Magna-Carta
Senior Member
- Location
- UK
Some of you like history, right?
For those unfamiliar with it, the "Bayeux Tapestry" isn’t really a tapestry at all. It’s a 70 metre long (230ft) embroidered cloth made in the 11th century, telling the story of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 -- effectively a visual record of events that shaped English history. The embroidery was completed in England around 1070, and then taken to France.
It’s usually kept in Bayeux, France, and almost never travels because of its age and fragility. It’s due to be loaned to the British Museum, London, next year, while its home museum is renovated.
While it’s at the British Museum, the UK Treasury will underwrite it for £800m (about $1.08bn US). This doesn’t mean that money is being spent, it just reflects the fact that no private insurer could realistically place a market value on something that is literally priceless:
The tapestry even includes the earliest known depiction of Halley’s Comet. At school, at the tender age of 12, I remember being told that when the comet appeared in April 1066 the Norman French took it as a good omen, while the English saw it as a bad one.
Halley’s Comet on the Bayeux Tapestry:
70m (230ft) Bayeux Tapestry:
A medieval news report?:
For those unfamiliar with it, the "Bayeux Tapestry" isn’t really a tapestry at all. It’s a 70 metre long (230ft) embroidered cloth made in the 11th century, telling the story of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 -- effectively a visual record of events that shaped English history. The embroidery was completed in England around 1070, and then taken to France.
It’s usually kept in Bayeux, France, and almost never travels because of its age and fragility. It’s due to be loaned to the British Museum, London, next year, while its home museum is renovated.
While it’s at the British Museum, the UK Treasury will underwrite it for £800m (about $1.08bn US). This doesn’t mean that money is being spent, it just reflects the fact that no private insurer could realistically place a market value on something that is literally priceless:
The tapestry even includes the earliest known depiction of Halley’s Comet. At school, at the tender age of 12, I remember being told that when the comet appeared in April 1066 the Norman French took it as a good omen, while the English saw it as a bad one.
Halley’s Comet on the Bayeux Tapestry:
70m (230ft) Bayeux Tapestry:
A medieval news report?:
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