Man Behind The Bayeux Tapestry

Product Description

Odo of Conteville the younger half-brother of William the Conqueror was ordained Bishop of Bayeux while still in his teens. A larger than life character he is best known for commissioning the Bayeaux Tapestry in which he makes a dashing appearance at the height of the Battle of Hastings. He also played a pivotal role in the planning & implementation of the Conquest of England after which as Earl of Kent he was second only to William in wealth & power. The popular impression of Odo is of a not so loveable rogue who typified the worst excesses of the Norman conquerors. He was the first Chief Justice of England & on occasion also acted as regent when the king was in Normandy. After defrauding both Crown & Church however Odo was disgraced & his plans to raise an unauthorised army for a campaign in Italy possibly in order to gain the papacy saw him imprisoned for five years. He was released by the dying William in 1087 but soon rebelled against the new king his nephew William Rufus. Yet Odo was far from being a loutish philistine. The bishop recognised the value of education & the arts & amongst his less well-known activities was his generous patronage of both. Trevor Rowleys book is the first full-length biography of Odo which seeks to redress this balance & to make Bishop Odos extraordinary life-story known.