“On the face of it the Bayeux Tapestry is a piece of Norman propaganda, but it’s actually very ambiguous”
Writer ABIGAIL YOUNGMAN (left) discusses her new radio programme about the famous embroidery, and the insights she’s gained into its meanings and creation
How did this documentary come about? A few years back I wrote a play about the making of the Bayeux Tapestry [Bayeux, BBC Radio 4, starring Katy Brand]. And the reason I got interested in writing that play was because I’d read a newspaper article about how ambiguous the Tapestry is. On the face of it, it’s a piece of propaganda for the Normans. It was likely commissioned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux [William the Conqueror’s half-brother], and it’s saying that William was absolutely entitled to become king of England, the Normans were justified in invading, and Harold Godwinson was a bad man.