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An Archaeological Study of the Bayeux Tapestry: The Landscapes, Buildings and Places
An analysis of the famed medieval English tapestry through examination of the depicted landscapes, towns, castles, and other structures.An Archaeological Study of the Bayeux Tapestry provides a unique re-examination of this famous piece of work through the historical geography and archaeology of the tapestry. Trevor Rowley is the first author to have analyzed the tapestry through the landscapes, buildings and structures shown, such as towns and castles, while comparing them to the landscapes, buildings, ruins and earthworks which can be seen today. By comparing illustrated extracts from the tapestry to historical and contemporary illustrations, maps and reconstructions Rowley is able to provide the reader with a unique visual setting against which they are able to place the events on the tapestry. This approach allows Rowley to challenge a number of generally accepted assumptions regarding the location of several scenes in the tapestry, most controversially suggesting that William may never have gone to Hastings at all. Finally, Rowley tackles the missing end of the tapestry, suggesting the places and events which would have been depicted on this portion of William’s journey to Westminster.Praise forAn Archaeological Study of the Bayeux Tapestry “We all know what the Bayeux Tapestry celebrates in its iconic artwork, but Trevor Rowley goes one step further and looks at the buildings and characters with a view actually identifying them! Absolutely fascinating, brings a whole new dimension to the study of this amazing artefact.” —Books Monthly “Rowley’s arguments are copiously illustrated with details from the tapestry, photographs and plans. It results in very densely packed chapters well worth reading, and you certainly will never look at that tea towel in the same way again.” —Hexham Local History Society
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
214 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2016
24 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
Trevor Rowley
31 books7 followersTrevor Rowley is Dean of Degrees and an Emeritus Fellow of Kellogg College, University of Oxford, England.
Trevor Rowley was educated at University College, London and Linacre College, Oxford. Although originally trained as a geographer, he moved his academic interests into landscape history and archaeology and promoted a flourishing programme of teaching, fieldwork, research and publication in these areas based in the Department for Continuing Education. He was for several years Honorary Secretary of the Council for British Archaeology and was a founding member of the Professional Institute of Field Archaeologists. He was closely involved with Rescue excavation, directing work along the line of the M40, in Dorchester on Thames and on Thames Valley gravel sites. For many years he directed a training excavation for continuing education students at Middleton Stoney in Oxfordshire.
He was appointed Staff Tutor in Archaeology and Local Studies in the Department for Continuing Education (then the Delegacy for Extra-Mural Studies) in 1969, and until his retirement in September 2000 was the longest serving academic in Rewley House. In 1990 he was appointed Director of Public Programmes; he was twice Acting Director of the department. In addition to directing Public Programmes for over a decade he directed the Oxford-Florida Programme at Christ Church and established a national professional archaeology programme based at Rewley House. As Director of Public Programmes he was responsible for significant expansion of the Public Programme. He was a founding Fellow of Kellogg College and was Senior Tutor in 1993/4 and Vice President in 1994/5. He continues to teach regularly for OUDCE’s weekly class and certificate programme and summer schools as well as for Stanford in Oxford. He is the external examiner for the Historic Landscape Studies programme at the University of Wales Newport and is also a Vice-President of the Oxford Architectural and Historical Society.
He has published extensively and his books include: The Shropshire Landscape( 1972); Landscape Archaeology (1974) with M. Aston; Villages in the Landscape (1978); The High Middle Ages (1984); The Landscape of the Welsh Marches (1986); Norman England (1997); The Normans (1999) and The 20th Century English Landscape (2006). He is currently working on A History of Oxford for Carnegie Publishing and a number of other major landscape history initiatives.
Trevor Rowley was educated at University College, London and Linacre College, Oxford. Although originally trained as a geographer, he moved his academic interests into landscape history and archaeology and promoted a flourishing programme of teaching, fieldwork, research and publication in these areas based in the Department for Continuing Education. He was for several years Honorary Secretary of the Council for British Archaeology and was a founding member of the Professional Institute of Field Archaeologists. He was closely involved with Rescue excavation, directing work along the line of the M40, in Dorchester on Thames and on Thames Valley gravel sites. For many years he directed a training excavation for continuing education students at Middleton Stoney in Oxfordshire.
He was appointed Staff Tutor in Archaeology and Local Studies in the Department for Continuing Education (then the Delegacy for Extra-Mural Studies) in 1969, and until his retirement in September 2000 was the longest serving academic in Rewley House. In 1990 he was appointed Director of Public Programmes; he was twice Acting Director of the department. In addition to directing Public Programmes for over a decade he directed the Oxford-Florida Programme at Christ Church and established a national professional archaeology programme based at Rewley House. As Director of Public Programmes he was responsible for significant expansion of the Public Programme. He was a founding Fellow of Kellogg College and was Senior Tutor in 1993/4 and Vice President in 1994/5. He continues to teach regularly for OUDCE’s weekly class and certificate programme and summer schools as well as for Stanford in Oxford. He is the external examiner for the Historic Landscape Studies programme at the University of Wales Newport and is also a Vice-President of the Oxford Architectural and Historical Society.
He has published extensively and his books include: The Shropshire Landscape( 1972); Landscape Archaeology (1974) with M. Aston; Villages in the Landscape (1978); The High Middle Ages (1984); The Landscape of the Welsh Marches (1986); Norman England (1997); The Normans (1999) and The 20th Century English Landscape (2006). He is currently working on A History of Oxford for Carnegie Publishing and a number of other major landscape history initiatives.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 27, 2021
A very different approach to the Tapestry and I liked it very much. I agree that the buildings are very stylized and probably not drawn by an eye witness, except for Winchester church. It is well written and engaging and well illustrated.
March 3, 2017
I’m not sure what I expected here. It’s a tapestry. I didn’t know how much archaeological evidence was going to be interesting or compelling. I had a moment of “uh oh” when the colors of the thread used were being analyzed; Is this going to be a bore-fest? Actually, I am amazed at how much I liked this. It was so engaging. The use of landscape archaeology to illustrate the tapestry was very effective. It was world building for me, as if I was reading a regular fiction book.
The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the story of Harold, Earl of Wessex and William the conqueror and events that lead up to the Battle of Hastings. We follow the the tapestry and analyze the people, symbols and possible places that are shown. Each of the scenes is shown with beautiful full color illustrations and pictures. As we are taken through the scenes in the tapestry we are guided through archaeological evidence that correlates with the scenes. This includes full sites such as Westminster, or artifacts like boats or reliquaries. Each is analyzed as it would have been experienced by the tapestries contemporaries. It was very interesting to see the artistic influences that the tapestry makers were using. For example, there is evidence that Trajan’s column in Rome was influential. There are also comparisons of architectural details from existing buildings to those that are stitched on the tapestry.
Trevor Rowley does such a wonderful job rebuilding the world of Harold and William that you get a sense of the changing landscape. This was my favorite part about the book. I loved how the landscape that is described is in transition between changing art, architecture, and cultural changes. For example, what roads were used on a certain part of the journey; The remnants of Roman roads or something earlier? What were the building materials used? Were they part of an old Roman fort? I could imagine crumbling Roman ruins and infrastructure that were being reused into new buildings and new artistic designs, which incidentally would become Romanesque.
By the end of the book I really felt like I was transported into the tapestry. At first what seemed like rather juvenile stitches in time, now seem complicated and well thought out. This is now part of my bucket list of things that I must see in person before I die.
www.michmustread.com
The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the story of Harold, Earl of Wessex and William the conqueror and events that lead up to the Battle of Hastings. We follow the the tapestry and analyze the people, symbols and possible places that are shown. Each of the scenes is shown with beautiful full color illustrations and pictures. As we are taken through the scenes in the tapestry we are guided through archaeological evidence that correlates with the scenes. This includes full sites such as Westminster, or artifacts like boats or reliquaries. Each is analyzed as it would have been experienced by the tapestries contemporaries. It was very interesting to see the artistic influences that the tapestry makers were using. For example, there is evidence that Trajan’s column in Rome was influential. There are also comparisons of architectural details from existing buildings to those that are stitched on the tapestry.
Trevor Rowley does such a wonderful job rebuilding the world of Harold and William that you get a sense of the changing landscape. This was my favorite part about the book. I loved how the landscape that is described is in transition between changing art, architecture, and cultural changes. For example, what roads were used on a certain part of the journey; The remnants of Roman roads or something earlier? What were the building materials used? Were they part of an old Roman fort? I could imagine crumbling Roman ruins and infrastructure that were being reused into new buildings and new artistic designs, which incidentally would become Romanesque.
By the end of the book I really felt like I was transported into the tapestry. At first what seemed like rather juvenile stitches in time, now seem complicated and well thought out. This is now part of my bucket list of things that I must see in person before I die.
www.michmustread.com
April 27, 2021
Quite liked this. I wish there were more pictures, of the tapestry. But the explanations of the different scenes, the discussion of who was behind it or commissioned it, and the story for the different panels were really good. The tapestry used to be longer, but the top portion (the end of it) that had been stored in a cedar chest was damaged. There have been some repairs to the tapestry and it has now been put on display in a building dedicated to it in a climate controlled display case.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews