October 14, 1066, the Battle of Hastings

The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman conquest of England. It took place approximately 7 mi northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory. (Wikipedia).

I only mention it because as I figure the names in our genealogy both the Corbett surname and the Bruce surname came from France, and I think maybe our forefathers made the trip to England and then a few centuries later to Ireland and Scotland.

"Corbet, Corbett, Corbitt, Carbert, Corbert, and Corburt, this interesting Anglo Scottish surname is of Norman - French origins. Derived from the French word "corbet", it is translates as "Little raven", in heraldry a highly respected bird known for its ferocity. A quote from Courthope's "Debrett" states that - "Corbet, a noble Norman, came into England with the Conqueror, and from his son Roger Corbet descended the baronial house, as well as the families of the name now existing". The Conqueror referred to is of course William 1st (1066 - 1087), and during his reign many such names were introduced from France." Read more: https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Corbet#ixzz79Jbl9did

"Bruce is a locational name, deriving from the place of origin of the family in Normandy in France, either in Brix or in Brieuze. The first Bruces, with the Norman name de Brus, came to England with William the Conqueror during the eleventh century Norman invasion." https://www.archives.com/genealogy/family-history-bruce.html

The Bayeux Tapestry

The challenge of the internet: you start looking for one thing and then find another.  I was browsing the course offerings at Coursera https://about.coursera.org/ which has 3 levels of offerings taught by instructors at different universities, and came across the Age of Cathedrals under general interest (not a degree program).  When I looked up the instructor, M. Howard Bloch, I decided to look for videos and found one on the Bayeux Tapestry.  I'm not particularly a craft person, but I do following quilting, crocheting, knitting groups on Facebook.  This is history in embroidery.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?197293-1/a-needle-hand-god

The Bayeux Tapestry is the world’s most famous textile–an exquisite 230-foot-long embroidered panorama depicting the events surrounding the Norman Conquest of 1066. It is also one of history’s most mysterious and compelling works of art. This haunting stitched account of the battle that redrew the map of medieval Europe has inspired dreams of theft, waves of nationalism, visions of limitless power, and esthetic rapture.

https://french.yale.edu/publications/needle-right-hand-god-norman-conquest-1066-and-making-and-meaning-bayeux-tapestry