Impact on Women
There are only three women depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry so this does not give us much information on the impact of woman… However there was a very immediate impact on women after the Battle of Hastings…
During the medieval and early modern times, it was very common for marriages to be used as a tool and / or bargain. In the case of the Battle of Hastings, it could be used as a way to strengthen Anglo / Norman relations as well as rewarding the Norman Army. Many Anglo women would have lost their relatives in 1066 and therefore would have inherited land. Some of these women were allowed to keep this land but some were expected to marry a Norman or Frenchman! This way the husbands became wealthier!
This intermarriage happened even at the highest level of the aristocracy, William the Conqueror had offered a daughter as a husband for Harold if he would accept him as king and a niece had married an Englishmen, in order to encourage a peaceful relationship between the two nations.
