The Bayeux Tapestry’s Long Shadow: How This Medieval Artifact Reveals the Power Struggles That Still Matter to America

The Bayeux Tapestry, stretching an impressive 70 meters long, isn’t just a relic tucked away in Norman France—it is a vivid reminder of what happens when national sovereignty is challenged and lost. Next year, for the first time in nine centuries, this medieval masterpiece that depicts William the Conqueror’s invasion of England will be displayed in London at the British Museum. At face value, it tells the tale of the Norman conquest—how Edward the Confessor promised England’s throne to William but was betrayed by Harold Godwinson’s self-crowning. William's ensuing victory at Hastings changed English history forever. But beneath this embroidery...