Two British historians quarrel about the number of penis appearing on the Bayeux tapestry – Liberation
One, two, three, 93 or 94 penis? Difficult to say as the work is rich in detail. In an episode of the English podcast HistoryExtra (BBC branch),, Broadcast this Friday, April 25, two historians, however, give themselves an academic debate around the Bayeux tapestry, a monumental embroidery made between 1,066 and 1,083. The object of discord: the number of male genitals embroidered on the web.
Until then, George Garnett, professor at Oxford, assured that he had counted 93 penis sewn with the story of The conquest of England by Guillaumeduke of Normandy. According to him, 88 genitals are included between the legs of the many horses represented while five human penis are drawn between the legs of various combatants and soldiers.
For six years, Garnett’s count was one of the experts. Until the recent examination carried out by an English colleague, also specialist in tapestry, Doctor of History Christopher Monk, alias « The Medieval Monk ». This old -fashioned English and the Middle Ages is categorical: the canvas of Bayeux totals 94 penis and not 93. The rush which arouses discord would be represented hanging between the legs of a soldier, drawn running, sword in hand. The representation arouses questioning. Under its tunic unfolds a dark shape. For Garnett, it is the sheath of the Dagger of the Combatant or a Carquoir. For Christopher Monk, this outgrowth is indeed of a phallic nature.
« I have no doubt about the fact that the appendix is a representation of the male genital organs – the missed penis, we could say. The details are surprisingly complete from an anatomical point of view ”, thus advances Doctor Monk.
This revelation which could make the novice smile is nevertheless part of a very serious debate between historians and aficionados of the Bayeux tapestry. « The interest of the study of history is to understand how people once thought », Recalls George Garnett. « »And men of the Middle Ages were not coarse, simple and stupid individuals. Quite the contrary. » The two historians assure it: beyond the grivoiseries and other gaudrioles that such a discussion can cause, shedding light on the number of embroidered penis is a way of « Understand medieval minds ”.
This work of art, which describes facts ranging from the end of the reign of the King of England Edouard the confessor in 1,064 until the battle of Hastings of 1,066 opposing the sovereign parjure Harold Godwinson to the Duke of Normandy Guillaume the Conqueror, has been registered since 2007 at UNESCO. Executed on a laundry piece of linen, this monumental work consists of nine panels assembled in one room and extends over a length of 68 meters for a width of about 50 cm. The feat was achieved by a Norman workshop and it is estimated that The order was placed by Odon, bishop of Bayeux and half-brother of Guillaumefor propaganda purposes.
If the quantity of members dispersed on the work is still the subject of academic chat, historians nevertheless agree around the importance of the size of the various sewn genitals. Thus, the two chiefs of the battle of Hastings, Harold Godwinson, killed with an arrow unchanged in the eye, and the victorious duke Guillaume de Normandie, are both represented on horseback displaying serious proportions. « Guillaume’s horse is by far the most imposing »Pointe George Garnett. « And this is not a coincidence. » For David Musgrove, animator of the podcast and end of the tapestry, this new theory exposed by Monk is « Fascinating ». And addA: « It is a reminder that this embroidery is a multilayer artifact which deserves a meticulous study and remains a wonderful enigma near a millennium after being embroidered. » Until the smallest detail.
