A note on the translations. The Latin transcriptions follow the stitching on the tapestry itself, with abbreviated letters restored in square brackets, checked against the scholarly edition of the captions in source 3 and the scene numbering used by source 1. The literal translations and the 21st century versions are both this guide's own work, made directly from the Medieval Latin and checked against the published literal renderings in sources 3, 5 and 7. One point worth knowing: the captions were never in English of any kind, medieval or otherwise, so there is no Medieval English text to translate from. The "literal" column translates the Medieval Latin into modern English words while keeping the medieval phrasing, including its abrupt tense changes and missing words, so you can hear how the original actually sounds.
1. The Bayeux Tapestry Museum, Bayeux, Normandy (bayeuxmuseum.com). The tapestry's home and the primary authority for this guide. Source of the official 58 scene numbering, which follows the numbers written on the tapestry's backing cloth around 1800, the scene divisions, and the high resolution online panorama photographed for the museum, on which the visual descriptions are based.
Visit the site here: bayeuxmuseum.com
2. The British Museum, London (britishmuseum.org). Materials published for the tapestry's loan to London, on display from September 2026 to July 2027. Source for the headline facts, 58 scenes, 627 characters and 737 animals, the dating of around 1072 to 1077, and the probable place of manufacture in or near Canterbury, England.
Visit the site here: britishmuseum.org
3. Lucien Musset, The Bayeux Tapestry, translated by Richard Rex (Boydell Press). The standard scholarly edition of the Latin captions. Source for the Latin text and its abbreviations, the observation that the word EDWARD in Scene 1 is a later restoration, and the finding that the final caption in Scene 58 is, in Musset's words, entirely spurious, added around 1814.
4. Gale R. Owen-Crocker, “The Embroidered Word: Text in the Bayeux Tapestry”, in Medieval Clothing and Textiles 2 (Boydell and Brewer, 2006). Source for the lettering details, the evidence of different scribal hands, the stitched crosses before Scenes 12 and 38, and the colour changes in the lettering of the battle scenes.
5. David M. Wilson, The Bayeux Tapestry (Thames and Hudson). General scholarly commentary, used for the discussion of the Ælfgyva mystery and the debate over which figure in Scene 57 is Harold.
6. Domesday Book (1086). England's great land survey, compiled twenty years after the Conquest. Source for the identification of Wadard (Scene 41) and Vital (Scene 49) as landholders under Bishop Odo, the key evidence for their cameo appearances.
7. Wikipedia, “Bayeux Tapestry tituli” (consulted June 2026). A collation of the caption transcriptions and literal translations drawing on sources 3 to 5, used to cross-check the scene numbering and the Latin text against the museum scheme.
8. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (multiple manuscripts, 9th to 12th century). The primary English-language source for the events of 1066, maintained by monks at various monasteries. The entries for 1065–1066 provide the English perspective on Edward's death, Harold's coronation, the Norwegian invasion, and the Battle of Hastings. Used extensively in the Timeline of 1066 and Harold Godwinson articles.
9. William of Poitiers, Gesta Guillelmi (The Deeds of William) (c.1071–1077). The most detailed Norman account of the Conquest, written by William's chaplain. Provides the fullest narrative of the Battle of Hastings from the Norman side, including the feigned retreat tactic, William lifting his helmet, and the death of Harold. Used in the Battle of Hastings and Timeline of 1066 articles.
10. David C. Douglas, William the Conqueror (Eyre Methuen, 1964). The standard modern biography of William, drawing on all major primary sources. Used as a general reference for the chronology of 1066 and the political context of the Conquest.
11. Frank Barlow, The Godwins: The Rise and Fall of a Noble Dynasty (Pearson Longman, 2002). The definitive study of the Godwin family, providing detailed biographical information on Harold Godwinson, his brothers, and their father Earl Godwin. Primary source for the Harold Godwinson article.
12. Wikimedia Commons. Some images used on this website may be based on public-domain or freely licensed images made available through Wikimedia Commons. Where used, these images are used for educational and illustrative purposes. Individual image files on Wikimedia Commons may have their own licence or public-domain information, and visitors should check the relevant Wikimedia Commons file page for full details.
13. Professor Tom Licence, research presented at "The Maritime and Political World of 1066" (University of Oxford conference, 24 March). A major reassessment of Harold Godwinson's 1066 campaign, arguing that the traditionally told 200-mile forced march from Stamford Bridge to Hastings has no basis in contemporary sources and can be traced to the 19th-century historian Edward Augustus Freeman, and that Harold instead made extensive, coordinated use of his fleet, including an attempted naval pincer movement against William's forces at Hastings. Supporting commentary drawn from Roy Porter, English Heritage Senior Curator of Properties overseeing Battle Abbey and the Hastings battlefield. Research funded by a Major Research Fellowship grant from the Leverhulme Trust.