A Needle in the Right Hand of God
This book is subtitled The Norman Conquest of 1066 and the Making and Meaning of the Bayeux Tapestry. While the author always returns to the tapestry, he ventures far and wide in his exploration of the influences upon its creation, key people involved in the Battle of Hastings, styles of handiwork and design from around the globe that are evident in the tapestry, and more. If readers come to the book believing it is focused just upon the Bayeux Tapestry, its purpose and origins, they will be perplexed at the author’s much broader canvas. Evident throughout is the erudition of Bloch, the Sterling Professor of French and the Director of the Humanities Division at Yale and the author of many books about the Middle Ages. He does not try to pin down who commissioned the work or where it was created, but follows numerous clues to narrow down the field. He explains that the rivalry between the posited English and French origins has more to do with 19th century national rivalries, rather “than in the reality of medieval perceptions and events.” The published volume contains a reproduction of the tapestry (not seen by this reviewer) that should be very helpful for following the examples described in the text. This is a fascinating voyage through the world in which the Bayeux Tapestry was created.