The Bayeaux Tapestry

Rooms in a medieval castle were cold! Tapestries were often used as wall hangings and curtains to help keep cold drafts out. The Bayeaux Tapestry is an account in pictures and words of the events that led to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066AD. The Tapestry contains hundreds of images divided into scenes describing a particular event. The scenes are joined in a sequence allowing the viewer to "read" the entire story starting with the first scene and progressing to the last. The Tapestry would probably have been displayed in a church for public view.

In a time when the vast majority of the population was illiterate, the Tapestry's images were designed to tell the story of the conquest of England from the Norman perspective. Although called a tapestry, the pictures and words were actually embroidered in colored wools on linen. The work of art is more than 200 feet long and about 20 inches wide!

Game Plan:

1. Visit a Bayeaux Tapestry web site at http://www.ealdormere.sca.org/university/bayeux.shtml or http://www.hastings1066.com/baythumb.shtml and view examples of the historical creation.
2. Research the medieval design and choose a scene that looks especially interesting to you.
3. In the space below, redraw one of the scenes.
4. Must Haves:

• Use at least 3/4 of the available space,
• carefully and neatly drawn,
• use of at least 4 colors,
• a caption to explain the scene that you chose.

Caption of the above drawing from the Bayeaux Tapestry

Next Activity: Choose another historical event that we have covered in class this year. One a separate piece of drawing paper, draw a series of captioned pictures that tells the story of the event you choose. (Think about how a cartoonist draws to tell a story) The "must haves" are the same as listed above.