Dalla guerra alla pace. L’Arazzo di Bayeux e la conquista normanna dell’Inghilterra (secolo XI)

Abstract

The Bayeux Tapestry (or rather, embroidery) is one of the most famous medieval artworks, which narrates in images the conquest of England by the Normans led by Duke William the Conqueror. Images taken from the embroidery are reproduced on thousands of objects evoking the Middle Ages, and at the same time the work has been the subject of hundreds of studies in many European countries, by historians, art historians and narrative scholars. In all of this, some questions and some answers are lacking, in particular with regard to the political culture expressed in the work: there is no doubt that the embroidery is a narrative of the exploits of William the Conqueror, an attempt to reconcile the English and Normans and in part an exaltation of the role of Odo, bishop of Bayeux; but it is also the expression of a series of political ideals and models of order, a reading and an evaluation of the system of contemporary power, organized around the kingdom and based on the primacy of the aristocracy and the value of personal ties. The volume aims to follow this line of research, showing how the embroidery, from many points of view (the political ceremonial, the role of the king, the aristocratic bonds of fidelity), reflects a social imaginary and a series of clearly recognizable political ideals.

Networks of bishops, networks of texts

“…An explicit mention of Lothar is present in the Sacramentary PaduaD47 too, namely in the last folio and lines of the Sacramentary itself (136v), inside the text of the Exultet: «Memorare Domine famulum Hlotharium imperatorem» 36 . In this case, it can only be said that this manuscript was produced during Lothar's time, and particularly between 840 and 850, after Louis the Pious' death and before Louis II's coronation, when Lothar was the only emperor in charge 37 . Although we are undisputably dealing with a luxury manuscript produced for a high-ranking person, it is not certain that Lothar was its recipient.…”

“…This phenomenon of mobility has attracted, and still attracts, much attention from scholars, who have insisted on the dialectic between the local identities of the Lombard tradition and those of the newcomers 36 . These aspects are also the focus of studies dedicated to the use that the bishops made of the past and the traditions of their seats, such as the memories linked to their predecessors (particularly if they were saints), the cult of relics and the related hagiographic legends, the architectural and monumental heritage 37 . The panorama of studies is therefore rich and constantly growing, and is part of a general, renewed interest in the role of the regnum in the balance and mechanisms of the Carolingian world 38 .…”

“…36 Hlawitschka, Franken, Alamannen, Bayern is a classic work, alongside the many studies on this subject by Andrea Castagnetti on Northern Italy; an interesting recent research is that of Predatsch, Migration im karolingischen Italien. 37 A cornerstone of this line of research is Picard's volume, Le souvenir des évêques. 38 See the papers collected in the volume After Charlemagne, ed.…”

“…XVIII-XXII; Lazzarini, Un sacramentario, pp. [37][38][39]Martini,Descrizione. 47 Koehler -Mütherich, Die Hofschule Kaiser Lothars, p. 15.…”

“…I cannot examine here in detail the Commentary on the Rule of Benedict attributed to Hildemar, or dwell upon all the related questions about its origins and its multiple stages of composition 37 . This text circulated rapidly during the ninth century between Reichenau, Engelberg and Einsiedeln, and its manuscript transmission by 875 can be in part ascribed to northern Italy 38 .…”