Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how Stuff Works dot com. Hello, welcome to the podcast. I'm fair Dowdy and I'm Develinta Charko Boarding and today we're going to be talking about a pretty visual subject, which is always a little bit tricky to do in a podcast, but we really take it for granted nowadays that a complete historical record usually include some pictures, whether they're these, you know, the point each in tutor portraits, or Civil War era photos, or the digital photos of modern journalism that are just everywhere in people's cell phone pictures, all of that. But that's obviously not the case for all of history. And if we're talking about the eleventh century, the pickings get pretty slim when you're looking for good visuals of of something that went on, and and that point is something that really makes the Bio Tapestry all the more remarkable. It's a piece of art, and it's considered the most important pictorial archive of the eleventh century, or maybe even of the medieval age. But it's actually remarkable for quite a few other reasons too. It is. First off, there's its size. It's two four ft long, which is sixty eight meters, and that's after losing some sections in the nearly one thousand intervening years since it was made. So it's enormous. That's probably the first thing you had noticed if you saw it exactly. And then there's its detail. The nine panels feature two hundred two horses, dogs, thirty seven buildings, forty one ships, and six hundred and twenty six people, all with historically accurate hairdoice I love very important to love that point. It's also really beautiful. The so called tapestry is not really a tapestry at all. It's actually embroidered linen. But it's just colorful. It's lively, it has almost a three dimensional quality, and we're going to talk about that a little more later and then another another notable part of this tapestry story is that it survived all of this time. It's made it through the French Revolution, even though it was used to cover ammunition. It survived the Franco Prussian War, it was whisked into hiding before the occupation in World War Two, and Bayou actually, on a side note, sort of was one of the first cities liberated after D Day. So it's remarkable that this nearly thousand year old tapestry has managed to make it this long. It is, but it's the subject matter that makes the tapestry truly important. It doesn't just document courtly scenes or hunting outings in daily life. It also chronicles one of the major events in Western history, the Norman Conquest. So we're going to give you a little background on the Norman conquests. Pretty standard history class there, but figured a refresher would be in order. So the English King Edward the Confessor was a nice guy, a very pious man, a generous man, but he wasn't the strongest leader, and most of efficantly, he was not interested in having kids for religious reasons, or he couldn't have kids. So there was this question who would be his heir and there were a few possibilities. None of them really jump out as as that obvious if if you look into how exactly they're related to him. The first is Harold Godwinson and he was Edward's brother in law. So Harold's sister was married to Edward, and he was also a really powerful man in England, a powerful advisor. The next guy our list is Edgar Atheling, and he was Edward's great nephew, but he was living abroad and he was he was pretty young too. The third guy on our list is going to be a familiar name, Duke William of Normandy, and he was Edward's second cousin. The way they're related is is pretty convoluted. But he's also a descendant of a Viking pirate, so that gives you a good idea of what kind of drive this man has. William was even making his case for the throne. Even more unlikely was the bastard, son of the Duke of Normandy, and he was known for a long time as William the Bastard. But he had been um accepted by his father, who had no legitimate heirs, and he had inherited his titles, so he was set up well in life. So who was the front runner here? Well. Edward initially leaned toward making William his heir because he himself had spent a long exile in the Norman court and he knew the country's habits and its nobles. He also supposedly promised the crown to William, but he really seemed interested in all the candidates, to be honest in all these potential airs, and it wasn't his decision to make anyway. The Witton, the old English Council of Advisers, was the body that was going to make this decision the call. Yeah, So the next part of our story gets a little murky. That was supposedly in ten sixty four, Harold, one of the potential candidates share was shipwrecked in William's territory and William slapped him into honorable captivity until he swore on holy relics that he would support William's claim to the throne. Because of course William he was no dummy. He knew that Harold, who actually lived in England and was a powerful man there, probably had the strongest the strongest chance of becoming king. But this oath that Williams supposedly makes Harold take was also where the tapestries action starts and Harold's tripped to Normandy in this all important oath or are really important because after the Norman conquest of England it was crucial to legitimize what had happened before, because William's blood ties were really so weak they had to make it a matter of honor. Almost. But whatever may or may not have happened to Normandy between William and Harold. By ten sixty five, Edward was dying and the Waton selected Harold as his successor. It's likely that they did this because they thought Harold is powerful, he's capable, he was already just about the strongest man in the kingdom and he would probably make the best fits. So on his deathbed, Edward left the throne to him, and Harold was crowned King Harold the Second on January six, ten sixty six. It's something that you might remember from our recent Westminster podcast, definitely. So meanwhile, William is feeling left out here. This is not the way he hoped things would go down, so he started to raise an army back in Normandy to go and claim what he saw as his right. And unfortunately for Harold the Second, William wasn't the only person thinking okay, time to act, time to go invade England, because in September of ten sixty six, the King of Norway landed at the Yorkshire coast and began an attack there, and Harold the Second successfully defended his new kingdom, defeated the Norwegians, but he was stuck in the northern part of his country when he got word that William had landed in the south. That's kind of a big problem there. He had a tired army and a really long way to go, and he marched them all across England and got to London by October six, and then they spent the next few days sort of resting up preparing before setting off for Hastings. But on October fourteen, William actually attacks before harold troops were ready. Even with this element of surprise, it didn't go well for the Normans at first. Eventually, though, Anglo Saxon leaders did start to drop, including Harold, who was supposedly shot in the eye with an arrow. So William ascended to the English throne and was no longer William the Bastard, but William the Conqueror. Definitely, he's better known as that today. So there were also some big changes with William in charge, because he of course brought in all of his his Norman lords, and they took up new lands and titles, and there were new additions to the language. I remember in high school French uh learning about pig versus pork and cow versus beef, and the old Anglo Saxon versus the Norman introduction ends, and there were other changes besides language too, that customs and legal system changes, and as a result, Saxon traditions really became kind of considered low class. They weren't the the popular chic thing anymore. And that's where we're going to transition to the tapestry. Because obviously a story like the want of the invasion in the battle, which is clearly a crucial piece of history and has a long term effect, was pretty well documented. The tapestry was not. You could think of it as some sort of sole primary source we have, but it's not maybe more romantic that way. It does sound romantic. You just go consult your tapestry when you're doing research, but it's certainly not the only record of the invasion or even the most comprehensive source about the battle pastings. No, it wasn't. There were several pro stories and tales and verse as well, Norman historical texts written by monks or chaplains, and Anglo Norman twelfth century narratives too, But the Biou tapestry is kind of in a unique spot. It's precise, it's detailed, and sometimes historians take its word over that of written sources because of the level of planning and commitment that goes into stitching versus writing. Yeah, I read an article that sort of gave the example of weaponry that certain men would carry. And while written accounts had different, contradicting versions of what specific weapons so and so is carrying. Uh, there were some historians were more inclined to go with what somebody had bothered to stitch out across this this huge panel, assuming that maybe they looked into the research a little more, right, But it's also just special because the Tapestry was created during the lifetimes of the Norman conquerors. It's just about as close to contemporary as we can get, all right, So it's a contemporary kind of source. It's been compared to photojournalism actually before, which is pretty funny if you think about it. But what does it look like? The Tapestry's main narrative story covers span of two years ten sixty four to ten sixty six. That's why it is so long. And as we mentioned, it starts with Harold's visit to normity, which is the really crucial component of the moral element of the story. So from there it progresses through Edward's sickness through Harold taking the throne and William raising his army, crossing the channel and ending with the battle, and they're likely was another panel that included scenes of Williams coronation and that's the missing part. But the interesting thing about the tapestry, though, is that no step is rushed over. You might think, well, let's get onto the battle and not handle the building the ships, that that's not true at all. It shows men cutting down trees, it shows shipwrights building boats, men loading the ships with food and wine, really every single detail of what happened in the lead up. Yeah, it even shows Westminster Abbey isn't complete and everyday life too tilling, cooking if you're a nobleman going hunting with a falcon on your arms, so very detailed. The dress in court is elaborate and fine, and the dress in full battle that's shown is full of detail, with a range of weapons and armor styles. The Anglo Saxons are wearing fashionable mustaches while the Normans are sporting their distinctive shaved hairstyles. Actually read a BBC article about how you know British children are obviously taught this story pretty pretty regularly. And um. Their idea of the Norman warrior definitely comes from that of the bio tapestry. Those helmets with the nose guards and the chain mail, it's it's what you probably think of if you think of Norman armor. Yeah. But what we've just mentioned this is just at the center of the tapestry, right, I mean all along at the edges are animals with allegorical significance. You see cox, peacocks, rams, deer, bear, fish, lions, camels, monsters, I mean, even dragons, motifs from Aesop's fables. So it's not just the narrative of the conquest that we're seeing, but a moral story about how if you break your sacred oath the only punishment is death. Yeah, and maybe an arrow through the eye maybe, And if we're going to talk about that more later. The other component of the TAPS three is these neat Latin captions that are written throughout and they really helped break down the scenes and label key protagonists like William and Edward and Harold and Odo and he's going to come up later too. He's William's half brother and the Bishop of Bayou. But we want to talk about it as a piece of art too, because I mean, that's that's what it is. First and foremost. It's really notable for its craftsmanship. The overall design is pleasant, it's uncluttered. You'd think that if you are trying to depict in needle work a battle with tons of horses, like literally tangled together, it would come across as kind of messy and and maybe not that pleasing. But it looks good. And because it's embroidery and not tapestry, and that background is left unfinished, it's um. The figures really pop off of the light linen. It's it's it looks nice. Plant based eyes were actually used to make the ten different colors of wool that were used, ranging from mustard to yellow to blue black and pale green, and four types of stitches were used stem stitch, change stitch, split stitch, and couching work or buy you stitch. So this variation is what makes the tapestry have greater dimension than most medieval art. I like the way you put it, Sarah, we're talking about it earlier. You said that has like a layered quality to it. It does, even if you know that if you look at a picture where two horses are right next to each other. Even though you know that on the actual piece of linen, those stitches are right next to each other. It looks like one horse is front of in front of the other. I mean, don't don't go expecting some great feet of perspective, but I think it's it's pretty cool that so much depth was achieved through stitches alone in different shadings and such. But unfortunately, not all of that stitching is original. Some of the older restorations have faded really badly, and some done in the nineteenth century with wool that was colored by chemical dies look really garish. And um, I didn't see pictures of this, but all all sources said it looked quite obvious the nineteenth century restoration work, and those restorations actually create some bigger problems than just affecting the look of the whole thing they do. I mean, you have to wonder, when all these restorations have been done, how much has been altered, reinterpreted, or just plain lost. And the best example here is the famous arrow in the Eye of King Harold. The tapestry is mentioned as the earliest source for this particular claim, of of that being the way that he died but since that claim wasn't made until hundreds of years after the works creation, who's to say the tapestry was an all heard or incorrect in the first place. Another matter complicating that is the Latin text doesn't really help clarify who is actually getting shot in the eye. Clarifies that Harold was killed, but there's another guy next to him too, And and people have debated whether the guy with the arrow in his eyes actually Harold. But there are a few mysteries. That's just the first one in this In this tapestry, a big one is who actually made it, who commissioned it, who designed it. And tradition says that the work was wrought by William's own wife, Queen Matilda, and her ladies. And that's a very romantic idea that you would become Queen of England and then immediately get to work on this, on this embroidery, massive embroidery project of commemorating your husband's triumph. But it's likely that the work was instead commissioned by Williams half brother Odo, who he mentioned earlier, the Bishop of Bayou, and he would have wanted it for the dedication of the cathedral of our Lady of Bayou, which was um started about ten years or so after the Battle of Hastings, so that's what most people are thinking. There are a few other theories out there, though. Art historian Carola Hicks suggests that Edith Godwinson, Edward the Confessor's widow and Harold's sister, actually commissioned it as a way to establish herself in the new Norman court. So that's another theory for that question. But where it was made is also a mystery too. Many think that it was made in England, most likely at the embroidery center of Winchester, but some people think it was made in Normandy. American historian George Beach even suggests that the tapestry was made in a French abbey. People have also debated about what purpose it served. In Some of the purposes seem obvious. It's a beautiful decorative item. It's something that you would bring out for for celebrations, very special days. It's clearly a propaganda piece, and it's clearly a celebration of the Norman conquest to and justification for William's rule. But it then suggests that it's also maybe some kind of memory device. And I like this idea for someone who was reciting a ballad, uh, they could consult the tapestry and present the ballad while almost using the tapestry as some sort of slideshow as as they were going along of visually acually. And I mean that power of images though it would have been powerful then and it's still powerful today, even nearly a thousand years after. Ten sixty six is clearly a banner year in Western history. But maybe one of the reasons why we remember it so well while it's why it's still seems so accessible and recognizable, is because we do have these images, and they're so common and so well known. If you go and look up William the Conqueror, if you go and look up the Battle of Hastings, the little thumbnail image you're going to get next to it will be from the bio tapestry. And that's not something you can say for every medieval battle or character you come across. No, you can't. But it's cool that you can still see. The actual tapestry too, is at the Bayou Museum in Bayou, right, It is in Bayou, And yeah, you can go and visit it, and there are actually a few replicas around the world too. If you can't make it out to France. I think there's one in Reading, England. And I also learned there's not a replica tapestry, but there's a hand painted replica really near by us to Blina over at the University of West Georgia. I feel kind of obligated now that you've said that, to go take some pictures or something. I know. Well, I was, I was checking out how far away the one in France was from Paris, and I feel like be a lot easier to just go to the West Georgia check and maybe well, I feel like our listeners always go visit places, but we've talked about and send us pictures, so they do. Maybe somebody already lives in Carrollton and can go visit and they have some pictures ready. I am curious to know what it looks like the rep. Well, if you know, listeners, please write in and let us know. But for now we're gonna see what another listener has to say in listener mail. So this message is from Chris. He wrote in about our recent episode on the Belly Ruth and the Right of Spring, and here's what he had to say. It was fascinated to learn about the controversial ballet, and it was amazed by the detailed account of the riot. But I would surprise you left out the little detail about the ballet causing World War One. That's right, the Great War. Maybe you weren't aware, or maybe you left it out because it's a little too Goldburgian. But the idea comes from a fascinating book by Modus X Steins called What Else The Rights of Spring. The book focuses on the cultural implications that led to the Great War, with the famous modernist ballet skeearheading the way. So really interesting read, a fascinating take on World War One, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in world history. Thanks for all the wonderful podcast. So thank you Chris for letting us know about the book. I always like getting book suggestions from our listeners, especially when especially when they're pitching an idea recommend a book. Yeah, we're always looking for new things to read, so if you have any suggestions, please write us where at History podcast at how Stuff Works dot com, or you can look us up on Twitter at liston history or on Facebook. And if you like fun art stories, we also have a really great article called Five Impressive Art Heights by Julia Layton, and uh it's it's a great look at some museums and and strange cases. And I think we've covered a few before on the podcast, but if you're ready for fresher, go back and check it out Five Impressive Art Heights so you can find it by searching on our homepage at www dot how stuff works dot com. Be sure to check out our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how Stuff Work staff as we explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The Houseda brooks iPhone app has a ride. Download it today on iTunes, m

Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how Stuff Works dot com. Hello, welcome to the podcast. I'm fair Dowdy and I'm Develinta Charko Boarding and today we're going to be talking about a pretty visual subject, which is always a little bit tricky to do in a podcast, but we really take it for granted nowadays that a complete historical record usually include some pictures, whether they're these, you know, the point each in tutor portraits, or Civil War era photos, or the digital photos of modern journalism that are just everywhere in people's cell phone pictures, all of that. But that's obviously not the case for all of history. And if we're talking about the eleventh century, the pickings get pretty slim when you're looking for good visuals of of something that went on, and and that point is something that really makes the Bio Tapestry all the more remarkable. It's a piece of art, and it's considered the most important pictorial archive of the eleventh century, or maybe even of the medieval age. But it's actually remarkable for quite a few other reasons too. It is. First off, there's its size. It's two four ft long, which is sixty eight meters, and that's after losing some sections in the nearly one thousand intervening years since it was made. So it's enormous. That's probably the first thing you had noticed if you saw it exactly. And then there's its detail. The nine panels feature two hundred two horses, dogs, thirty seven buildings, forty one ships, and six hundred and twenty six people, all with historically accurate hairdoice I love very important to love that point. It's also really beautiful. The so called tapestry is not really a tapestry at all. It's actually embroidered linen. But it's just colorful. It's lively, it has almost a three dimensional quality, and we're going to talk about that a little more later and then another another notable part of this tapestry story is that it survived all of this time. It's made it through the French Revolution, even though it was used to cover ammunition. It survived the Franco Prussian War, it was whisked into hiding before the occupation in World War Two, and Bayou actually, on a side note, sort of was one of the first cities liberated after D Day. So it's remarkable that this nearly thousand year old tapestry has managed to make it this long. It is, but it's the subject matter that makes the tapestry truly important. It doesn't just document courtly scenes or hunting outings in daily life. It also chronicles one of the major events in Western history, the Norman Conquest. So we're going to give you a little background on the Norman conquests. Pretty standard history class there, but figured a refresher would be in order. So the English King Edward the Confessor was a nice guy, a very pious man, a generous man, but he wasn't the strongest leader, and most of efficantly, he was not interested in having kids for religious reasons, or he couldn't have kids. So there was this question who would be his heir and there were a few possibilities. None of them really jump out as as that obvious if if you look into how exactly they're related to him. The first is Harold Godwinson and he was Edward's brother in law. So Harold's sister was married to Edward, and he was also a really powerful man in England, a powerful advisor. The next guy our list is Edgar Atheling, and he was Edward's great nephew, but he was living abroad and he was he was pretty young too. The third guy on our list is going to be a familiar name, Duke William of Normandy, and he was Edward's second cousin. The way they're related is is pretty convoluted. But he's also a descendant of a Viking pirate, so that gives you a good idea of what kind of drive this man has. William was even making his case for the throne. Even more unlikely was the bastard, son of the Duke of Normandy, and he was known for a long time as William the Bastard. But he had been um accepted by his father, who had no legitimate heirs, and he had inherited his titles, so he was set up well in life. So who was the front runner here? Well. Edward initially leaned toward making William his heir because he himself had spent a long exile in the Norman court and he knew the country's habits and its nobles. He also supposedly promised the crown to William, but he really seemed interested in all the candidates, to be honest in all these potential airs, and it wasn't his decision to make anyway. The Witton, the old English Council of Advisers, was the body that was going to make this decision the call. Yeah, So the next part of our story gets a little murky. That was supposedly in ten sixty four, Harold, one of the potential candidates share was shipwrecked in William's territory and William slapped him into honorable captivity until he swore on holy relics that he would support William's claim to the throne. Because of course William he was no dummy. He knew that Harold, who actually lived in England and was a powerful man there, probably had the strongest the strongest chance of becoming king. But this oath that Williams supposedly makes Harold take was also where the tapestries action starts and Harold's tripped to Normandy in this all important oath or are really important because after the Norman conquest of England it was crucial to legitimize what had happened before, because William's blood ties were really so weak they had to make it a matter of honor. Almost. But whatever may or may not have happened to Normandy between William and Harold. By ten sixty five, Edward was dying and the Waton selected Harold as his successor. It's likely that they did this because they thought Harold is powerful, he's capable, he was already just about the strongest man in the kingdom and he would probably make the best fits. So on his deathbed, Edward left the throne to him, and Harold was crowned King Harold the Second on January six, ten sixty six. It's something that you might remember from our recent Westminster podcast, definitely. So meanwhile, William is feeling left out here. This is not the way he hoped things would go down, so he started to raise an army back in Normandy to go and claim what he saw as his right. And unfortunately for Harold the Second, William wasn't the only person thinking okay, time to act, time to go invade England, because in September of ten sixty six, the King of Norway landed at the Yorkshire coast and began an attack there, and Harold the Second successfully defended his new kingdom, defeated the Norwegians, but he was stuck in the northern part of his country when he got word that William had landed in the south. That's kind of a big problem there. He had a tired army and a really long way to go, and he marched them all across England and got to London by October six, and then they spent the next few days sort of resting up preparing before setting off for Hastings. But on October fourteen, William actually attacks before harold troops were ready. Even with this element of surprise, it didn't go well for the Normans at first. Eventually, though, Anglo Saxon leaders did start to drop, including Harold, who was supposedly shot in the eye with an arrow. So William ascended to the English throne and was no longer William the Bastard, but William the Conqueror. Definitely, he's better known as that today. So there were also some big changes with William in charge, because he of course brought in all of his his Norman lords, and they took up new lands and titles, and there were new additions to the language. I remember in high school French uh learning about pig versus pork and cow versus beef, and the old Anglo Saxon versus the Norman introduction ends, and there were other changes besides language too, that customs and legal system changes, and as a result, Saxon traditions really became kind of considered low class. They weren't the the popular chic thing anymore. And that's where we're going to transition to the tapestry. Because obviously a story like the want of the invasion in the battle, which is clearly a crucial piece of history and has a long term effect, was pretty well documented. The tapestry was not. You could think of it as some sort of sole primary source we have, but it's not maybe more romantic that way. It does sound romantic. You just go consult your tapestry when you're doing research, but it's certainly not the only record of the invasion or even the most comprehensive source about the battle pastings. No, it wasn't. There were several pro stories and tales and verse as well, Norman historical texts written by monks or chaplains, and Anglo Norman twelfth century narratives too, But the Biou tapestry is kind of in a unique spot. It's precise, it's detailed, and sometimes historians take its word over that of written sources because of the level of planning and commitment that goes into stitching versus writing. Yeah, I read an article that sort of gave the example of weaponry that certain men would carry. And while written accounts had different, contradicting versions of what specific weapons so and so is carrying. Uh, there were some historians were more inclined to go with what somebody had bothered to stitch out across this this huge panel, assuming that maybe they looked into the research a little more, right, But it's also just special because the Tapestry was created during the lifetimes of the Norman conquerors. It's just about as close to contemporary as we can get, all right, So it's a contemporary kind of source. It's been compared to photojournalism actually before, which is pretty funny if you think about it. But what does it look like? The Tapestry's main narrative story covers span of two years ten sixty four to ten sixty six. That's why it is so long. And as we mentioned, it starts with Harold's visit to normity, which is the really crucial component of the moral element of the story. So from there it progresses through Edward's sickness through Harold taking the throne and William raising his army, crossing the channel and ending with the battle, and they're likely was another panel that included scenes of Williams coronation and that's the missing part. But the interesting thing about the tapestry, though, is that no step is rushed over. You might think, well, let's get onto the battle and not handle the building the ships, that that's not true at all. It shows men cutting down trees, it shows shipwrights building boats, men loading the ships with food and wine, really every single detail of what happened in the lead up. Yeah, it even shows Westminster Abbey isn't complete and everyday life too tilling, cooking if you're a nobleman going hunting with a falcon on your arms, so very detailed. The dress in court is elaborate and fine, and the dress in full battle that's shown is full of detail, with a range of weapons and armor styles. The Anglo Saxons are wearing fashionable mustaches while the Normans are sporting their distinctive shaved hairstyles. Actually read a BBC article about how you know British children are obviously taught this story pretty pretty regularly. And um. Their idea of the Norman warrior definitely comes from that of the bio tapestry. Those helmets with the nose guards and the chain mail, it's it's what you probably think of if you think of Norman armor. Yeah. But what we've just mentioned this is just at the center of the tapestry, right, I mean all along at the edges are animals with allegorical significance. You see cox, peacocks, rams, deer, bear, fish, lions, camels, monsters, I mean, even dragons, motifs from Aesop's fables. So it's not just the narrative of the conquest that we're seeing, but a moral story about how if you break your sacred oath the only punishment is death. Yeah, and maybe an arrow through the eye maybe, And if we're going to talk about that more later. The other component of the TAPS three is these neat Latin captions that are written throughout and they really helped break down the scenes and label key protagonists like William and Edward and Harold and Odo and he's going to come up later too. He's William's half brother and the Bishop of Bayou. But we want to talk about it as a piece of art too, because I mean, that's that's what it is. First and foremost. It's really notable for its craftsmanship. The overall design is pleasant, it's uncluttered. You'd think that if you are trying to depict in needle work a battle with tons of horses, like literally tangled together, it would come across as kind of messy and and maybe not that pleasing. But it looks good. And because it's embroidery and not tapestry, and that background is left unfinished, it's um. The figures really pop off of the light linen. It's it's it looks nice. Plant based eyes were actually used to make the ten different colors of wool that were used, ranging from mustard to yellow to blue black and pale green, and four types of stitches were used stem stitch, change stitch, split stitch, and couching work or buy you stitch. So this variation is what makes the tapestry have greater dimension than most medieval art. I like the way you put it, Sarah, we're talking about it earlier. You said that has like a layered quality to it. It does, even if you know that if you look at a picture where two horses are right next to each other. Even though you know that on the actual piece of linen, those stitches are right next to each other. It looks like one horse is front of in front of the other. I mean, don't don't go expecting some great feet of perspective, but I think it's it's pretty cool that so much depth was achieved through stitches alone in different shadings and such. But unfortunately, not all of that stitching is original. Some of the older restorations have faded really badly, and some done in the nineteenth century with wool that was colored by chemical dies look really garish. And um, I didn't see pictures of this, but all all sources said it looked quite obvious the nineteenth century restoration work, and those restorations actually create some bigger problems than just affecting the look of the whole thing they do. I mean, you have to wonder, when all these restorations have been done, how much has been altered, reinterpreted, or just plain lost. And the best example here is the famous arrow in the Eye of King Harold. The tapestry is mentioned as the earliest source for this particular claim, of of that being the way that he died but since that claim wasn't made until hundreds of years after the works creation, who's to say the tapestry was an all heard or incorrect in the first place. Another matter complicating that is the Latin text doesn't really help clarify who is actually getting shot in the eye. Clarifies that Harold was killed, but there's another guy next to him too, And and people have debated whether the guy with the arrow in his eyes actually Harold. But there are a few mysteries. That's just the first one in this In this tapestry, a big one is who actually made it, who commissioned it, who designed it. And tradition says that the work was wrought by William's own wife, Queen Matilda, and her ladies. And that's a very romantic idea that you would become Queen of England and then immediately get to work on this, on this embroidery, massive embroidery project of commemorating your husband's triumph. But it's likely that the work was instead commissioned by Williams half brother Odo, who he mentioned earlier, the Bishop of Bayou, and he would have wanted it for the dedication of the cathedral of our Lady of Bayou, which was um started about ten years or so after the Battle of Hastings, so that's what most people are thinking. There are a few other theories out there, though. Art historian Carola Hicks suggests that Edith Godwinson, Edward the Confessor's widow and Harold's sister, actually commissioned it as a way to establish herself in the new Norman court. So that's another theory for that question. But where it was made is also a mystery too. Many think that it was made in England, most likely at the embroidery center of Winchester, but some people think it was made in Normandy. American historian George Beach even suggests that the tapestry was made in a French abbey. People have also debated about what purpose it served. In Some of the purposes seem obvious. It's a beautiful decorative item. It's something that you would bring out for for celebrations, very special days. It's clearly a propaganda piece, and it's clearly a celebration of the Norman conquest to and justification for William's rule. But it then suggests that it's also maybe some kind of memory device. And I like this idea for someone who was reciting a ballad, uh, they could consult the tapestry and present the ballad while almost using the tapestry as some sort of slideshow as as they were going along of visually acually. And I mean that power of images though it would have been powerful then and it's still powerful today, even nearly a thousand years after. Ten sixty six is clearly a banner year in Western history. But maybe one of the reasons why we remember it so well while it's why it's still seems so accessible and recognizable, is because we do have these images, and they're so common and so well known. If you go and look up William the Conqueror, if you go and look up the Battle of Hastings, the little thumbnail image you're going to get next to it will be from the bio tapestry. And that's not something you can say for every medieval battle or character you come across. No, you can't. But it's cool that you can still see. The actual tapestry too, is at the Bayou Museum in Bayou, right, It is in Bayou, And yeah, you can go and visit it, and there are actually a few replicas around the world too. If you can't make it out to France. I think there's one in Reading, England. And I also learned there's not a replica tapestry, but there's a hand painted replica really near by us to Blina over at the University of West Georgia. I feel kind of obligated now that you've said that, to go take some pictures or something. I know. Well, I was, I was checking out how far away the one in France was from Paris, and I feel like be a lot easier to just go to the West Georgia check and maybe well, I feel like our listeners always go visit places, but we've talked about and send us pictures, so they do. Maybe somebody already lives in Carrollton and can go visit and they have some pictures ready. I am curious to know what it looks like the rep. Well, if you know, listeners, please write in and let us know. But for now we're gonna see what another listener has to say in listener mail. So this message is from Chris. He wrote in about our recent episode on the Belly Ruth and the Right of Spring, and here's what he had to say. It was fascinated to learn about the controversial ballet, and it was amazed by the detailed account of the riot. But I would surprise you left out the little detail about the ballet causing World War One. That's right, the Great War. Maybe you weren't aware, or maybe you left it out because it's a little too Goldburgian. But the idea comes from a fascinating book by Modus X Steins called What Else The Rights of Spring. The book focuses on the cultural implications that led to the Great War, with the famous modernist ballet skeearheading the way. So really interesting read, a fascinating take on World War One, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in world history. Thanks for all the wonderful podcast. So thank you Chris for letting us know about the book. I always like getting book suggestions from our listeners, especially when especially when they're pitching an idea recommend a book. Yeah, we're always looking for new things to read, so if you have any suggestions, please write us where at History podcast at how Stuff Works dot com, or you can look us up on Twitter at liston history or on Facebook. And if you like fun art stories, we also have a really great article called Five Impressive Art Heights by Julia Layton, and uh it's it's a great look at some museums and and strange cases. And I think we've covered a few before on the podcast, but if you're ready for fresher, go back and check it out Five Impressive Art Heights so you can find it by searching on our homepage at www dot how stuff works dot com. Be sure to check out our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how Stuff Work staff as we explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The Houseda brooks iPhone app has a ride. Download it today on iTunes, m