Bishop Odo and the Bayeux Tapestry

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Trevor Rowley, Oxford University, November 2013 Recent Lecture

Bishop Odo de Conteville was the half brother of William the Conqueror and played a significant role in support of William’s fight for the English crown. As a powerful prince bishop, he grew over-ambitious and fell from grace after William’s accession.

Odo’s mother Herleva had been the mistress of Robert Duke of Normandy and married Count Herluin de Conteville following Robert’s death on the way back from pilgrimage. Their marriage produced two sons: Odo, who is thought to have been born c1033, and Robert Count of Mortain. Little is known of Odo’s early life but he appears to have developed a strong bond with his half brother William.

In 1049/50 William appointed Odo Bishop of Bayeux, a position which he held until his death in 1097. Odo increased the power and wealth of his bishopric, developing it into a centre for art and culture. He rebuilt the cathedral and collected relics to enhance its position as a focus for pilgrimage.

Odo wielded vast political and military power in Normandy. He raised many ships for the invasion of England and, despite the fact that his status as a priest forbad shedding blood, he appears to have played a prominent part both in preparing for the invasion and in the battle itself, as evidenced in many scenes of the Bayeux Tapestry.

Trevor Rowley, along with many other scholars, considers that Odo was responsible for commissioning the Bayeux Tapestry, which famously depicts the events in Normandy and England leading up the invasion and culminating in the Battle of Hastings. The tapestry was almost certainly made in England, possibly at Canterbury, in the years immediately after the conquest, when Odo was Earl of Kent and held extensive lands throughout south east England. It seems likely that Odo commissioned the tapestry to hang in his new cathedral in Bayeux as a means of consolidating his position and enhancing his prestige.

After the invasion William continued to spend much of his time in Normandy, leaving Odo to govern in England as regent and to amass vast power and wealth. Unfortunately, Odo does not appear to have exercised this power wisely. He was accused of using excessive force to put down rebellions and, after raising a private army, made a challenge for the papacy. On William’s orders he was arrested and imprisoned in Rouen until shortly before William’s death when the king was persuaded by Robert of Mortain to release him.

Following his release Odo became embroiled in conspiracy against William the Conqueror’s successor, William Rufus. After a series of battles Odo was forced to surrender to the king. He was stripped of his privileges in England and exiled to Normandy, where he remained as an adviser to Robert Duke of Normandy, whose cause he had supported against William Rufus. He died in Palermo whilst accompanying the Duke’s army on the First Crusade.

Odo clearly belonged to the tradition of “battling bishops”, more skilled in the workings of temporal than spiritual power, and his energy and ambition undoubtedly influenced events surrounding the Conquest. Unlike his contemporary Lanfranc who also played a pivotal part in establishing Norman rule in England, Odo did not cultivate a pastoral role but his patronage of the arts and learning left a lasting legacy, not least in the unique cultural and historical record of the Bayeux Tapestry.

Jennifer Hunt