lot about it here since I hate using my personal information in such a public domain but I will say that there are some really interesting bits of history that I have come across over the last few years. Like.... I might be related to Spanish royalty way way way back, and that there are a few nasty backguards in my history.
One of the things that I discovered that really has no relation to me but does have a personal interest because of my fabric arts interest is known as The Bayeux Tapestry. When I heard of it the first time I was drawn to it and wanted to find out as much about it as I could. So, of course, I trusted my friend Google to find some information on this awesome piece of history.
The Bayeux Tapestry is a .5 metre by 70 metre embroidered piece of cloth that depicts William the Conqueror's activities leading up to and including The Battle of Hastings. It is breathtaking to see and is housed in Bayeux, France. It has survived almost 1000 yrs and is an amazing example of what was able to be constructed in the fibre arts.
Not much is actually known about the tapestry other than it is not actually a tapestry per se, but is an example of medieval embroidery techniques. It is on a linen background that was put together as panels and some of the panels are missing though we don't know how many. It has had a pretty tenuous past and at times was hardly likely to survive at all since it was almost cut up on several occasions.
We do not know who is the creator of the tapestry although there is great speculation that William's brother the Bishop of Odo was the commissioner. It was possibly made in Canterbury where there was a well known embroidery guild of some renown that may have possibly made it. It is a beautiful example of the pageantry of the time and was a blatant way of celebrating and marking the exploits of the new Norman king.
I am still doing research on this beautiful piece of history and am interested in finding out more about the embroidery techniques and fibres used in the embroidery. I downloaded a picture of a small portion from one of the panels of the embroidery to give you all a chance to see what it looked like, that is what you see above. If you would like to see more of the panels you can go here.
Have a look because it is awesome when you think about the people who actually worked long hours to spin the fibre for the cloth, spin the fibre for the embroidery thread, and actually pierced the cloth with their needles.
It gives new meaning to behind every good man there is an unseen good woman.
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