The announcement by M. Macron that the Bayeux Tapestry will be lent for a year to the British Museum, whilst its normal home in Bayeux is reconstructed, was one of the highlights of his State Visit last week. As the loan will extend into 2027 it will also celebrate the millennium of the birth of King William I.
Coincidentally I came across a relevant article on the often irritating, but also frequently informative website, Quora. This directly related to the Tapestry as it concerned the hair styles affected by the Norman men in it - a fringe at the front but with the area above the ears and from the nape of the neck almost to the crown of the head shaved. It makes King Henry V and his contemporaries look positively long haired.
The comments quoted from Aelfric of Eynsham, writing about 1000, can be compared with those of Alcuin of York, writing from the continent in the wake of the Viking raid on Lindisfarne in 793, which he appears to blame, in part at least, on what he had presumably observed on a recent visit to his homeland, the fashion for long hair amongst the Northumbrian elite - such seeming effeminacy was clearly responsible ….
The article, with the comments - less interesting or relevant - can be seen at
