Bayeux

Bayeux stands on the River Aure in the fertile country of western Normandy. Its cathedral rises above the old town, recalling the city's long importance as a bishop's seat. Among its treasures was a remarkable embroidered hanging depicting William of Normandy's conquest of England, probably made in the eleventh century for the cathedral.

An inventory of 1476 records the hanging among the cathedral's possessions. It was displayed in the nave at the annual Feast of Relics, bringing the story of the crossing and the Battle of Hastings before generations of worshippers. During the French Revolution the work became public property; in 1794 the district arts commission took charge of it, helping to preserve a fragile record of the Norman past through a period of upheaval.