Bayeux Part 2

I knew that Bayeux was famous for its tapestry, but discovered its cathedral only when I ran into it on YouTube. Bayeux is a little town on 12,600 people, yet here was a huge cathedral that looked as if two churches had collided. We made it a must-see on our trip.

The Notre Dame Cathedral of Bayeux is a national monument. It is probably the site where the shipwrecked Harold Godwinson was forced by William Duke of Normandy to swear an oath on sacred relics. This was supposed to guarantee that William would bethe next King of England, after the failing Edward the Confessor died. Once safely home, Harold had different ideas and was crowned king. William promptly started gathering an invasion fleet. Harold, who must be one of the unluckiest rulers in English history, was forced to march north to Stamford Bridge to defeat an invading army of Vikings under the dreaded Harald Hadrada (“Tough-guy Harald”.). This was a major achievement on its own, but Harold immediately had to march his battered army two weeks south to meet the Norman invasion. At Hastings, William won the day.

His half-brother, Bishop Odo of Bayeux, who commissioned the tapestry, consecrated his cathedral in 1077. Since then the original Norman building with rounded arches in the Roman style has been added to, and rebuilt with spectacular Gothic columns and windows. There is so much of this church, you don’t know where to look first. Besides being drop-dead spectacular, it is so rich in history, from tombs of bishops from almost 1000 years ago, through to events still within living memory. You look from stone steps worn down over hundreds of years, to a golden statue of Our Lady, to a side chapel dedicated to the religious priests and nuns from Bayeux and Lisieux killed by the Nazis during their four-year Occupation.Read more