Evidently not very much.
It isn't from Bayeux (that's the French side of the story we've been given all this time ... it was made in England)
It isn't a tapestry (I've seen it. It's embroidery, y'all.)
It isn't celebrating King William's glorious victory over the English (evidently there are layers upon layers of secret info that actually are dissing King William!)
This and more mind-bending, history-changing info was given to me by Tom last weekend during our lunch date (do we know how to get romantic or what?).
He's reading 1066: The Hidden History In The Bayeux Tapestry and actually this is all a theory, but what an interesting one! I gave him the book for Christmas because when we first went to France, many years ago, he insisted on going to see the Bayeux Tapestry. I'd never heard of it but was fascinated when we finally were at the exhibit.
Among the other fascinating details was that William the Conqueror was the kinda guy who would have made Hitler proud. No one rose against him after he beat King Harold not because they were lackadaisical about who ruled them (which was how I'd always thought of it) but because he had this habit of obliterating little towns who stood against him. It was also the last time that Britain was conquered, which I'd never really thought of (despite William's title which I know he liked better than his previous one, "William the Bastard") because I always knew that William had some claim, however tenuous, to the British throne. However Wiliam's behavior definitely was that of a conqueror.
The English language went underground at that point, which I had heard before, as Norman French became the standard at court and speaking English was forbidden. As English servants waited on Norman courtiers more and more French became incorporated into the English language.
However, what I hadn't really ever thought about were the examples that the author gives to show how the language separation worked, and also how rich English became in synonyms. Animals "on the hoof" (so to speak) were known by their English words while the food when it got to the table was known under the French name. This really struck me when Tom said, "So cow became beef." I suddenly thought, "Boeuf ... which is French for beef."
Cow .... beef (French - boeuf)
Chicken ... poultry (French - poulet)
Sheep ... mutton (French - mouton)
Swine or pig ... pork (French - porc)
If you want to tour the tapestry this site will take you through bit by bit with the story translated.
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