Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook284 pages4 hours
A Needle in the Right Hand of God: The Norman Conquest of 1066 and the Making and Meaning of the Bayeux Tapestry
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
The Bayeux Tapestry is the world’s most famous textile–an exquisite 230-foot-long embroidered panorama depicting the events surrounding the Norman Conquest of 1066. It is also one of history’s most mysterious and compelling works of art. This haunting stitched account of the battle that redrew the map of medieval Europe has inspired dreams of theft, waves of nationalism, visions of limitless power, and esthetic rapture. In his fascinating new book, Yale professor R. Howard Bloch reveals the history, the hidden meaning, the deep beauty, and the enduring allure of this astonishing piece of cloth.
Bloch opens with a gripping account of the event that inspired the Tapestry: the swift, bloody Battle of Hastings, in which the Norman bastard William defeated the Anglo-Saxon king, Harold, and laid claim to England under his new title, William the Conqueror. But to truly understand the connection between battle and embroidery, one must retrace the web of international intrigue and scandal that climaxed at Hastings. Bloch demonstrates how, with astonishing intimacy and immediacy, the artisans who fashioned this work of textile art brought to life a moment that changed the course of British culture and history.
Every age has cherished the Tapestry for different reasons and read new meaning into its enigmatic words and images. French nationalists in the mid-nineteenth century, fired by Tapestry’s evocation of military glory, unearthed the lost French epic “The Song of Roland,” which Norman troops sang as they marched to victory in 1066. As the Nazis tightened their grip on Europe, Hitler
sent a team to France to study the Tapestry, decode its Nordic elements, and, at the end of the war, with Paris under siege, bring the precious cloth to Berlin. The richest horde of buried Anglo-Saxon treasure, the matchless beauty of Byzantine silk, Aesop’s strange fable “The Swallow and the Linseed,” the colony that Anglo-Saxon nobles founded in the Middle East following their defeat at Hastings–all are brilliantly woven into Bloch’s riveting narrative.
Seamlessly integrating Norman, Anglo-Saxon, Viking, and Byzantine elements, the Bayeux Tapestry ranks with Chartres and the Tower of London as a crowning achievement of medieval Europe. And yet, more than a work of art, the Tapestry served as the suture that bound up the wounds of 1066.
Enhanced by a stunning full-color insert that includes reproductions of the complete Tapestry, A Needle in the Right Hand of God will stand with The Professor and the Madman and How the Irish Saved Civilization as a triumph of popular history.
Bloch opens with a gripping account of the event that inspired the Tapestry: the swift, bloody Battle of Hastings, in which the Norman bastard William defeated the Anglo-Saxon king, Harold, and laid claim to England under his new title, William the Conqueror. But to truly understand the connection between battle and embroidery, one must retrace the web of international intrigue and scandal that climaxed at Hastings. Bloch demonstrates how, with astonishing intimacy and immediacy, the artisans who fashioned this work of textile art brought to life a moment that changed the course of British culture and history.
Every age has cherished the Tapestry for different reasons and read new meaning into its enigmatic words and images. French nationalists in the mid-nineteenth century, fired by Tapestry’s evocation of military glory, unearthed the lost French epic “The Song of Roland,” which Norman troops sang as they marched to victory in 1066. As the Nazis tightened their grip on Europe, Hitler
sent a team to France to study the Tapestry, decode its Nordic elements, and, at the end of the war, with Paris under siege, bring the precious cloth to Berlin. The richest horde of buried Anglo-Saxon treasure, the matchless beauty of Byzantine silk, Aesop’s strange fable “The Swallow and the Linseed,” the colony that Anglo-Saxon nobles founded in the Middle East following their defeat at Hastings–all are brilliantly woven into Bloch’s riveting narrative.
Seamlessly integrating Norman, Anglo-Saxon, Viking, and Byzantine elements, the Bayeux Tapestry ranks with Chartres and the Tower of London as a crowning achievement of medieval Europe. And yet, more than a work of art, the Tapestry served as the suture that bound up the wounds of 1066.
Enhanced by a stunning full-color insert that includes reproductions of the complete Tapestry, A Needle in the Right Hand of God will stand with The Professor and the Madman and How the Irish Saved Civilization as a triumph of popular history.
Unavailable
Author
R. Howard Bloch
Enter the Author Bio(s) here.
Read more from R. Howard Bloch
Medieval Misogyny and the Invention of Western Romantic Love Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Anonymous Marie de France Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMedieval French Literature and Law Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to A Needle in the Right Hand of God
Related ebooks
1066: The Hidden History of the Bayeux Tapestry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCatherine de Medici Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeeing Europe with Famous Authors, Volume 4 France and the Netherlands, Part 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe beast of a thousand years Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOur Hundred Days in Europe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hunchback of Notre Dame Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two classic novels ISFJ will love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Arm-Chair at the Inn Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNotre-Dame De Paris Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Three Musketeers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTrilby: The Bestseller of 1895 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tapestry Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe King's Beard and the Quest for the City of Gold Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Man With the Black Feather: “When I opened my eyes, we were still surrounded by darkness" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Two Vanrevels Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArthur Blane; or, The Hundred Cuirassiers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Two Vanrevels (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMetronome: A History of Paris from the Underground Up Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Home Fires in France Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMont-Saint-Michel and Chartres Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLetters of a Traveller; Or, Notes of Things Seen in Europe and America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hunchback of Notre Dame: A Gothic Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTrilby (Musaicum Romance Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Story of Rouen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVictor Hugo - 7 Books in English Translation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hunchback of Notre-Dame (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCornish Delight and Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hunchback of Notre Dame (Illustrated Edition) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Closed Book: Concerning the Secret of the Borgias Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hunchback of Notre Dame: New Revised Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Antiques & Collectibles For You
Horny Stories And Comix # 3 Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Gem Identification Made Easy (4th Edition): A Hands-On Guide to More Confident Buying & Selling Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ultimate Guide to Finding Silver in Circulation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Madman's Library: The Strangest Books, Manuscripts and Other Literary Curiosities from History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Illustrated Guide to Jewelry Appraising (3rd Edition): Antique, Period & Modern Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCoin Collecting - A Beginners Guide to Finding, Valuing and Profiting from Coins: The Collector Series, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Brick Bible Presents Brick Genesis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Trapper's Bible: The Most Complete Guide on Trapping and Hunting Tips Ever Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Story Behind: The Extraordinary History Behind Ordinary Objects Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Garbage Pail Kids Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ultimate Guide to Home Butchering: How to Prepare Any Animal or Bird for the Table or Freezer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe NES Encyclopedia: Every Game Released for the Nintendo Entertainment System Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Costume Through the Ages: Over 1400 Illustrations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Metal Detecting Bible: Helpful Tips, Expert Tricks and Insider Secrets for Finding Hidden Treasures Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coin Collecting For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jill Duggar Biography: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Freedom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBadass Bricks: Thirty-Five Weapons of Mass Construction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Everything Coin Collecting Book: All You Need to Start Your Collection And Trade for Profit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDark Archives: A Librarian's Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brick Flicks: A Comprehensive Guide to Making Your Own Stop-Motion LEGO Movies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bibliophile: Diverse Spines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wine Hack: Wine Education that Starts with Your Mouth, Not with Your Head Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLife in Miniature: A History of Dolls' Houses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wacky Packages Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rogues' Gallery: The Rise (and Occasional Fall) of Art Dealers, the Hidden Players in the History of Art Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5101 More Items To Sell On Ebay: 101 Items To Sell On Ebay, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCompacts and Cosmetics: Beauty from Victorian Times to the Present Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A Needle in the Right Hand of God
Rating: 3.6666666666666665 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
3 ratings0 reviews