
UBI HAROLD DUX ANGLORUM ET SUI MILITES EQUITANT AD BOSHAM ECCLESIA The numbering scheme uses the scene numbers on the tapestry's backing cloth, which were added sometime around 1800. The English translation provided here is of a literal nature, to reflect the simplicity of the captions themselves. The first word on the tapestry "Edward" is also a restoration. The end of the tapestry has been missing from time immemorial and the final titulus "Et fuga verterunt Angli" is said by Lucien Musset to be "entirely spurious", added shortly before 1814 at a time of anti-English sentiment. Sometimes "Franci" is used to describe the Normans who at that time certainly did not regard themselves as French. Some French names are either archaic ("Rednes") or anglicised ("Bagias"). In places the spelling shows an English influence, such as the phrase "at Hestenga ceastra", which in proper Latin would be "ad Hastingae castra").

Many personal names, mostly in English, are not Latinised and the same applies for names of places in England and for Beaurain "Belrem" in France. The words themselves are often demarcated by two points (which Lucien Musset likens to colons) sometimes, more important section breaks are demarcated by three points. The text is frequently abbreviated as indicated by tildes placed over words at the place of omission of a letter. The text is in Latin (which for the most part is grammatically correct), and is extremely direct, with each statement being closely tied to the scenes depicted in a given section. The content of the hanging is primarily pictorial but tituli are included on many scenes of the action to point out names of people and places or to explain briefly the event being depicted.


Ī dark blue wool, almost black, is used for most of the tapestry's lettering but towards the end other colours are used, sometimes for each word and other times for each letter. It is embroidered in wool yarn on a tabby-woven linen ground using outline or stem stitch for detailing and lettering. The Bayeux Tapestry was probably commissioned by William the Conqueror's half-brother, Bishop Odo, possibly at the same time as Bayeux Cathedral's construction in the 1070s, and completed by 1077 in time for display on the cathedral's dedication.
