The Bayeux Tapestry comes to Britain
Seeing the Bayeux Tapestry in person has been near the very top of my bucket list for years, so I was thrilled to hear that it has finally crossed the Channel. For the first time since it was made almost a thousand years ago, it is on display in England, at the British Museum from 10 September 2026 until 11 July 2027. Below are some slides I prepared for Ram Seshadri’s group ‘culture moment’ (Sept 8 2026).
Despite the name, the tapestry is not woven at all. It is an embroidery in wool on linen, around 70 metres long, and was most likely made in England in the decade after 1066. It was long credited to William’s wife, Queen Matilda, but it was more probably commissioned by William’s half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent. It survived some close calls, including very nearly being used as a wagon cover during the French Revolution.
Britain had been shaped by waves of newcomers for over a thousand years. Romans, then Angles, Saxons and Jutes, then Vikings. The tapestry covers only the final chapter, a dramatic ten months in which England had three different kings and was invaded twice.
The trouble began when the pius Edward the Confessor died without children. Three men had a claim to the throne: Harold Godwinson, the most powerful earl in England; William, Duke of Normandy, Edward’s cousin; and Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, who was backed by Harold’s own exiled brother, Tostig.
The tapestry’s story begins a couple of years earlier, with Harold travelling to Normandy. There he swears a sacred oath to William, which from the Norman point of view means supporting William’s claim to the English crown. When Edward dies, however, Harold is crowned king himself, and the Normans see this as a broken promise.
Shortly after the coronation, the tapestry shows a group of men pointing up at a “star” with a fiery tail. This is Halley’s Comet, which passed Earth in the spring of 1066 and was widely read as an omen of disaster. It is one of the earliest known depictions of the comet, recorded centuries before Edmond Halley worked out that it returns roughly every 76 years.
Just as interesting is what the tapestry leaves out. In September 1066, Harald Hardrada and Tostig landed in the north of England. Harold marched his army to Yorkshire and defeated them at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, where both were killed. Only three days later, William landed on the south coast, and Harold’s exhausted army had to race back south. None of this appears in the tapestry, most likely because it is a Norman telling of events, focused on Harold’s broken oath and William’s rightful claim. Here, William’s fleet simply sails across the Channel and his men ride to Hastings.
The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 and lasted most of the day. Its turning point is one of the most famous images in British history: a figure beneath the name “Harold” apparently pulling an arrow from his eye. Historians still debate whether this really shows Harold, but either way, the English king was killed.
With their king dead, the English forces broke and fled. William was crowned at Westminster Abbey (recently built by Edward the confessor) on Christmas Day 1066, ending Anglo-Saxon England and beginning Norman rule. The very end of the tapestry has been lost, and it may once have shown that coronation too.
You can explore the entire tapestry online through the Bayeux Museum here, and find details of the exhibition at the British Museum here.