Professor of Anglo-Saxon Culture at the University of Manchester
Publications
The Bayeux 'Tapestry': invisible seams and visible boundaries, by G. R. Owen-Crocker and C. P. Lewis, published 2002 in Anglo-Saxon England (vol. 31, article, pp.257-274)
King Harold II and the Bayeux Tapestry, by Gale R. Owen-Crocker, published 2005 (Publications of the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies v. 3, ix + 202 pp., Woodbridge: Boydell Press, ISBN-10: 1843831244 & ISBN-13: 9781843831242) accessible at: British Library
Abstract:Harold II is chiefly remembered today, perhaps unfairly, for the brevity of his reign and his death at the Battle of Hastings. The papers collected here seek to shed new light on the man and his milieu before and after that climax. They explore the long career and the dynastic network behind Harold Godwinesson's accession on the death of King Edward the Confessor in January 1066, looking in particular at the important questions as to whether Harold's kingship was opportunist or long-planned; a usurpation or a legitimate succession in terms of his Anglo-Scandinavian kinships? They also examine the posthumous legends that Harold survived Hastings and lived on as a religious recluse. The essays in the second part of the volume focus on the Bayeux Tapestry, bringing out the small details which would have resonated significantly for contemporary audiences, both Norman and English, to suggest how they judged Harold and the other players in the succession drama of 1066. Other aspects of the Tapestry are also covered: the possible patron and locations the Tapestry was produced for; where and how it was designed; and the various sources - artistic and real - employed by the artist.
The Interpretation of Gesture in the BayeuxTapestry, by G. R. Owen-Crocker and edited by C. P. Lewis, published 19 July 2007 in Anglo-Norman Studies XXIX: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2006 (article, pp.145-178, Boydell Press, ISBN-13: 9781843833093) View Online
The Bayeux Tapestry: New Approaches, edited by Michael J. Lewis, Gale R. Owen-Crocker and Dan Terkla, published 30 March 2011 (196 pp., Oxford: Oxbow Books, ISBN-10: 1842179764 & ISBN-13: 9781842179765) accessible at: British Library
Abstract:The Bayeux Tapestry, perhaps the most famous, yet enigmatic, of medieval artworks, was the subject of an international conference at the British Museum in July 2008. This volume publishes 19 of 26 papers delivered at that conference.
The physical nature of the tapestry is examined, including an outline of the artefact's current display and the latest conservation and research work done on it, as well as a review of the many repairs and alterations that have been made to the Tapestry over its long history.
Also examined is the social history of the tapestry, including Shirley Ann Brown's paper on the Nazi's interest in it as a record of northern European superiority and Pierre Bouet and François Neveux's suggestion that it is a source for understanding the succession crisis of 1066.
Among those papers focusing on the detail of the Tapestry, Gale Owen-Crocker examines the Tapestry's faces, Carol Neuman de Vegvar investigates the Tapestry's drinking vessels and explores differences in its feast scenes, and Michael Lewis compares objects depicted in the Tapestry and Oxford, Bodleian Library, Junius 11.
The book also includes a résumé of four papers given at the conference published elsewhere and a full black and white facsimile of the Tapestry, with its figures numbered for ease of referencing.
The physical nature of the tapestry is examined, including an outline of the artefact's current display and the latest conservation and research work done on it, as well as a review of the many repairs and alterations that have been made to the Tapestry over its long history.
Also examined is the social history of the tapestry, including Shirley Ann Brown's paper on the Nazi's interest in it as a record of northern European superiority and Pierre Bouet and François Neveux's suggestion that it is a source for understanding the succession crisis of 1066.
Among those papers focusing on the detail of the Tapestry, Gale Owen-Crocker examines the Tapestry's faces, Carol Neuman de Vegvar investigates the Tapestry's drinking vessels and explores differences in its feast scenes, and Michael Lewis compares objects depicted in the Tapestry and Oxford, Bodleian Library, Junius 11.
The book also includes a résumé of four papers given at the conference published elsewhere and a full black and white facsimile of the Tapestry, with its figures numbered for ease of referencing.
King Harold II and the Bayeux Tapestry, by Gale R. Owen-Crocker, published 19 May 2011 (Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies, reprint edition, 214 pp., Boydell Press, ISBN-10: 1843836157 & ISBN-13: 9781843836155)
Abstract:Harold II is chiefly remembered today, perhaps unfairly, for the brevity of his reign and his death at the Battle of Hastings. The papers collected here seek to shed new light on the man and his milieu before and after that climax. They explore the long career and the dynastic network behind Harold Godwinesson's accession on the death of King Edward the Confessor in January 1066, looking in particular at the important questions as to whether Harold's kingship was opportunist or long-planned; a usurpation or a legitimate succession in terms of his Anglo-Scandinavian kinships? They also examine the posthumous legends that Harold survived Hastings and lived on as a religious recluse. The essays in the second part of the volume focus on the Bayeux Tapestry, bringing out the small details which would have resonated significantly for contemporary audiences, both Norman and English, to suggest how they judged Harold and the other players in the succession drama of 1066. Other aspects of the Tapestry are also covered: the possible patron and locations the Tapestry was produced for; where and how it was designed; and the various sources - artistic and real - employed by the artist. Contributors: H.E.J. Cowdrey, Nicholas J. Higham, Ian Howard, Gillian Fellows-Jensen, Stephen Matthews, S.L. Keefer, Gale R. Owen-Crocker, Chris Henige, Catherine Karkov, Shirley Ann Brown, C.R. Hart, Michael Lewis.
Hunger for England: Ambition and Appetite in the Bayeux Tapestry, by G. R. Owen-Crocker, published 2012 in English studies : a journal of English letters and philology (vol. 93, no. 5, article, pp.539-548) View Online
Abstract:The Bayeux Tapestry's theme of political ambition in the eventual rivals for the throne of Anglo-Saxon England is enforced by its two feast scenes in the main register, and the many border images of animals and birds eating, of creatures stalking, chasing and capturing prey and of human beings both hunting animals and cultivating the soil.
The Bayeux Tapestry, by Gale R. Owen-Crocker, published 24 December 2012 (374 pp., Routledge, ISBN-10: 1409446638 & ISBN-13: 9781409446637) View Online
This collection of fifteen papers ranges from the author's initial interest in the Tapestry as a source of information on early medieval dress, through to her startling recognition of the embroidery's sophisticated narrative structure. Developing the work of previous authors who had identified graphic models for some of the images, she argues that not just the images themselves but the contexts from which they were drawn should be taken in to account in 'reading' the messages of the Tapestry. In further investigating the minds and hands behind this, the largest non-architectural artefact surviving from the Middle Ages, she ranges over the seams, the embroidery stitches, the language and artistry of the inscription, the potential significance of borders and the gestures of the figures in the main register, always scrutinising detail informatively. She identifies an over-riding conception and house style in the Tapestry, but also sees different hands at work in both needlecraft and graphics. Most intriguingly, she recognises an sub-contractor with a Roman source and a clownish wit. The author is Professor of Anglo-Saxon Culture at The University of Manchester, UK, a specialist in Old English poetry, Anglo-Saxon material culture and medieval dress and textiles.
Contents:
Contents:
- Preface, Shirley Ann Brown
- Introduction
- Part I Textile: Behind the Bayeux Tapestry; The Bayeux 'tapestry': invisible seams and visible boundaries; Fur, feathers, skin, fibre, wood: representational techniques in the Bayeux Tapestry
- Part II Sources: Reading the Bayeux Tapestry through Canterbury eyes; Stylistic variation and Roman influence in the Bayeux Tapestry
- Part III Narrative Devices: The embroidered word: text in the Bayeux Tapestry. Telling a tale: narrative techniques in the Bayeux Tapestry and the Old English epic Beowulf; Brothers, rivals and the geometry of the Bayeux Tapestry
- Part IV Borders: Squawk talk: commentary by birds in the Bayeux Tapestry?; The Bayeux tapestry: the voice from the border
- Part V Dress: The Bayeux 'tapestry': culottes, tunics and garters and the making of the hanging; Dress and authority in the Bayeux Tapestry
- Part VI Detail: Embroidered wood: animal-headed posts in the Bayeux 'Tapestry'; The interpretation of gesture in the Bayeux Tapestry; Hawks and horse-trappings: the insignia of rank
- Index.
". . . Velis ventoplenis . . .": Sea Crossings in the Bayeux Tapestry, by G. R. Owen-Crocker, S. S. Klein, W. Schipper and S. Lewis-Simpson, published 2014 in Medieval & Renaissance texts & studies (vol. 118, article, pp.131-156)