The Lady Aelfgyva in the Bayeux Tapestry
| Autor: | J. Bard McNulty |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1980 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Speculum. 55:659-668 |
| ISSN: | 2040-8072 0038-7134 |
| DOI: | 10.2307/2847658 |
| Popis: | A scene in the Bayeux Tapestry showing a woman named Aelfgyva (Figure 2) has given commentators a great deal of trouble.1 Aelfgyva appears nowhere else in the Tapestry, and the inscription above her does little to help: "Ubi unus clericus et Aelfgyva." The difficulty has not been that there is no Aelfgyva known to history. On the contrary, the name was fairly common.2 But historians have not been able to find an Aelfgyva who fits what the Tapestry shows. Still, the solution to this puzzle may not be entirely beyond grasp. A clue lies in the scene's iconography. The Aelfgyva scene stands between the two others shown in Figures 1 and 3. In the first of these, the Tapestry's two principal characters engage in a lively discussion at the palace of Duke William of Normandy. The standing figure in the center of the hall is Harold, earl of Wessex,3 who hopes to ascend the throne of England upon the death of the reigning monarch, King Edward the Confessor. The seated figure is Duke William, who also aspires to the English throne. As events later fall out, both men have their wish. Harold does succeed to the throne of King Edward, but only to be overthrown by William, who has ever since been known as the Conqueror. According to chroniclers favorable to the Norman cause,4 Harold was sent to William by King Edward to reassure the Norman duke that he, and not Harold, was the king's choice as successor to the English throne. On his way to William's palace, Harold was captured by Guy, count of Ponthieu, who held him for ransom. The scene at the palace occurs just after the Tapestry |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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