Bayeux Tapestry

Three Sections from the Bayeux Tapestry showing Bishop Odo and his henchman Wadard

This section of the tapestry shows a feast being prepared in the open air after William and his men have landed in England- chickens on skewers, a stew cooked over an open fire and food from an outdoor oven. Wadard (mounted on the left of the upper panel) was a follower of Bishop Odo. Was he perhaps involved in the foraging expedition which found the food for the feast? In Domesday Book (1086) he was recorded as the under tenant (ie the effective Lord of the Manor) of the whole of the lordship of Somerton.

This section follows immediately after the section above. William sits down to a feast with his nobles and Bishop Odo says grace. Servants load food onto shields to carry it to the banquet. After his subsequent victory at Hastings William gave half the lordship of Somerton to Odo.

This section shows a scene from the middle of the Battle of Hastings and portrays Odo as being in the thick of it.. Men and horses crash to the ground, the lower border is strewn with slaughtered troops and animals. Bishop Odo appears in the thick of the fighting waving a club and encouraging his followers. Odo uses a club rather than a sword as clerics were not supposed to shed blood.