British Museum Lectures: The Bayeux Tapestry

Michael Lewis brings the Bayeux Tapestry to Topping & Company Booksellers on Thursday 4 February 2027, as part of a British Museum Lectures tour. Lewis is the curator of the British Museum's exhibition on the tapestry, and the talk draws its material from that show. The tapestry itself is a unique piece of medieval embroidery, nearly 70 metres long, that chronicles the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 by William, Duke of Normandy.

The exhibition marks a historic loan: it's the first time the work has been displayed outside France in almost a thousand years. The tour of talks, which also stopped in Edinburgh, St Andrews, Ely and Bath, looks at the tapestry's patronage, design and craftsmanship, and what it reveals about medieval warfare, architecture, everyday life and the Conquest itself. Lewis, the speaker in York, was previously Head of Portable Antiquities and Treasure at the British Museum.

The talk is presented by Topping & Company Booksellers in partnership with the British Museum. It's held at The Bookshop, 1 Museum Street, York YO 7DT, on Thursday 4 February 2027, starting at 7pm with doors open from 6.30pm.