Who commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry? And where was it intended to be displayed? These questions are fundamental to any historical interpretation of the tapestry. The traditional view is that it was commissioned by Bishop Odo (1049–1097) for his cathedral at Bayeux, where it is first documented in an inventory of 1476. An alternative hypothesis is that he ordered it for the great hall of one of his castles or palaces, either in Normandy or in England. In recent years, the net has been cast much wider. Various possible locations have been suggested, both ecclesiastical and secular, and a number of patrons have been proposed. These include Archbishop Stigand; Archbishop Lanfranc; Abbot Scolland and/or the monks of St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury; Count Eustace of Boulogne; King Edward’s widow, Queen Edith; and Adela of Blois. None of these has found widespread acceptance. In a recent article, I presented new evidence to show, not merely that the tapestry was intended for Bayeux Cathedral, but that it was designed to hang in a specific position in the nave. In the present paper I shall explore some of the implications of this proposition for our understanding of the patronage, function and message of the tapestry.

The Bayeux Cathedral Tapestry

Bayeux Cathedral has an unusually complex architectural history, the earlier phases of which have still not been fully elucidated. Little survives of the eleventh-century cathedral, which was begun before 1050 and consecrated in 1077 (Fig. 1). The crypt can still be seen, east of the crossing, and the two massive western towers still stand, incorporated into the reconfigured Gothic west end. In addition, significant elements of the eleventh-century crossing piers were recorded during major restoration in the 1850s, together with the remains of the easternmost pier of both the north and south arcades of the nave. Fortunately, enough is known to reconstruct the essential features of the nave, in both plan and elevation.

The two western towers were originally joined not just by the original eleventh-century façade wall, but by a second north–south wall on the line of the east faces of the towers. The space thus created between the towers formed a vaulted atrium with a first-floor chapel above.