The Bayeux tapestry is one of the most famous pieces of material culture produced in medieval England. The tapestry is fundamentally important for our understanding of the Norman conquest, telling us what happened and how it was remembered.
The embroidery was most probably made by a group of English women, who were famed for their needlework across Europe.
The story of the tapestry starts around 1064, with King Edward the Confessor sending Harold Godwinson, then Earl of Wessex, on a visit to Normandy, and ends with the English retreat at Hastings in 1066.
Military and political events are the key focus, yet three women are depicted in the main body of the Bayeux tapestry: a mystery woman named as Ælgyva, a woman mourning at the death of Edward the Confessor (very likely Queen Edith, his wife) and an unidentified woman fleeing from a burning building with her child. Further female figures can be identified in the borders of the tapestry.
Here’s what we know about the women depicted in the tapestry.
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The Bayeux tapestry and the hidden history of the women who embroidered it
Edith of Wessex (c. 1023–75)
The weeping woman with a veil at Edward the Confessor’s death bed was probably his wife, Edith of Wessex. At this crucial moment in the tapestry she witnesses Edward’s command to Harold to take up the throne.
Université de Caen Normandie / Wikipedia
Edith, daughter of Gytha (d. after 1068) and Godwin, Earl of Wessex (d. 1053) was the sister of Harold Godwinson. She was raised and educated at Wilton Abbey and was a powerful patron as well as being praised for her needlework.
She was treated well by William the Conqueror and managed to retain her lands post-conquest. In Easter 1071, she attended the consecration of Walcher, Bishop of Durham, showing her continued influence. She died on December 18 1075 and was buried alongside King Edward in Westminster Abbey.
Ælfgyva: the mystery woman of the Bayeux tapestry
The image below shows a woman inside a doorway of columns, and a man to the right of her, reaching into the space. The embroidered text above reads “Where a certain cleric and Ælfgyva”.
Université de Caen Normandie / Wikipedia
The borders above and below, which sometimes give a further indication of meaning, show a cross and a naked man. This could be an indication of lust or sexual misdemeanour. Although she is the only named woman, Ælfgyva (sometimes rendered as Ælfgifu or Ælgyva) was a very popular name.
There have been at least a dozen suggestions for Ælfgyva’s identity, but here are some of the more popular. One is Ælgyva, a sister of Harold Godwinson, whom he had supposedly pledged to marry to William. However, historian Ann Williams argues that he did not have a sister called Ælgyva; she believes this is a mistake that came from a misreading of an entry in Domesday Book.
The woman is wearing a veil and stood within an enclosed space suggesting a cloister, so a religious woman seems appropriate. The abbess of Barking Abbey at the time of the conquest was called Ælfgyva, so is also a possible candidate. This is especially so if the nuns of the wealthy abbey of Barking were involved in completing the tapestry, though more recent research by archaeologist Alexandra Lester-Makin suggests it may have been created by women working together in a professional workshop, or under a skilled overseer or trainer. We have no surviving stories about Ælgyva, abbess of Barking, that would resolve the presence of the lewd figure in the border.
Ælfgyva/Eadgifu, the abbess of Leominster, has also been mooted. She was abducted by Harold’s brother, Swein Godwinson, in 1046. It’s possible that she bore a child – Hakon – who may have been one of the hostages that Harold went to Normandy to collect.
Ælfgifu/Ælfgyva of Northampton, first wife of King Cnut is another suggestion. A rumour recorded by the chronicler John of Worcester argued that Ælgyva was unable to give Cnut a son and fooled him with the sons of other men, casting doubt on the Danish succession.
Emma of Normandy, Edward the Confessor’s mother, also changed her name to Ælfgifu during her first marriage to Aethelred the Unready. Rumours about an affair with a bishop were circulated making her a possible candidate, but these stories appeared long after her death and the making of the tapestry.
Woman running from a burning building with a child
This victim of war is unnamed and flees from a burning building clasping the hand of a child. She probably represents William’s harrying of the countryside, and the suffering of the English people before the battle of Hastings.
Université de Caen Normandie / Wikipedia
Although we cannot identify her, historians have drawn useful connections between this image on the Bayeux tapestry and sculpture on columns depicting Roman warfare in Rome. This image is particularly close to one of a woman fleeing with her child on the column of Marcus Aurelius. It suggests that the designer may have visited Rome on a pilgrimage, which Abbot Scolland of St Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury (who some researchers believe to be the designer is known to have done in 1071-2, around which time the tapestry is thought to have been commissioned.
The women of the Bayeux tapestry, as makers and embroidered characters, tell a story as compelling and important as the main depiction of the battle. In line with recent reports from End Sexism in Schools and Teaching Medieval Women outlining a chronic lack of representation of women’s history taught in schools, bringing them back into the story of this nationally important treasure is key.
Even their mysteries provide opportunities to enrich and build more inclusivity into the way we teach the Norman conquest. Combined with other detailed sources like the Domesday Book, there are many more stories of women that remain to be discovered.
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