Bayeux Tapestry

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Illustration of the
Bayeux Tapestry
Harold is struck in the eye by an arrow and dies.

Bayeux Tapestry. Harold is struck in the eye by an arrow and dies.

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Referenced in WAR - 005 - M.Harrison, G.Embleton - Anglo-Saxon Thegn AD 449-1066
King Harold Godwinson at Hastings. Bwside him are spear-armed huscarles, and the royal standard bearer, with the dragon standard of Wessex. The large quantity of arrows embedded in their shields (and in Harold's eye), suggest that the Normans were already beginning to understand the value of massed archery. Indeed Norman archery, which the Anglo Saxons were unable to reply to effectively, proved to have as decisive effect on the course of the battle as the Norman use of mounted knights. In the lower register, the dead are being stripped of their mail shirts and helmets, while one figure has gathered up an armful of swords.