The Bayeux Tapestry

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The Bayeux Tapestry
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• The Bayeux Tapestry is a beautiful and rare
  source. Like all tapestries it is a piece of
  thick cloth that has been stitched with many
  colourful threads. It must have taken months and
  months to make and was finished over 800 years
  ago!

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• Historians think that the tapestry was made as
  soon after the Battle of Hastings as possible by
  people living in the town of Bayeux in Normandy
  (France).

• You can travel to Bayeux today and see the real
  thing!

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• The Bayeux Tapestry tells the story of Williams
  invasion of England. It begins by showing how
  Edward the Confessor sent Harold to

• Normandy to promise the crown to William and it
  ends with Harolds death at Hastings.

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• Historians are not exactly sure who ordered the
  tapestry to be made. Some think that it was
  Williams wife, Matilda who wanted to celebrate
  her husbands success.

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• Most think that it was Williams brother Odo who
  paid for it to be made. Odo was the Bishop of
  Bayeux and he himself appears many times in the
  tapestry for example blessing the food before
  the Norman knights set sail to England

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• Giving advice to William before they set sail
  to Normandy

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and even commanding some of the cavalry at
Hastings!!!
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Some Thoughtful Questions

• A) What do you think William would not have
  wanted on the Bayeux Tapestry?
• B) Why do you think that the Tapestry has
  survived for so long?
• C) What do you think it shows about William that
  the Tapestry is kept in France?

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True or False?

• Historians find out about the past by using
  sauces

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True or False?

• Historians find out about the past by using
  sources

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True or False?

• Sources can be trusted to tell the truth

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True or False?

• Harold, Earl of Wessex, promised to serve
  William as King of England

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True or False?

• Harold rather than William should have been King
  of England

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• Why do historians argue?