Is there a royal sex scandal hidden in plain sight in the Bayeux tapestry?

Is there a royal sex scandal hidden in plain sight in the Bayer Tapestry? The Bayer Tapestry is, of course, the 11th century embroidery, which tells the story of the Norman conquest of 1066, and which is in the news right now because it's being loaned to the British Museum from France for a huge exhibition. it's probably the first time that the tapestry has been this side of the channel since it was made shortly after Duke William of Normandy's victory over King Harold of England at the Battle of Hastings. In this episode of the History Extra podcast, History Extra's content director, David Musgrove, talks to Professor Michael Lewis and Dr. Emily Winkler about the famous elf giver scene in the tapestry. Michael is the curator of the British Museum exhibition, which opens in September, and he is co author with David of the story of the Bayer Tapestry. Emily is a medieval historian at Oxford University and the author of the Pocket Bayer Tapestry, which, as the name suggests, is a pocket size book that reproduces the nineteenth century drawings of the tapestry by French artist Victor Sansanetti, along with a commentary by Emily.

So let's get into that conversation, and the first voice you'll hear Is David's. Let's get to the topic of the conversation, which is this elf giver scene. It's about a quarter of a way through the tapestry. And before it, we've got various things have happened. So I'll quickly summarise we've had the adventures of Earl Harold Godwinson, the important Anglo-Saxon lord. He's gone on a sea voyage from the south coast of England. He's shipped up in northern France, in the county of Pontier. He's been apprehended and roughly handled by the local tough guy, Count Guy. Then after an exchange of messages, Harold has been released into the custody of the more important figure, Duke William of Normandy. Harold and William have just then had an animated meeting in one of William's ducal palaces.

William's seated in splendor, Harold standing in some sort of agitated posture, and it looks as if Harold is trying to persuade William of something of what we do not know, and it's all conducted under the watching eyes of the Of a band of onlookers. And then we get to the elf giver scene. Now I could describe it, but I don't know if either of you two want to talk through Neil Givesing. So basically we see an image of a man and a woman. The woman is within an arch, noted sometimes for its Scandinavian style.

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