After all there is a village in the middle of the New Forest called Pilley
After all, there is a village in the middle of the New Forest called Pilley which could have been named after an ancestor. And if he really was a chef, it is likely his family followed in his professional footsteps, which means it is very likely that my family shaped the course of British history and therefore are one of the most important and influential families in the country.In 1135, 48 years after William died and was buried in St Stephen's in Caen, Henry I died from food-poisoning when he ate an infected lamprey. But maybe my great- gran was not as batty as some people think. The gravestones in the ancient church of Saint-Pierre de Maon near Caen, which goes back to 1080, were no help either. I don't know if he fought "at the hoary apple tree" at Senlac Hill, Hastings on 14 October 1066.
But my doppelganger of nine centuries ago was somewhere to be found when the Norman fleet was assembled at Dives-sur-Mer near Caen and St Valery-sur- Somme. Or anyone with a surname as silly as ours.My relative could have worked for anyone. William of Poitiers, the ducal chaplain and reliable chronicler of the times, does not mention chefs. But who was he and what was his name?The museum staff were slightly puzzled by my close interest in the tapestry and advised me to look up William the Conqueror's website which has information on the leading personalities such as Count Eustace of Boulogne, Humphrey de Bohun, Roger le Bigod, Samson d'Ansneville, Hugh de Bauchamp, Geoffrey de Mowbray, Robert Comte d'Eu and Drogo de Brevere Nothing came up.
That we were related was confirmed when the same tubby appeared in a later scene serving at a feast The resemblance was uncanny. Corpulent, balding and sporting a nutcracker chin as well as a slobbish mien, quite clearly we shared the same gene pool. It was first displayed in 1077 to decorate the nave of Bayeux Cathedral during its consecration ceremonies.Four thousand infantry and 3,000 cavalry came over with William the Conqueror to help him claim the English throne from Godwin, Earl of Wessex. And it was the scenes of the Norman fleet arriving at Pevensey Bay which produced the most exciting discovery My wife saw him first.
Depicted seated, seventh from the front, in one of the ships and watching a man put up a sail, was my twin. It was probably produced by English women in Canterbury which had a renowned school of illumination. I don't get on very well with people from Sussex either.The Bayeux Tapestry, which is really an embroidery, is almost certain to have been supervised by Odo de Conteville, Bishop of Bayeux, half-brother to William and later Earl of Kent and papal-wannabe. Admittedly, I have not been responsible for building an impressive range of abbeys, cathedrals and bailey castles or founded many monasteries or been a great patron of learning, but I do like cider and Calvados and I do exercise my power with pitiless ruthlessness in crushing any revolts provoked by my tyranny. Although I don't excel at hawking and have not committed any wanton acts of devastation in the New Forest, I am quite Norman in character. I was confident that we were bound to spot someone who might be an 11th- century relative among the 1,500 people, castles and animals depicted on canvas. We took a breather for lunch and a walk around Bayeux, past the old Dyer's Mill on the river Aure and down the rue Saint-Jean, the main shopping precinct.Since my hairline has started ebbing, I have become more Norman in profile.
Does the tapestry glamorise violence and death-dealing? Is it suitable for an impressionable three-year-old?The search went on. Our eldest thought he recognised his Dad officiating at Edward's coronation I told him that we were Norman Not Saxon And anyway, Archbishop Stigand was tall. One issue a visit to the Bayeux Tapestry does throw up is its effect on the mind of a developing child Medieval embroidery is a powerful and persuasive medium. I don't think I would recognise my own mother in knee-length chain mail and a large conical hat and broad steel nasal. But we continued to scan the tapestry and the "conrois" (contingents) of foot- soldiers, clerics, servants and members of the "force de frappe" (armoured mounted knights).Our youngest son was transfixed by the swords, lances, kite-shaped shields, decapitated bodies, soldiers drowning in the marshes and, of course, Harold getting it in the eye. My wife thought there was some similarity between me and a man seen attending Edward's deathbed beside the grief-stricken Queen Edith. In turn, I pointed out a more than passing similarity between her and a horse It wasn't easy.