19 January 2018 - Bayeux Tapestry to be loaned to Britain in 2022

Bayeux Tapestry to come to Britain AFTER Brexit in 2022 as Macron launches charm offensive
(Express, 18/01/2018)

Emmanuel Macron arrived in Britain today for showdown talks with the Prime Minister, which saw Britain agree to spend £44.5million on border controls at Calais and other ports along the Channel. 

But the French President did attempt to sweeten the deal by loaning the Bayeux Tapestry as both Mr Macron and Theresa May seized the opportunity to stress the close bond between France and Britain. 

Confirming the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry Mrs May said: "Our shared history will also be reflected in the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the UK in 2022, the first time it will be on British soil in more than 900 years.

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History

Bayeux Tapestry: The story in six scenes
Megan Fisher (BBC News, 18/10/2018)

A 70-metre long tale of broken oaths, revenge and bloodshed is set to be displayed in the UK.

No, it's not the latest Eastenders script but the Bayeux Tapestry, an embroidered story of the Norman takeover of England, including one of the most famous battles in British history.

After 950 years on French shores, President Emmanuel Macron is expected to loan it to the UK but it won't arrive until 2020.

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Norman Conquest

France’s epic Bayeux Tapestry is headed to Britain, in a loan for the ages
William Booth and James McAuley (The Washington Post, 18/01/2018)

It is probably the most famous piece of medieval embroidery in the world, a ribbon of scrolling tapestry 70 yards long that tells in pictures the story of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, an epic tale of gore, glory and God. 

There is nothing quite like the Bayeux Tapestry, a near-cinematic work of narrative genius. French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement Thursday evening that his government will allow the priceless treasure to leave France for the first time in almost 1,000 years to be exhibited in Britain is a sensational stroke of cultural diplomacy.

The statement came at the close of a bilateral summit with British Prime Minister Theresa May at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. Thanking Macron, May said, “I am honored at the loan of such a precious piece of our shared history, which yet again underscores the closeness of our relationship.”

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European Nation

The Bayeux tapestry shows Britain’s birth as a European nation 
John Lichfield (The Guardian, 17/01/2018)

As a British-born, adopted Norman, I am delighted that the Bayeux tapestry may be going on a short holiday to Britain after 952 years. The tapestry (actually an embroidery) is a remarkable and remarkably modern piece of art. It is often described as the “first strip cartoon” and the “first movie storyboard”. Less frequently observed is the fact that it preceded television 24-hour news channels by nine centuries in its neat use of scroll bars to provide extra information above and below the main action.
Emmanuel Macron agrees to loan Bayeux tapestry to Britain
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I would like, however, to correct a common misconception. The tapestry does not tell the story of the “last time this country was invaded and subjugated” as Robert Peston suggested in a tweet. Others made similar comments, claiming that the proposed loan of the tapestry was a “Gallic joke”.

This is silly. We are not Anglo-Saxons. Taking England alone, and leaving aside the rest of the United Kingdom, the Bayeux Tapestry portrays our invasion of ourselves. England in the 21st century is racially and culturally the product of many things but we owe as much to William’s Normans as to Harold’s Anglo-Saxons.

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