The Bayeux Tapestry's risky journey across the Channel • FRANCE 24 English

[00:00:02]An 11th century relic and a symbol of cross channel discord. The >> tapestry's always been a political object.

[00:00:10]>> A carefully stitched account of the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

[00:00:15]You don't really get many other historical sources that are that evocative of sort of the everyday person's experience of of war.

[00:00:23]>> The Bay Tapestries now made a once in a millennia journey from Normandy to London.

[00:00:30]There's never any movement that goes without any risk whatsoever.

[00:00:34]>> So why is its loan to the British Museum such a diplomatic coup?

[00:00:51]>> The bio tapestry is a unique creation and although we call it a tapestry, it's in fact an embroidery.

[00:00:59]a guided tour in the footsteps of the Bayou Tapestry.

[00:01:07]>> It's managed to survive many events that could have destroyed it since it was first displayed on July the 14th, 1077 in Bay's Cathedral, but it's also something of a snapshot of England at that time.

[00:01:22]Even though it's no longer on show, there's still plenty of interest from tourists and locals.

[00:01:30]>> We live with a Beo tapestry. The whole town lives with it and we're proud of it.

[00:01:36]And Americans love a good fight and we come here in droves to see the beautiful tapestry.

[00:01:45]Bayou is now offering alternative itineraries for tourists during the temporary absence of its famous tapestry.

[00:01:54]>> The loan itself came as a bit of a surprise. But even so, for those of us who know the tapestry's history, we think it's reasonable to lend a work of art that depicts the beginning of what we call the Norman monarchs of England.

[00:02:07]The English used to come to see it here.

[00:02:09]We're sending it there. We just hope that they'll give it back. This unique relic is being lent to the British Museum in London. A highly symbolic journey.

[00:02:21]>> I think the biotapestry was more than anything a form of political propaganda.

[00:02:26]When you think about the rift between France and England, it would have been a major political tool.

[00:02:32]>> Almost 1,000 years later, it's still a very political piece of art. The loan sparked controversy on both sides of the channel. It was prompted by the need to renovate the museum in Bayou, forcing its main attraction into storage.

[00:02:50]>> Here we're in Bayou's former seminary where the priests trained. And then in 1983, it became the Bayou Tapestry Museum.

[00:02:59]The museum used to get as many as 3,000 visitors a day until it closed in September 2025.

[00:03:05]director Martan Bostal now overseeing work on the original site and the construction of a new annex.

[00:03:14]>> So, the tapestry was displayed vertically in a U-shaped case in this space here.

[00:03:20]>> The new museum set to open at the end of 2027, a 40 million euro project that will preserve this precious object in the best possible conditions.

[00:03:33]Following the survey of the tapestry in 2020, it was agreed that from now on it should be displayed in its full length on a sloping panel to relieve the vertical stresses on the fibers. That means designing a building that's the same length as a tapestry. So for the first time, it'll be showcased in a space that allows the public to see it properly and which ensures its preservation for future generations.

[00:03:56]The UK has made many requests for the tapestry to be loaned in the past, including for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953, but France always refused. Yet in 2018, President Emanuel Meon suggested it could happen. Lord Peter Rickettts was the diplomat tasked with coordinating operations on the UK side.

[00:04:19]>> We had the COVID pandemic and so their work stopped on the project. Then frankly we went through a difficult period in UK French political relations the differences over Brexit other issues and I think that was never the right atmosphere in which to pursue what is a project of trust and confidence.

[00:04:40]>> With both governments on side then came a pledge from President Mron that he'd have experts back up his offer.

[00:04:49]I have to confess we did our best not to be put in the situation to make this loan of biotapist and we found the best experts of the world to to explain in perfect details why it was totally impossible to make such a loan.

[00:05:09]And believe me, we found them.

[00:05:12]And believe me, we're going to find them again.

[00:05:18]Meanwhile, the tapestry was removed from display in a painstaking and choreographed operation.

[00:05:31]>> So, why is this ancient textile so important for the British?

[00:05:38]>> It's absolutely the founding story of our modern history. It's the date everybody knows from school, 1066.

[00:05:47]58 vivid scenes that depict the events leading up to the Norman takeover of England. Royal intrigue, revenge, and the bloodshed of the Battle of Hastings.

[00:05:58]From the demise of King Edward the Confessor and the coronation of Harold Godwinson to that fateful faceoff in the Sussex countryside on October 14th, 1066.

[00:06:11]And the climax, the death of King Harold, as legend has it, with an arrow to the eye.

[00:06:19]A medieval artifact which depicts the origins of the United Kingdom.

[00:06:24]>> I think what's amazing in my mind about William the Conqueror is is how he thought he could ever execute this plan.

[00:06:32]Because even now when I kind of look back on, you know, the resources he had and where he was situated and the situation in England, I mean, let's face it, the English did not want a Norman to be their king. Um, and I think that event in itself kind of sticks in the public imagination because it was the last time that England was successfully conquered.

[00:06:53]>> It all happened here in the town of Battle in Sussex.

[00:06:58]This is the site where King Harold, the English king, died in 1066. Harold, his brothers, his main commanders would have been stood here in the battle with the English army on either side of him facing the Normans coming up in this direction.

[00:07:15]>> Today, battle is a picturesque site welcoming school groups and tourists.

[00:07:21]And every year, thousands of history fans keen to relive that epic fight.

[00:07:29]So we are reenacting real history. So although the details of the battle can kind of be guessed at, we we know the basic story. And so that's the story they're following.

[00:07:40]>> Victory for Normandy.

[00:07:45]>> A lot of the English groups want to be the Saxons, but we also get French groups coming over from France, and they very obviously want to be Normans.

[00:07:52]Preparations have already started for this year's event, marking 960 years since the day that everything changed for the English.

[00:08:01]>> And action.

[00:08:03]>> William of Normandy's won the battle, and King Harold's dead.

[00:08:07]>> William the Conqueror was eventually crowned in Westminster Abbey, London.

[00:08:11]His embroidered image has now returned to a site just a couple of miles away, the British Museum.

[00:08:19]The bear tapestry is being displayed in our sainsbury's exhibition gallery which is just about long enough. We've designed and created a special case um for the display of the tapestry that you'll be able to see the whole length of the Bayer tapestry in one go.

[00:08:37]>> The scientific report published in 2022 recorded 24,000 stains, 9,600 holes, and 30 tears. Experts recommended it be restored as soon as possible. Yet, when we asked both French and British authorities when that might be, we got no answer. Our attempts to contact culture ministry mandated conservation specialists were also unsuccessful with one expert citing a confidentiality clause.

[00:09:06]Then in June, the new minister Krine Pa held a press conference seeking to dispel any doubts about the operation.

[00:09:16]Nothing, absolutely nothing has been left to chance, especially concerning the transport of this artifact.

[00:09:25]>> The ministry also released a special report describing how the tapestry would be transported in a specially designed crate just over 3 m in length and 2 1/2 m in height. The temperature inside should remain at 20° and humidity levels at 50%.

[00:09:44]The case was suspended in a steel frame with shock absorbers to reduce any sharp jolts or vibrations. Once loaded into a lorry, it crossed the channel on the shuttle for its 348 mile journey to London. Yet many key details in the report were redacted, fueling concerns about that trip. I think it's about sort of strain on the object, kind of tension, movement in the fabric, places where it might have stretched or threads might have become loose. Um, those are sort of particularities to textile that that make it challenging to move that you wouldn't get in in sculptural painting, for instance.

[00:10:23]>> Critics of the loan say it's impossible to assess the risks. Editor Dier launched a petition against the movement of the tapestry. Nearly 80,000 people have signed it.

[00:10:35]The ministry said they're not sure.

[00:10:37]They've not measured how sensitive the tapestry is to these vibrations. We don't know how being moved will affect it. They're simply trying to minimize the risk. But we've never transported something this fragile, something that just 18 months ago, the same ministry said was impossible to move. So just because the president says the tapestry can be moved without being damaged, then miraculously it can be.

[00:11:01]The British Museum says their teams carry out meticulous checks for any possible damage. And the UK government is the financial guarantor of this priceless artifact while it's in London.

[00:11:14]>> There's never any um any movement that goes without any risk whatsoever. But obviously the design of the processes and the procedures that have been put in place is to reduce that to as low level as as reasonably um possible. I don't think either government would have pushed ahead with the loan against the clear advice of the conservators who know the tapestry best uh that it was safe to do so.

[00:11:41]>> Beyond conservation concerns and political power moves, this fragile piece of linen stitched by anonymous English crafts people still inspires awe and wonder 1,000 years on.

[00:11:55]>> It all started off with conflict. it was a battle, but actually what's come afterwards is a real fusion of two different cultures, English and French.

[00:12:04]Um, and so the legacy a thousand years on is really friendship.