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HistoryExtra podcast · 2025-04-24 · 29 min · 3,918 words

The 93 penises of the Bayeux Tapestry

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Welcome to the History Extra podcast. Fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History magazine. Historians have counted a lot of things in the Bayer tapestry. Animals, ships, hands, plants, but nobody had counted the amount of penises within it until Oxford historian Professor George Garnett took on the challenge.

A while back he wrote an article on the subject for BBC History magazine, and for this episode, Dave Musgrove invited George to reveal just how many penises he did find in the tapestry and explain why this is, in fact, serious research that helps us to better understand this vital account of the Norman conquest of 1066. And if you enjoy this episode, you can find a bonus episode delving into the real nitty-gritty of Anglo-Saxon sex in your podcast feeds, exclusively for History Extra Plus subscribers, which is now available across most podcast platforms. If you aren't already, you can become a History Extra Plus subscriber by clicking the link in the episode description. Subscribers to History Extra Plus get ad-free listening to all of History Extra's podcasts, as well as early access and exclusives. Today I'm very pleased to be joined by Professor George Garnett, Professor of History here at Oxford University.

George, welcome to the podcast. How are you? I'm fine, thank you. Good, good to have you. Now look, as I said, you're a professor of history at Oxford University.

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