Editing Bayeux Tapestry (section)

=== Origins ===
[[File:Odo of Bayeux.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Odo of Bayeux|Bishop Odo]] of Bayeux]]

The earliest known written reference to the tapestry is a 1476 inventory of [[Bayeux Cathedral]],<ref>Fowke, Frank Rede. ''The Bayeux Tapestry&nbsp;– A History and Description'', London: G. Bell & Sons, 1913.</ref> but its origins have been the subject of much speculation and controversy.

French legend maintained the tapestry was commissioned and created by [[Matilda of Flanders|Queen Matilda]], [[William the Conqueror]]'s wife, and her [[lady-in-waiting|ladies-in-waiting]]. Indeed, in France, it is occasionally known as {{lang|fr|La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde}} ("The Tapestry of Queen Matilda"). However, scholarly analysis in the 20th century concluded it was probably commissioned by William's half-brother, Bishop [[Odo of Bayeux]],<ref>Sir Frank Stenton (ed) et al., ''The Bayeux Tapestry. A comprehensive survey'' London: Phaidon, 1957 revised 1965.</ref> who, after the Conquest, also became [[Earl of Kent]] and, when William was absent in Normandy, [[regent]] of England.

The reasons for the Odo commission theory include:
#three of the bishop's followers mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]] appear on the tapestry;
#it was found in Bayeux Cathedral, built by Odo; 
#it may have been commissioned at the same time as the cathedral's construction in the 1070s, possibly completed by 1077 in time for display on the cathedral's dedication.

Assuming Odo commissioned the tapestry, it was probably designed and constructed in England by [[Anglo-Saxon art]]ists (Odo's main power base being by then in [[Kent]]); the Latin text contains hints of Anglo-Saxon; other embroideries originate from England at this time; and the vegetable dyes can be found in cloth traditionally woven there.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120712134414/http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=22472&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html UNESCO World Heritage nomination form], in English and French. Word document. Published 9 May 2006.</ref><ref name="Wilson">Wilson, David M.: ''The Bayeux Tapestry'', Thames and Hudson, 1985, pp.&nbsp;201–27</ref><ref name="Coatsworth">{{cite book |last1=Coatsworth |first1=Elizabeth |chapter=Stitches in Time: Establishing a History of Anglo-Saxon Embroidery |pages=1–27 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_YYqcas7hD4C&pg=PA1 |editor1-last=Netherton |editor1-first=Robin |editor2-last=Owen-Crocker |editor2-first=Gale R. |title=Medieval Clothing and Textiles |date=2005 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-84383-123-5 }}</ref> Howard B. Clarke has proposed that the designer of the tapestry (i.e., the individual responsible for its overall narrative and political argument) was [[Scolland]], the abbot of [[St Augustine's Abbey]] in [[Canterbury]], because of his previous position as head of the [[scriptorium]] at [[Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey|Mont-Saint-Michel]] (famed for its illumination), his travels to [[Trajan's Column]], and his connections to [[Wadard]] and Vital, two individuals identified in the tapestry.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1017/9781782041085.009 |chapter=The Identity of the Designer of the Bayeux Tapestry |title=Anglo-Norman Studies 35 |year=2013 |last1=Clarke |first1=Howard B. |pages=119–140 |isbn=978-1-78204-108-5 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Designer of the Bayeux Tapestry identified|date=30 October 2013 |url=http://www.medievalists.net/2013/10/29/designer-of-the-bayeux-tapestry-identified/|publisher=Medievalists.net|access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref> Alternatively, Christine Grainge has argued that the designer may have been [[Lanfranc]], [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] 1070–1089.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Christine |last=Grainge |title=The identity of the designer of the Bayeux Tapestry |journal=Archaeologia Cantiana |volume=144 |year=2023 |pages=253–264 }}</ref> The actual physical work of stitching was most probably undertaken by women needleworkers. Anglo-Saxon needlework of the more detailed type known as [[Opus Anglicanum]] was famous across Europe.  It was perhaps commissioned for display in the hall of Odo's palace in Bayeux, and then bequeathed to the cathedral he had built, following the precedent of the documented but lost hanging of the Anglo-Saxon warrior [[Byrhtnoth]], bequeathed by his widow to [[Ely Cathedral|Ely Abbey]].<ref>{{cite book |first=C. R. |last=Dodwell |author-link=Charles Reginald Dodwell |title=Anglo-Saxon Art, a New Perspective |year=1982 |publisher=Manchester UP |location=Manchester |pages=134–36 |isbn=0-7190-0926-X }}</ref>

Other theories exist. [[Carola Hicks]] has suggested the tapestry could possibly have been commissioned by [[Edith of Wessex]], widow of [[Edward the Confessor]] and sister of Harold.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/04/2006_21_mon.shtml "New Contender for The Bayeux Tapestry?"], from the BBC, 22 May 2006. ''The Bayeux Tapestry: The Life Story of a Masterpiece'', by [[Carola Hicks]] (2006). {{ISBN|0-7011-7463-3}}</ref> Wolfgang Grape has challenged the consensus that the embroidery is Anglo-Saxon, distinguishing between Anglo-Saxon and other Northern European techniques;<ref>See Grape, Wolfgang, ''The Bayeux Tapestry: Monument to a Norman Triumph'', Prestel Publishing, 3791313657</ref> Medieval material authority [[Elizabeth Coatsworth]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/ViewContributor/document/obo-9780195396584/obo-9780195396584-0133.xml?id=con2432 |title=Oxford Bibliographies Online&nbsp;– Author (Contributor: Elizabeth Coatsworth) |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=4 August 2013}}</ref> contradicted this: "The attempt to distinguish Anglo-Saxon from other Northern European embroideries before 1100 on the grounds of technique cannot be upheld on the basis of present knowledge."<ref name="Coatsworth"/> George Beech suggests the tapestry was executed at the [[Abbey of Saint-Florent de Saumur]] in the Loire Valley and says the detailed depiction of the Breton campaign argues for additional sources in France.<ref>Beech, George: ''Was the Bayeux Tapestry Made in France?: The Case for St. Florent of Saumur''. (The New Middle Ages), New York, Palgrave Macmillan 1995; reviewed in Robin Netherton and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, editors, ''Medieval Clothing and Textiles'', Volume 2, Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK, and Rochester, New York, the Boydell Press, 2006, {{ISBN|1-84383-203-8}}</ref> Andrew Bridgeford has suggested that the tapestry was actually of English design and encoded with secret messages meant to undermine Norman rule.<ref name="Bridgeford">Bridgeford, Andrew, ''1066: The Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry'', Walker & Company, 2005. {{ISBN|1-84115-040-1}}</ref>