Is There a Royal Sex Scandal Hidden in the Bayeux Tapestry? With David Musgrove
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Hello, I'm Mia Serenti and welcome to Intelligence Squared, the podcast about ideas that matter. In each episode we speak to some of the world's most interesting thinkers, not simply about what they've written or created, but about the ideas that drive their work and why they matter now. The Bayou Tapestry is one of history's great acts of compression. Nearly 70 metres of wool embroidery on linen turn a disputed royal succession, an invasion, and the Battle of Hastings into a story that millions of us think we already know. Harold breaks an oath, William crosses the Channel, and 1066 changes England forever.
This month the original went on display at the British Museum, where it will remain until July 11, 2027. This is the first time it has been displayed in England since it was made almost a thousand years ago. In this episode I am speaking to Dr. David Musgrove, a historian with a doctorate in medieval landscape archaeology, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and content director at History Extra. With Michael Lewis he wrote The Story of the Bayou Tapestry, unraveling the Norman conquest.
We are going to explore some of the most surprising mysteries of the tapestry, from a possible hidden royal sex scandal to the crucial characters left out and ultimately interrogate the question. Whose story is stitched into it, and why has that story proved so hard to dislodge? David, welcome to Intelligence Squared. So before we discuss what the tapestry means, can you explain to us what the object actually is physically and is tapestry a bit of a misnomer? Yes, it is.
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